Trying hard, but asthma is a wall.

Catboydemyx
Catboydemyx Posts: 7
edited October 5 in Introduce Yourself
First off, let me introduce myself with my stats:
Starting weight: 254.67

Goal weight: 135

Goal attempt to be reached by: Approx. May 1st, 2012.

Age: 18

Height: 5’6”

BMI: 41.1 = Obese

Health issues: Diabetes and Heart problems run on my dads’ side of the family. Unknown on my moms’.

Body traits: Flat feet, broad shoulders, natural family-trait of slow weight-loss and a natural layer of fat (nicknamed "The Elliott Pooch.")


I started last month, and within the second had given up because of the tedious task of entering everything I ate and then seeing just how fattening my diet was. Yesterday I decided to try again, so I made a fresh account and set strict dietary rules for myself. I set myself to do 120 minutes of exercise a day, and until I reach 200, that will all be done on a treadmill. At 200, I'll get a gym membership and try working out in public (but I'm very shy when it comes to public stuff. I'm paranoid that people are talking about me, etc. If someone laughs, i think it's directed at me... blah blah, anyways,) so that's how that's going.

Today, as the first of my 4 days of exercise a week at 120 minutes each, I got on the treadmill and put it on an aerobics workout. For the first 2 minutes it had me walking at 1.5mph, then after that it sped up to 3mph. I was jogging just fine, but my foot kept sliding on the belt(I jog shoeless because shoes make me very very clumsy, and I have the scars on my legs to prove it). At several points my foot skidded forward on the up-step and messed up the belt for a second. After a minute of the 3mph, it dropped back down to 1.5mph for another two minutes, then jumped up to 5mph. At this point I started to have trouble breathing, but I decided to blame that on my weight and sedentary behavior. After it did that for a minute, it went back to 1.5 for a minute, then up to 5 again, at this point I couldn't manage it especially since it put it at a 10-point incline, so I stepped off the belt and waited. When it went back down to a 2-point incline at 4mph, I got on and finished that speed. At this time, I noticed I was wheezing quite a bit and my chest hurt, so when it dropped down, I stopped, and it had only been a few minutes, but I just couldn't breathe, so I stopped.

It has been an hour and a half since then and I am still wheezing, my chest feels like someone is sitting on me, and I can't breathe well without pain in my throat as well. At this point, I have self-diagnosed with exercise-reactive asthma. This is very bad, because I need to exercise to help lose this much weight in this time limit.



Other than this, I have no reports on loss at this time of introduction, only that when i first used it, I GAINED three pounds, even though I was eating only 300-fewer than my calorie goal, that's also one reason I gave up, because I wasn't doing it right somehow, but with the treadmill I'm hoping to avoid that this time...

If I don't stop typing now, then my introduction will show you all that I'ma rambler, so I'll stop now.

Replies

  • DixiedoesMFP
    DixiedoesMFP Posts: 935 Member
    #1: Don't self-diagnose. See your doctor. With a family history of heart trouble, you need to make sure you are healthy enough to start exercising. It may not be asthma.
    #2: You don't have to use the program on the treadmill. Set it to what you are able to do. Manually adjust the speed and incline before you hurt yourself.
    #3: Breathe. There is no reason to push yourself that hard. It's great to want to get healthy, but not at the risk of harming yourself. Calm down. Make healthy food choices. That is WAY more important than 120 minutes of exercise every day.
    #4: Good luck to you.
  • GINAvsGINA
    GINAvsGINA Posts: 270 Member
    Start off just putting the treadmill where you want to be 3.0 is a good speed. I think 5.0 is way to high for anyone just starting to workout on the treadmill. If you set the speeds yourself once you feel comfortable you can increase it at you own pace. Maybe doing 120 mins at 3.0 for a week and then increase to 3.5 for a week and so on and so on. Hope this helps.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    Hi. Asthma is a b*tch but don't let it hold you back. Go to a good asthma specialist. They will diagnose you and probably put you on a controller medication like Asmanex and a rescue inhaler like Albuterol. When I was first starting out with running, the controller medication was effective as far as preventing "random" asthma attacks, but it didn't do much for exercise, so I still took the rescue inhaler about 30 minutes before exercise. Over time as my fitness got better, I relied less and less on medication.

    So, step 1 - Definitely go to a specialist and get the asthma under control. Just know that it's a problem that can be controlled and dealt with.
  • kimberly702
    kimberly702 Posts: 369 Member
    First off, see a doctor. And second, it'll get better! I also have asthma and when I first started I would get winded just walking and couldn't catch my breath. But your lungs get in shape too! There are right and wrongs ways to breathe when exercising.

    And don't try to do too much to fast. Exercise isn't something you can just jump into doing hours a day when you're not used to it.
  • Catboydemyx
    Catboydemyx Posts: 7
    #1: Don't self-diagnose. See your doctor. With a family history of heart trouble, you need to make sure you are healthy enough to start exercising. It may not be asthma.
    #2: You don't have to use the program on the treadmill. Set it to what you are able to do. Manually adjust the speed and incline before you hurt yourself.
    #3: Breathe. There is no reason to push yourself that hard. It's great to want to get healthy, but not at the risk of harming yourself. Calm down. Make healthy food choices. That is WAY more important than 120 minutes of exercise every day.
    #4: Good luck to you.

    Thank you for your advice :) I'll have to let my mom know of my breathing trouble so she can set me up an appointment and take me... I'll just try to do walking off the programs and small burst of jogging off-program.
  • LillyMosley
    LillyMosley Posts: 166
    Hi there and welcome. I loved reading your post and didn't find it rambling at all! My daughter and mother both had bad asthma, and I sometimes can get it when I exercise. You do seem to have set yourself a massive exercise goal to start with. Good on you for getting the treadmill and coming back here after it not working to start with. Maybe work up to that 120 minutes of exercise? Maybe just walk on the treadmill for the first week, and then build up to a faster speed and eventually jog?. The last thing you want is to injure yourself so you can not exercise at all? Remember although exercise is awesome, the majority of the weight loss comes from controlling your portion size and calories.

    Please feel free to add me as a friend if you want to, I really recommend getting lots of supporters. I have had such great advice from mine, and looking at their food diaries has been invaluable. Either way good luck for your journey.
  • Catboydemyx
    Catboydemyx Posts: 7
    Thank you all for your replies! :) I'll have my mom set me up an appointment, hopefully soon, so that I can get what I need and get to exercising properly without a pain in my chest lasting two hours after I've stopped activity! <3
  • kittycarson
    kittycarson Posts: 109
    Hi...Glad you are making a commitment to getting healthy! Very admirable. I am sure you are going to do great, but I am concerned about a few things...1) Why such a lofty goal? Remember that this needs to be a lifestyle and healthy weight is better kept off when it is done slowly. I am afraid that you may be trying to do TOO much TOO fast. is there some reason you want to loose it by May of next year? Something special going on? Why not increase your goal date? I am sure if you talk to your personal trainer relatives, they will tell you that this will be healthier and safer for you. 2) How active have you been in the past? How committed have you been to being that active on a regular basis? Have you seen your doctor to have a pre-weight loss exam? Be careful with the exercise (120 mins/day) I believe you can attain this..The only reason I am concerned is because you stated before that you quit. Don't put your goals (exercise or weight loss) soooo high that if you can't stick with it (for health reasons, too hard, whatever) you give up! Slooooow down. Do it the right way!!! You CAN do this!!!!
  • JulieSchreier
    JulieSchreier Posts: 44
    My Mum died with asthma at 22 and I have had lots of close calls don't muck around with it. There are a lot of great medicines out there and your fitness will help it in the long run. Go see a Dr and get tested for all the things you are worried about. If you know what you are dealing with you can do something about it. You can do it :)
  • clh126
    clh126 Posts: 115 Member
    One step at a time - 5.0mph is way too fast for someone just starting out especially if it's causing you to lose your footing. It's definitely more important to be safe:) Start at 2-3mph and work your way up from there. And get your asthma checked out by a Dr. I have exercise induced asthma if I run outside in the cold and was prescribed an inhaler to use before I go running which has cut down my chest tightness and wheezing. However, if you are not used to running and are deconditioned, you are probably going to be short of breath anyway - an inhaler won't cure that, but slow, steady exercise will. Good luck!
  • slimkitty
    slimkitty Posts: 418
    See your doctor about the exercise induced asthma. I had to take Asmanex for several months when I first started working out. Now my lung capacity is greatly improved and I don't need it anymore, but still need to be careful when I am outise in the cold.

    You should find some form of exercise that you can do and that you love doing. It will make everything better. Maybe that routine on your treadmill is a bit much at this point. Maybe you should just set it to manual for now and just get used to the idea of walking for 30 minutes without stopping. That's what I used to do. I used to just walk at no incline and 3mph. Then a few minutes before the end I would increase the speed just for 2 minutes. The next day I would increase the speed for 3 minutes and I would add an extra minute like that every day. After a while I started increasing the incline, and with-in several months I was running for 3 miles and wanting more.
    Then I started doing yoga and added sprints to my runs. The yoga and the sprints really helped with the breating and now it's been 3 months that I have not taken a single puff of inhaler.

    Please just see yur doctor and help with your breathing issues. You don't need to live with the wheezing and the burning and pain in the back of your throat. I am sure you can can find relief for that. Good luck.
  • Catboydemyx
    Catboydemyx Posts: 7
    Hi...Glad you are making a commitment to getting healthy! Very admirable. I am sure you are going to do great, but I am concerned about a few things...1) Why such a lofty goal? Remember that this needs to be a lifestyle and healthy weight is better kept off when it is done slowly. I am afraid that you may be trying to do TOO much TOO fast. is there some reason you want to loose it by May of next year? Something special going on? Why not increase your goal date? I am sure if you talk to your personal trainer relatives, they will tell you that this will be healthier and safer for you. 2) How active have you been in the past? How committed have you been to being that active on a regular basis? Have you seen your doctor to have a pre-weight loss exam? Be careful with the exercise (120 mins/day) I believe you can attain this..The only reason I am concerned is because you stated before that you quit. Don't put your goals (exercise or weight loss) soooo high that if you can't stick with it (for health reasons, too hard, whatever) you give up! Slooooow down. Do it the right way!!! You CAN do this!!!!

    One of my biggest reasons for trying to get slim and trim by May is because I graduate in May and Prom is also around the start of the month. I've never looked good in any school photo from 4th grade on because I've always been the 'big' girl in class, so for my Graduation and Prom I don't want to be that 'big' girl anymore. After I graduate, I'll be taking a trip to Europe for two weeks, and I don't want to be big on that either. I also will be starting college for the Fall semester, but I won't have time in the summer to focus on weight loss due to the Europe trip and my own personally-planned trip to Oklahoma to visit my best friend, along with other trips I have planned throughout the weeks that follow those trips. I need to be in-shape before I get to my dorm in August/September, because after that I won't have much time for anything anymore, what with a job and college!

    I'm sure it would be better to set a closer goal, maybe in the 150-155 zone, which is still healthy for my height, but I want to be slimmer than borderline overweight (according tot he BMI anyways.)

    If I feel comfortable enough with my size at any weight below 200 before that point, I will slow down considerably, though. I'm just setting a large goal so that I focus on that goal. When I gave up that first time, my goal was only 200, which is only 50-something pounds down, which didn't seem like much to me, which is why I wasn't all that inspired, but now I'm here on the message boards, and I started a tumblr account where I'll be posting about my progress everyday, as well as where I'll post pictures of trim women, women that were big and are now small, etc, to inspire myself. Or, to otherwise name it, I'll be posting my "thinspiration" there. So now I know that I can do this, I really feel like I can reach this goal if I just stay focused and keep all the things I'll be able to do and have and what I'll look like at Prom and all of that in the front of my mind.

    Thank you for your concern though, really; thank you so much :)
  • Catboydemyx
    Catboydemyx Posts: 7

    You should find some form of exercise that you can do and that you love doing. It will make everything better.
    ...
    Then I started doing yoga and added sprints to my runs.

    I actually really really loved doing yoga when i tried it a few years back, but then my dad would force me to get up at 4-5AM to do yoga with him after I expressed the enjoyment of it, and now the thought of doing yoga brings back the horrible memories of my dad screaming at me whenever I said that it hurt to stretch a certain way. I'd love to take it up again, but if my dad were to hear about it, he'd get involved, and I'm more of a solo, let-me-complain-if-I-want-I'm-alone-anyways kind of exerciser.

    But I will try to find something I like/a way to secretly do yoga so that I'm not having too much of the breathing issue. I'll also try your idea with the steady increasing daily.

    I live in Florida, but I don't have a pool at my house, so I might join the YMCA to use their gym and pool because I LOVE swimming and used to do some of the swimming races with friends until I left elementary school. I was great, when i tried, and can't get enough of being in a pool. Call me a fish if you must, or at my size perhaps I'm befitting a whale, but I would LOVE to be able to exercise by swimming...

    And there goes rambling again. :blushing:
  • kittycarson
    kittycarson Posts: 109
    I wish you the best!!! Keep me posted!!!
  • momof3and3
    momof3and3 Posts: 656 Member
    Congratualtions on trying again! It is small babysteps that will get you to where you want to be, so take it slow.

    I have asthma...moderate to severe. I have had it since I was 16 years old. I was told I would out grow it....LOL! I am now 43 and have learned to live with it. I don't let it stop me, I stop it! I am on advair, an inhaled steroid; it has been a Godsend.

    I am a runner...I run ALL the time...I have participated in 5k's and 1/2 marathons...I don't let the asthma stop me.
    Running has made my lung function so much better than when I was 16.

    Go see a doctor, do what he/she says....get back on the treadmill, but take it a bit slower and work your way up...you CAN do this! You can also try other forms of cardio, too....

    See...I ramble, too :)

    add me as a friend...stay strong and focus on the end result. You will be on a joureny, and no journey isn't without ups and downs, so don't give up...
  • ShrinkRapt451
    ShrinkRapt451 Posts: 447 Member
    Catboydemx, you have now officially got yourself a lot of moms. ;) Because here's even more advice that comes from a loving place, and from someone who made a lot of mistakes at your age:

    DEFINITELY see a doctor before starting an exercise plan. If you really have asthma, get that under control before you get heavy into exercise. If you don't, then even more reason to set yourself some reasonable goals, exercise-wise. Talk to your doc about seeing a dietician to get some guidance on food choices and portions (your insurance may pay for it). And think about a few sessions with a personal trainer to help you set healthy fitness goals.

    A doctor is going to tell you (correctly) that the safest weight loss (and most likely to stay off) is gradual: 1-2 lbs per week. Which means that to go from 250 to 150 should take you a year. He or she will also tell you that taking off just 5% of your weight (13 lbs) will have a positive impact on your health. And that a thin couch potato is worse off than a "fat" but fit person. And that the scale doesn't tell the whole story; at your weight, you're carrying around a lot of bone and muscle mass. By 170 lbs you'll probably be slim and feel great. (BMI is just a height/weight ratio and doesn't take a lot of things into account -- it's more useful when used to look at large groups of people than for individuals.)

    This is especially important: if you set goals that are impossible to reach, or to maintain, you will give up in despair. Set goals you CAN reach and you'll make it, with support. If you shoot to get under 200 lbs by May, and you combine regular exercise with healthy eating (cardio + strength training is the most effective, and swimming is both -- go for it), you'll surprise yourself with how great you look and feel by the time Prom and graduation rolls around.

    And don't kid yourself; if you decide now that you don't have time to be fit when you're walking all over Europe (seriously, you can walk a lot there) and when you're in college, then you're gonna find yourself gaining back. You will NEVER have time for working out or eating right unless you decide that it's important enough to you to just MAKE IT FIT into your life. You can fit exercise into a job + college schedule. Wear yoga pants to class and hike across campus in between classes, if nothing else! ;)

    Good luck!
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