Morbidly Obese & Exercise

Hi. I'm new here too. I'm 5'2" and used to weigh 310. I live in Texas and felt like I was going to die every summer with the heat. (Summer, in my opinion, begins in February and ends in November around here.) I lost my car in 2003 and HAD to walk/ride the bus. In the time until I was able to replace my car (about a year later), I lost nearly 75 pounds...just from the most necessary walking only. I wasn't 'working out' or doing anything special.

This time around, I began at 201 (um, last week). My daughter announced her engagement last week and I have (as of today) 124 days until the big day. As Mama of the Bride...I don't want to waddle (too much). I'd like to be down to 150 by Oct. 19 (the big day).

April 6, 2011, I severely tore ligaments/tendons in my right knee (probably from years of excess weight on them). Last summer I swam all summer long. I just pretended not to see others looking at me and did what I needed to do to help my knee. I found water to be very healing because it supported my body and took the weight off of the knee and yet I could move the leg through the water - the water resistance helping.

I don't have television (cable, etc.) so I splurged for Hulu Plus. My sister told me that watching The Biggest Loser was inspiring to her. So I've began with Season 1 and have been watching them. I do belong to a gym through my health insurance. I saw a Dr. Oz episode that talked about Dr. Life (real name) and the guy showed before and after shots of himself. I'm not too keen on some of his stuff, yet one thing - he said he hired a personal trainer. It's been a bit of a financial struggle, yet I hired a personal trainer at the gym for 30 minutes 2 x's per week. She is showing me some of the equipment and also helping to build confidence using my knee again. I find that I can motivate myself by what I choose to watch on television (when I do choose to watch it). I am drawn to shows where the underdog wins and trust me, when we're fighting this particular battle, it can certainly feel like we're the underdogs!

My daughter always said, Mama walk. Just walk. Go to the mall and walk in the air conditioning. Just walk, walk, walk.

I tried to do the elliptical machine at the gym and struggled to do a whole 3 minutes on the lowest setting. This very lovely elderly lady stopped me in the locker room and asked how my workout had gone. (I was THRILLED that someone spoke with me!) I told her and she smiled and said that when she started, she could only do 4 minutes on the elliptical and now she does 30. I was in awe! I thanked her so much for that!

The part I struggle with now is after I've watched a motivating show and am at the gym or walking up and down hills in Austin, am I pushing myself the right amount? I know I can push myself hard based on what I've seen others do on television, just need to not push too hard and get another injury. So I decided today to seek out physical therapy for the knee for a bit to be certain that I'm doing things correctly.

Sounds like you have kids...so you have a cheering squad! When you get tired, rest. Just get back up and get going again once you've caught your breath. You can do it! We can ALL do it!!

Best to you!
LQ

I don't think anyone else has offered this suggestion and it may sound crazy but here goes. I'm really big and have lots to lose and don't like weight training. I like to walk but having had a herniated disc in my lower back years ago I'm prone to have a lot of back pain. One time I had purchased Spanx to wear under something to look better and notice my back didn't hurt. Well that convinced me that just by sheer nature of the product it kept everything from "jiggling" and jarring my back. I was hooked. Work offered to pay for people to enter the Disney 5K and I did it - with my Spanx- at about 310 lbs. No running just walking and completed in less than an hour. Huge accomplishment for this "fat old lady" That was last year's 5K. I did it again this year and the Princess 5K a few weeks later. I unfortunately have just started trying to lose again and am determined to do it next year in 45 minutes or less without having to run. BTW I don't have to wear the Spanx for the jiggle anymore as just walking has started toning the core muscles and my form is better.

Sorry so long winded and maybe somebody got a good laugh.

Good luck in your quest! You can do it!

I was in a pretty similar position. I was 50 years old and weighed 275 pounds when I started. The most important thing is to get your diet under control first. I didn't exercise at all until I lost 30 pounds. If you can exercise, then you'll be that much better off, but it isn't really necessary. Exercise is great and healthy, but diet is far more important for weight loss.

Once I'd lost a bit a weight I started walking, and that's all I've done since then. I did get myself a treadmill so I could increase the intensity of the walk, but just plain walking is good enough. If you get to the point where you can lift some weights in addition to walking you'll help build muscle which will make losing weight easier.

I think this is the best answer by far.

I suggest finding a personal trainer. They will be very familiar with what an obese body can do and coach you so that you keep good form and don't hurt yourself. They will coach you with full-body workout - we started with 5 and 10 lb weights to build up strength, as well as 10 minute up to 30 on the treadmill or exercise bike. Don't let fear stand in your way! It feels SO good to feel strong, I can't TELL you

There used to be a show on PBS called Sit and be Fit. I don't know if they still show it but look into it. I remember flipping through the channels and watching it a few minutes at a time when I was a kid thinking 'what a waste!" but now I could use some sit and be fit sessions myself. lol
The aquafit class mentioned in another post could be a LOT of fun too. i'm going to look and see if there is one in my area.

the first thought that came to mind was walking and with that a new pair of shoes. I own several pairs of Brooks Beast, designed for wider flatter feet and offer a lot of support, I was having knee issues until I started wearing them. I started out at 376 lbs Jan. 2011. I basically walked until I was down to around 275 lbs, then I started walk/jogging, then when I got down to 225 lbs I started jogging. Take it little by little, I didn't do any special program, I would just pick landmarks and forced myself to jog to them then walk a straight away, then jog at the next one til I was like screw this I am gonna try to just jog the whole thing.

I started out at 353 pounds and I'm now at 224.4, at the start I would use a exercise bike every day and swim if I went walking I would use a belly belt to hold my belly because my belly would become uncomfortable after some time I just started slow and only for twenty minutes and slowly increased the time and intensity as I started to lose weight feel free to add me if you have any questions and good luck

If weather is bad you can use "walk" dvd's like Leslie Sansone. When I started that's what I did. Now I can do Turbo Fire. I was slow and it was really hard at first, but believe it or not, it will get easier! Don't give up! You can do it!!

I started with Leslie Sansone, too. Her videos are very easy to do and you get a great workout. I've now graduated to Jillian Michaels, but will use Leslie's dvd's on a "rest" day.

The big thing is consistency. Start slow so that you can keep at it. Pretty soon you'll be one of those people that misses it if you can't work out one day! :flowerforyou:

Welcome and I hope you achieve everything you've set out to achieve. I was higher than you and now I'm pretty close to you and we are the same age...I have a lot more to lose and look forward to tracking with you

walking is the best place to start! Do little bits and gradually increase your time/distance. Also, you can try "stationary" cardio like a row machine or shadow boxing.

And maybe the best thing is swimming - it removes the pressure your body feels during normal exercise but still is a great workout. Man, I wish I could swim.

This^

Walking and swimming are the best right now. Work your way up. My family friend was around 350lbs and started just by walking. 18 months and 150 lbs lost later and shes running with me in the mornings quite frequently.

Get a pedometer, they track how far you walk. Work out how many steps you "normally take" and then aim to add 100 steps or so a week.

It can seem hard at first but slow increases and not pushing yourself too hard is my advice. Also if you think you might get joint pain get some good ankle supports and open patella knee supports!

You can do it. We are all here to support each other. If you need a friend Please add me. Bless you

I agree with those that stressed the importance of diet first. It is hard to change everything at once. I felt awful when I first started exercising..everything hurt and I looked worse too limping around in pain. I have lost 49 pounds since Feb 13th with diet and a general effort to move more which I monitor with my step count. The more I pressured myself to exercise, the more I felt like a failure. I started at about 2,000 steps/day...the ones I have to take to function. It isn't much, but I now average about 6,000/day. I walk as much as I can, rest when needed. I plan to step it up next week with a goal of 25 miles during the week. That sounds like a lot, but it is only about 8,500 steps/day. I just tell myself all the time, I don't have to be perfect or follow a perfect plan...just move more and eat less.

Good luck...I will send a friend request.

I honestly did not start exercising until I'd lost my first 20lbs and I used to just walk not too fast or too slow.I also used to do fitness videos at home since I was not too comfy going outside Good luck onyour journey!

bump to read later