Encouragement for the totally out of shape beginners!

Hi all! This is my first post in the Fitness & Exercise section! You'll probably laugh me right out of this section, but oh well!

I can't believe how out of shape I'd become. Well, I've never been actually in shape - I've always drifted somewhere between lethargic and inert. And it became worse when I gradually began to lose the use of my feet. I realized how much a cane would help, but swore I would never give in to that. But I did - and it helped. I realized how much better it was to use the cane. So I wasn't taking walks - if I needed to go from Point A to Point B, I just hobbled.

So of course I gained more weight. I couldn't figure it out - I wasn't eating that much, really.

I saw a really obese woman in Walmart, riding around in a motorized cart. The thought hit me of how much easier it would be to shop if I used one of those carts too. Then I caught myself! Really??? Was I really going to let myself get to that point? It's one thing to use aids like motorized carts and canes if you need to. But I could make the choice to turn things around.

Anyway, I guess this post is for anyone who is so far out of shape that it seems hopeless - maybe you can't walk, maybe you're already eating at the lowest point acceptable to you, maybe you're starting to resign yourself to your situation.

I started with just stretching - that was my only commitment. No matter what, every morning, I did about 10 minutes of stretching. (I bought a book on stretching so I could pick the ones best for me and to ensure I was doing the stretches properly.) After a few days of this, I began to feel better.

Then I got fitted with customized orthotics. It took a couple months for me to get used to them. But I worked at it.

Then I began talking walks. Most of you in here wouldn't call what I did "walking." Basically, I went around the block once, and it left me feeling sore, whipped, and defeated. I was probably out of the house a total of 7 minutes. But I began doing it every day.

I'd been at this for a week when I found this site. I began to log my food and was horrified at the quantities I'd been eating. I nearly cried. I was already eating way less than I wanted to, and now my daily calorie alotment seemed to be no more than a single snack.

But now I'm starting to get used to it.

This morning, I took my walk, and I realized that I'm walking faster than I was when I started, AND I was out of the house for 25 minutes. I'm in a hilly area, so in order to take a walk, I have to go up hill for at least some of the walk. When I first started, I could only go up one block of the uphill, and then I had to stop and pant and catch my breath before I turned the corner, walked to the other corner, went down hill, and back home. This morning I walked 4 blocks of straight up hill! I didn't have to stop to catch my breath - I was winded, but I was able to keep going.

Anyway, nobody needs to give me any fitness advice about working anaerobically or anything like that - I'm not interested at this point. All I'm interested in is walking a little further each day.

Oh - and I haven't used the cane in weeks.

I haven't lost much weight yet, but who cares - if I continue on this track, I just have to believe my body is going to give in and dump some of the weight.

So if you're an absolute, absolute, totally out-of-shape beginner like I am, it's not hopeless! You just have to start ridiculously slow, do whatever you can, and keep doing it!