Exercise questions...

[PRINCESS VIJA]

So many of you were very helpful on my eating out thread, that I now need some more help on the exercise section...

I am way overweight, I would say at least 150# (and more) overweight. How much should I exercise. And YES, I have checked with my MD and I have the green light to exercise. So, these are my questions...

1. How much time do you spend exercising daily/weekly, and what do you do?

2. How much did you start out at, and how much did you build up to, and how fast.

3. Dr. Phil says at least 1 hour a day for weight loss, is that reasonable for me starting out? I have an eliptical at home, and I can walk. I do have some aerobic tapes I do, like walk away the pounds, etc.

4. Any other helpful hints or ideas?

 

[LadyyRedd]

If you are 150lbs overweight, I personally would probably not do the aerobics yet, as it's not a no impact exercise. I would go walking! Walking is great fun, especially with the nice weather coming up. Start out walking 15 minutes, twice a day, then just work your way up as you feel you can do more. Don't try to powerhouse right away, especially if you aren't used to a lot of physical activity.
I personally think Dr. Phil is full of a lot of hooey, among other things, on a lot of topics. Even if you only do 15-30 min per day, you can still lose weight. The more you have to lose, the more impact the exercise will have on you. Cardio is definitely the way to go to lose weight.

Kimya

 

[wdwdancerwannabe]

I go up and down my stairs for exercise....but i give myself an incentive.

My husband has a jar full of change - he doesn't like it when I take money out of his jar...so we've come to a compromise.

I pour 20 coins into my hand. I go up and down the flight of stairs. Everytime I go UP and reach the top, I put a coin on the railing (it's really my way of counting how many times I go up and down.) I only get to keep the coins that end up on the railing - the others, I have to put back in the jar.

The first night....I only made it 8 times. I'm up to 20 w/o getting completely worn out.

Try it....

You may only make it 2-3 times the first night...but you can increase your stamina bit by bit.

 

[momof2inPA]

I would walk everyday at least 30 minutes, longer if I didn't hurt. Have you always been that overweight or is it a recent occurrence?

 

[M 'n C]

I would start out slow. When I went to a gym religiously I noticed the personal trainers always started out the overweight people on the treadmill walking or on the eliptical because it is low impact until they lost some weight and got use to exercising. The worst thing you could do is exercise too heavily and blow out your knees. I would talk to your doctor and then a trainer at a gym on the right exercise program for you. Once you lose some weight you can add in some weights.

 

[angel_bright05]

IMO, I wouldn't listen to Dr. Phil. He's full of it.
I'd start out by walking for 30 minutes or less...whatever you feel you can do without harming yourself. If you have a dog, take him or her! It's great exercise for the both of you and the dog just makes it that much more fun.

Cardio will get you in shape definately. You just have to build your stamina up.

Good Luck too you

 

[believe]

I currently do 2 days of weight training and I try to walk every day for atleast 30 minutes. When possible I walk 1hr or take either kickboxing or aqua aerobics.

It is important to build muscle as you do cardio, this will help you burn more calories as you go. You can buy hand weights and resistance bands to start out with if you don't belong to a gym.

I agree with seeing how well you do as you go. Make sure you do push yourself a little bit past the time you want to stop. I read an article recently about how woman tend to not give their all when it comes to exercise, especially weight training.

The most important thing to remember is that it didn't come on overnight so it isn't going off overnight. Take things slow, make changes you know you can live with the rest of your life.

Good luck as you begin another stage in your life.

 

[PRINCESS VIJA]

Thanks for some of your ideas and helpful hints. I have pretty much been overweight all of my adult life, it isn't recent, I tend to plateau for a while (a year or two), and then gain about 30 pounds in one year. I have struggled with this for so long, and I am so tired of it. I picked up a great book "the Beck Diet solution" and it has some thought provoking information. It isn't a typical diet book, it doesn't give you a "plan", but rather it talks about the cognitive aspect of losing weight. It has been helpful to get my mindset in order, and now I am doing some research to help get my plan in order.

I can't tell you how much I really appreciate all of your words of wisdom, and wishes and support!

 

[Otto's Doll]

As you can see by my ticker, I have lost almost 90 pounds and the ONLY exercise I have done at all has been walking. I walk anywhere from 30 - 60 minutes a day. I don't even walk very fast, usually about 18 - 20 minutes a mile. I walk almost every day and the most important thing I have done is make the time. I don't let anything get in the way of my walk ~ at least not day to day stuff. My family understands how important this is to me, and that in this I must put myself first. Good wishes to you ~ ~ I know you can do it!

 

[bicker]

Walking is the best way to start, IMHO. You should be able to very quickly get up to the point where you are walking 60 minutes a day. As you get even more fit, you can begin to consider more intensive forms of exercise, but I would stick with walking until you can last the entire 60 minutes before attempting anything more intense.

 

[KadysMom]

I would try water aerobics! I did go to water aerobics when i was pregnant and i did not gain any weight during my pregnancy. No impact and it is so much fun!

 

[CEDmom]

If you haven't exercised before or it's been a very long time I'm not sure you'd be able to sustain an hour of cardio activity. I'd shoot for 30 mins to start and even scale that back to 15 if you're having trouble. The worst thing is to over do it and hurt yourself.

As for me, I do about an hour of cardio 5 days a week. I'm starting to train for a 200 mile bike tour in Sept so I'll be adding some long distance rides to my workout.

Start out slow and try not to get frustrated. Walking is great as is the eliptical. Try switching off between the 2 of them. Also mix up your workout. Do higher speed/lower resistance one time and then lower speed/higher resistance the next. That way you're sure to use all your muscles. Best of luck to you.

 

[SandraVB79]

The trainers at the gym I went to, told me that if I wanted to loose weight, I had to do cardio-exercises. Power training/ weights is to "tone", but cardio is to loose weight.

It worked for me, but now I don't have the time to go anymore

Also, easy things: park your car far away on the parking lot. Use the stairs instead of the elevator.
Etc etc etc

 

[Jennifer S]

I always hated to exercise but two years ago I finally started (and I'm almost 40) now I am addicted. You feel so good after. I also lost 30 pounds in the process. I agree start slow and build up. If oyu have to exercise twice a day - maybe 20 min in the am and 20 min. in the PM.

Currently I do cardio 4-5 times a week for 40-45 min. and strength training 3x a week.

For a TON of info on working out and eating right go to www.sparkpeople.com

It's a free site where you can track your exercise and calorie intake. They also have trainers that you can ask questions. It has helped me more than anything in the world/

Good luck!!! You CAN do it.

 

[alldiz]

Dont listen to dr phil....

Definately start out by walking.....
Start with 15 min....Dont go fast....

Every week increase slightly till you can go for 30min.....

After you can walk 30 min....you can add maybe
a low inpact excersize tape....

Remember slow and steady wins the race....
A 5 minute walk is better than no walk...

BTW....I am talking to myself as well
Kerri

 

[bicker]

The trainers at the gym I went to, told me that if I wanted to loose weight, I had to do cardio-exercises. Power training/ weights is to "tone", but cardio is to loose weight.

Yes and no. Yes, you lose weight via cardio-training, not weight-training. However, you develop the capability to better keep lost weight off via weight-training, not cardio-training.

So in the end you need both.

Forever.

 

[bicker]

Dont listen to dr phil....

Good point, but by the same token, and for the same reason, the OP shouldn't listen to us, either!

Seriously, everyone has their own perspective. If there was a "right answer" then the vast majority of us would be telling folks the same thing. For anything for which there is any significant disagreement, you should distrust BOTH sides, ESPECIALLY the majority.

Having said that... back to it...

 

[PRINCESS VIJA]

Oh my gosh, you guys have really helped me! I know I have to start out slow, but sometimes your heart just wants to jump in and do the intensive long, long workouts just to get going.

Before I got out of bed, I was thinking about momof2inPA's question about if this is a recent occurance. I realized that it has been 12 years that I have been over the 200's and I can't believe how much time of my life I have wasted to being overweight. How many things in these 12 years have I missed out on?

Since it has taken me 12+ years to put it on, I realize that it will be a long journey to loose the weight, and I thank you all for helping me put this in perspective!

Otto's Doll, WOW!!!! Congrats to you! You have done so well, you are definetely inspiring me!