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How do you start to get fit when very overweight

18 replies

Sugarfreeriot · 24/03/2015 09:16

I'm 21 and a size 26 (yay for me) Angry
Anyway- I NEED to lose weight and I'm currently on a low carb diet and losing weight fast. However I also want to get fit! But I just don't know where to start, swimming? Lots of walking? I'm very unfit, pushing the buggy up a hill kills me Blush
I used to be such an active, fit and healthy person but went undiagnosed with an under active thyroid that made me feel very ill and I made myself very fat! Desperate to get my old self back! Please help

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Marshpillow · 24/03/2015 09:26

I walked for hours. Every day I would walk an hour in my lunch break and then 90 minutes after work, and at weekends I would go out for 4/5/6 hour walks. I was very unfit and within a few months I was able to start running and then started entering races. Dull perhaps but it worked for me.

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PopcornFrenzy · 24/03/2015 09:30

Agree with walking, it's free you can incorporate it in your daily life. I was 4 stone overweight 2 months ago. I walked for a couple of hours a day, have now lost 24lbs and have started running and doing HIIT classes (and actually keeping up)

I also started the 30 day shred but quickly got bored with that so bought Charlotte Crosby belly blitz DVD and can quite easily do all 12 workouts (at the start I could only manage 3 of them)

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Sugarfreeriot · 24/03/2015 09:30

Thanks. I'd love to go on long walks at the weekend, issue is my dd does not do walking (she's 2) and will only go in our backpack/buggy for about an hour. Still better than nothing but would love to be able to walk for a day etc as I do enjoy it.
I probably walk about 4 miles twice a week to drop her to nursery and bring her back but it's not enough.

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tribpot · 24/03/2015 09:32

I think the important thing is not to stress the lower joints too much - at least, that's my theory at the moment! So I am doing short-ish bursts on the elliptical trainer but steadily increasing my average speed, so longer distances for the same amount of time. After only a few weeks I could feel a definite improvement, and went out jogging with my ds at the weekend and could run further (god knows, not 'far', but further) and at a greater speed.

I use Runkeeper to keep track of my progress - it makes me laugh when I see that all my friends are clocking up massive, proper fitness achievements compared to my poxy efforts, but I don't care - I can see an improvement in my achievements so that's all that matters.

I would start with walking. Maybe get a pedometer so you can keep track of your daily steps and set a target. Now the weather's brighter, get out for, say, 30 mins per day and you'll start to notice an improvement in your fitness quite quickly.

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Vitamints · 24/03/2015 09:34

I walked too, but not nearly that much at first.

I went for a walk EVERY DAY, rain, shine, snow, housework, whatever. I started out with walking away from the house with a timer set for five minutes, and when it went off, I reset it for another five, turned round, and aimed to be back at my front door when it went off, to make sure I kept my speed up.

I did that for a week and tried to get a little bit further from the house in my five minutes each time. The next week I set my timer for seven and a half minutes. I increased each week until I was walking an hour a day at four miles an hour.

Then I started walk/running instead and gradually built up the running using a couch to 5k programme.

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ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 24/03/2015 09:35

Swimming, walking.

For really easy do some bodyweight stuff at home, have a look at Body By You by Mark Lauren. Its really short really simple routines (30 mins ish) with really easy progressions eg start out by doing pushups with hands sternum height on a wall, or squats by sitting onto a chair etc.

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Vitamints · 24/03/2015 11:34

After a while, I dropped three of my weekly walks, and went to the gym in that time instead. In my area they run a GP exercise referral programme that gets you discounted membership at a council gym, and sessions with a trainer who works out a programme for you taking into account your fitness level. Is it worth seeing if your GP practice does something similar? I got a referral from the nurse.

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toffeeboffin · 24/03/2015 12:00

Definitely up the walking, it makes a huge difference. Try and speed up and if possible, walk up hills if your can manage them.

When I was losing the baby weight I had a massive hill that I called 'mummy meltdown'! Hard as hell but worth it.

Take your DD to eggs park and don't just sit and watch, be as active as you can. Get a football and run around after her, she'll love it and you'll lose weight Grin

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toffeeboffin · 24/03/2015 12:01

Eggs park, ha! The park obviously Smile

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CoachRob82 · 24/03/2015 14:53

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Sugarfreeriot · 24/03/2015 16:40

Thanks everyone for your advice. Interested to know why your comment has been deleted coach ? Do you have some helpful advice too?
Definitely going to walk everywhere, I do already just not at weekends but ill make sure I keep the pace up.
I'm exhausted and feel so unwell, I need to go and see the gp anyway so perhaps i could ask for some help.
Thanks

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ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 24/03/2015 16:59

I would guess that coach was a shakeology* scammer spammer

  • replace with whatever pyramid scheme is currently promising to make you thin if you buy their ridiculously overpriced shake/supplement etc
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ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 24/03/2015 17:00

I'm exhausted and feel so unwell if it is possible your diet is doing this, you need to look at your diet.

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Sugarfreeriot · 24/03/2015 17:01

Ohhh joys.
I thought I may have missed out on a bit of much needed abuse for getting so fat in the first place Blush

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Sugarfreeriot · 24/03/2015 17:03

itsallgoingtobefine possibly, I guess it could be! But I'm pretty sure my thyroid meds aren't at the right level- I slept for 10 hours lat night and my dm has had to take dd so I can sleep this afternoon, I've felt like this for months. So maybe a combination of being fat, my thyroid & my diet

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Vitamints · 24/03/2015 17:04

I reported it - it looked like self-promotion to me. Nothing abusive though.

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Kaffiene · 24/03/2015 17:07

Get a Fitbit Zip and synch it with your phone. It's basically a fancy pedometer that you wear in your pocket or bra. To begin with I set mine for 10,000 steps and 30 active mins a day which is the gov recommended amount. Fast walking is counted as active time. Once I had a couple of months of meeting my targets I started C25K and now run 5k 3 times a week.
I find swimming lengths very boring but signed up for adult stroke development at my local pool. I swim loads more in a lesson than before when I used to potter about and get bored.

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ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 24/03/2015 19:15

Get a Fitbit Zip

The fitbits are awesome, however, if you are considering a tracker, I have just switched from a Fitbit Flex to a Garmin Vivofit 2...

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