to think its not socially acceptable for fat people to exercise

[starshaker]

If you go to the gym then you get looked at like a lazy blob who actually has no right to be in the presence of "normal" people who want to exercise without having their eyes insulted by having to look at a fat person. In sports shops there isn't a selection of clothes that will fit fat people.

Then you get people who feel its acceptable to comment when you say you go to the gym/do yoga/cycle. God forbid if a fat person wants to swim.

Im fat, i deny myself food, i exercise till i hurt but i am still fat.

(I am seeing a dietician and having bloods done to see if there is something medical wrong)

I use my fittness pal. I have my calories set to 1300 and i normally have about 97 ish left. I track everything even if i have diluting juice i scan it. I even scan water if its in a bottle

Starshaker surely just take the dog out for a jog instead?! Forget all the gym issues! (and i went from being a non-exerciser to a regular jogger living in a country village where evening runs were done in the dark, in the rain, when it was about 3 degrees, so although it sounds very unappealing, you do quickly discover that that's actually the best weather for running )

I don't think you can include walking the dog in any kind of weight loss program.

But I expect it will help to slowly raise your fitness levels if in the past you haven't done a great deal of walking.

Hi OP.
Fwiw, I'm a bit of a gym bunny, and love classes as well. When I see a larger person exercising, I find them inspiring and definitely do not judge, I'm always really impressed. As a newbie its hard walking through the gym doors and doubly so for someone who's on the larger side. Best of luck.

TBH 1300 calories sounds totally drastic and as though you need to see a GP as well as a dietician if you're actually sticking to that and putting on weight. I'd up the calories to a point that doesn't feel like starvation and up the exercise to go with that.

Why is it that because people may have not experienced what the OP has that they assume she is 'paranoid' or it is 'all in her head'? If this is the OPs experience then that is her experience. Many fat people DO experience derision or verbal abuse if they exercise publicly. I certainly have.

I was allowing myself 1500 but the nurse said there is no way i can expect to lose anything on that and to cut it to 1200-1300 at the max

Bollocks that nurse is talking shit and you need more calories than that. Although I think your estimations are way out. Especially the baked potato and cheese one.

Just posting in relation to the number of cals.

I gain weight very easily, and can live off 1000 cals and day and not even lost 1lb a week.

However, when i switch to a paleo diet, ( cutting out all sugar) i can eat 1500 plus a day and drop 4lbs a week.

The school of thought is changing and its more about what you are eating, rather than how many cals you are eating.

Your salad is good but your breakfast isnt, if its a low fat yoghurt it will be packed with sugar, try having some eggs.

your jacket potato with beans, again, just pure sugar. Try some chicken and veg with a bit of butter, or some nice steak or something.

cut the fruit to a portion of berries a day ( fruit is packed full of sugar) and snack of a new nuts instead.

You are not eating enough. At all. Your body will be in starvation mode and will desperately cling to every last calorie

That nurse sounds like a sadist...

Assuming there isn't something very complex going on and it is a matter of energy in/on vs energy out (and I know that that's quite difficult enough as it is - i am a biologist and am reasonably aware of all the metabolic issues around overweight and obesity), i would say you're probably eating too little, but the main thing is you're not doing anywhere near hard enough exercise. Playing football with the kids and walking with the dog isn't going to get your heart rate up enough for your body to feel like you're actually doing exercise, and thus for your body to give you all the benefits of exercise.

As a rough guide you need to be sufficiently out of breath to be only just able to talk normally, for about 30 minutes, about 5 times a week. I would say probably the easiest way to achieve that, from a starting point of fairly low fitness, would be the running 2 minutes/walking 1 minute thing I suggested above. You don't have to be obsessive about the precise exercise regime, but it makes it easier to see progress if you measure it somehow. I used to do it by counting the streetlamps - and was happy every time I extended the running to pass another streetlamp.

If you do take up running - try to keep your footfalls as quiet as possible, which often means softening (bending) your knees a bit more than most non-runners. This will make your legs ache, but it will make your joints happier! When I took up running i had a very foot-slapping style and it really made everything hurt and made motivation so much harder. Correcting the gait to be as quiet as possible made it much, much easier to keep going.

OP, you do know that fat people are not allowed to get pregnant either, don't you?

I was a size 24 when I fell pregnant. Maternity clothes were not available anywhere above a size 22. It's like there is an assumption if a person s that fat, noone will get near enough to make them pregnant.

Being pregnant and overweight is a whole other ball game

It can have dire consequences for both Mother and baby, in the same way that smoking can.

You are not eating enough. At all. Your body will be in starvation mode and will desperately cling to every last calorie

If you are really accurately weighing your food, and if you are really in the obese range (not just 1lb into the overweight range) then THIS. You need to eat more.

Set your MFP loss to 1/2lb per week and weigh everything, and eat all your exercise calories (average them out over a week if it's more convenient). You may not lose 1/2lb every single week but you WILL lose.

Do NOT try to lose more than this and do NOT avoid eating your exercise calories. NEVER go below 1100 calories net (that's what you eat minus exercise). Also try and get everywhere you are going under your own steam (walk, cycle etc, get off/on bus at an earlier stop) as it is a lot easier not to say "oh I'm busy/late" when you have to get there anyway. But count this exercise too.

When you are comfortable with this, try having a day a week of eating more or less what you want.

This is how I lost 4 stone over 10 years, and kept it off. It is not a quick fix. It does work.

Selks, we can only go by our own experience. I am truly shocked by the thought of people in gyms especially hurling abuse at anyone. I didn't assume that it was all in the OPs head but I do remember the feeling of self-consciousness when I first started to go to the gym. On several occasions got changed ready to go, drove in and decided that there were too many cars and drove straight out again. I found it terribly intimidating. I have never seen any instances of abuse but of course that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. In my experience most people at the gym are just concentrating on what they are doing rather than on other people.

CorusKate - completely agree that walking is good. It's just way, way better if you jog a bit as well (and the dog will probably like that too)

And I really think - yes there are nobbers in the world who make rude comments. But you only have one life and you don't have to include the nobbers in it. Toughing it out taking up gentle exercise 5x/week cannot possibly be the hardest thing you have ever done OP, for a start, you've already had children...

Not at my gym which has an even distribution of fat, fit and inbetween people.

The OP said she's being checked for medical issues to see if there is something wrong.

Last month I went for a taster session in my rough town local gym. It was bloody awful. In fact I truly wouldn't be surprised if it was a front for a brothel or dog fighting pit or something - the people were horrible, I was openly sniggered at and I felt deeply uncomfortable. Naturally, haven't been back since.

However, before I moved up here I was a member of a gym which was part of a golf resort - £30/month (cheaper than shit pit I trialled!) and the atmosphere was great. People were pleasant and I was made to feel really welcome.

Finding the right gym is key.

I saw a dietician for years, they spouted the same 'diet' advice at me. told me to go to weight watchers etc, however, the very food i was eating was making me fat and very ill. I gained weight at a very low cal count too.

15 years later its found out i have several allergys, insulin resistance and pcos.

Ive found something that works, which isnt about a diet, but about nourishing your body, my doctor doesnt really understand it ( even though theres lots of info out there about it)

Now i eat lots, my skin has cleared up, i have bags of energy and feel great, and im dropping weight really quite easily. Ive still got a long road to go, but its something of a revelation.

Oh no it's horrid that you're made to feel this way! Can you go for a run? That way you won't notice any looks or comments (I doubt there'll be any anyway), and you'll be running away from them anyway. And it's free!

I'm a 16, always have been and always probably will be, but I'm fit and healthy, so don't really care if people don't like me running! Started off feeling self conscious but now I feel thinner when I run down the street than when I walk down the street! Endorphins :)

i feel like i should start smoking again and stop taking the ADs.

I joined the gym because obviously walking the dog and playing with the kids wasnt doing anything for me. I live in a small village. I walk to the local shop and the school. I need to drive everywhere else not that i do much driving

How long have you been going to the gym and changing your diet OP?