To not go to my expensive gym?

[gaspingwaythroughlife]

I got a bit carried away in January and joined an expensive gym.

I am at least 5 stone overweight.

I am useless. Rubbish, hopeless. I do around three minutes and am gasping for breath, in huge amounts of pain and hating it.

I now retrospectively realise that I should have shifted a couple of stone BEFORE joining but anyone got any suggestions in the interim?

Simply by the fact you have joined and gone you are clearly not useless!
Can you afford a trainer? Someone who can really help you pitch what you're doing at the right level and motivate you through?
I know some fab PTs, and many of them were not always as fit as they are now, they will be able to help. Look for ones who say they focus on weightloss.

first wk or so i only did 20 mins cardio - it's about finding your level and building up

Keep going. Build up slowly. I get bored so chop and change with 10 min on treadmill , 10 min on bike, 5 min rowing (hate it), 10 min cross trainer, 10 min stair climber, 10 min skiing machine thingy. I do classes because they are more fun but you might want to improve fitness a bit first as you are less able to go at your own pace. Even if you did five mins on each machine you would have done half an hour, which is much better than nothing. Don't make it too gentle though. Work hard and sweat!

No, you aren't useless, OP! Start gentle, watch a favourite programme while you go on the cross-trainer or something, build up slowly. And get someone to show you some weights exercises. If it is an expensive gym, enjoy the sauna or whatever. I am off to my gym now - I am 50, overweight and love it there.

When you joined the gym they should give you a routine to work to, show you how to use the equipment, what resistance to use and times. If they've not done this, speak to them. They have a duty of care to ensure you don't hurt yourself. 5/10 mins walking on the treadmill is a good start, 5 on the bike, you don't have to go fast, just enough to know you're working for now.

Please keep with it and ask for help, that's what the staff are there for. And finally don't worry about the super fit gym bunnies, I'm sure plenty of them were over weight when they joined too.

Sounds like you're doing cardio. It's important and you should keep doing it but have a think about weights.

If you've already invested anyway, go for bust - spend some more on a Personal Trainer once a week. It'll be about £20 a session but if you did it for 10 sessions, it's be cash hugely well invested.

The trainer could help you with weights which has a few benefits.

1. Building muscle won't make you "big" but can massively improve your metabolism. This helps you lost more weight just through usual everyday activities.
2. It can be really empowering. Knowing you can lift weights can really improve your confidence
3. It's easier than cardio! Well,

Different anyway! I'm not a lover of cardio but weights are kind of fun... Kind of!

There are loads of Pinterest motivational quotes you can see online but the one that sticks with me is "3 months from today, you'll be glad you started". Three months ago, I was three stone heavier rage today. I'm sooooo glad I started three months ago. I've still got another three stones to go.

Get your head down and push into it. You've got to live thru those 3 months anyway - it's hard being fat and it's hard to lose weight. Which hard are you going to choose for the 3 months?

Keep at it OP your fitness will improve every time and when you start to feel those changes you won't regret it.

What have you been doing for the 3 mins?

Three minutes of exercise is significantly better than zero! Well done for taking this step. I know it's a huge one. And it's always tempting to look at the staff or other members and think that they're not interested in you.

It couldn't - or shouldn't - be further from the truth.

If you've joined an expensive gym, than take advantage of that. You're paying for them to help you. What else are the gym staff there for?!

And if they don't help you, or seem unwilling, then resign your membership and go to a cheaper/better one, where people will help you.

However, there's something else you need to know. Exercise counts for only about 20% of losing weight - your diet is 80%. (If you read someone like Dr Jason Fun, he says it's only 5% compared to 95% of diet!).

And exercise can sometimes be counter productive - you burn more calories so your body (which always seeks to be in a balanced state, aka homeostasis) will tell you to eat more. And/or you indulge in compensatory behaviour - I've been to the gym so I deserve that Mars Bar/glass of wine/slice of cake, etc

But I definitely with PP - find something at the gym that you do enjoy. One thing that's guaranteed is that you won't stick at it if you don't enjoy it.

Good luck

I was going to ask about swimming. Is there a pool there OP? You can swim or 'power walk' in the pool. Great exercise which you can build up slowly and you'll find there are a lot of like minded people there.

You get tired swimming but not that hot sweaty gasp for breath horrible tired :)

YABU. I have a friend who keeps telling me that he will come to the gym just as soon as he has managed to lose a bit of weight.
If he had been going to the gym all this time, he would have lost the weight long time ago!

But yes, ask for an introductory session, or personal trainer. Don't just wander around aimlessly, doing random things here and there.

Look at cheaper gyms. My gym, for instance, is a cheap 24hr national chain (I pay £17.99/month) with lots of machines, free weights and classes. The classes are led by personal trainers who use the gym as their base for their PT work. So loads of people pay for a PT on top of the membership, which I suppose works well given it's a cheap gym. A PT can then help develop a plan tailored to you. If you're unfit they will help you build up your fitness levels.

Expensive isn't always better.

GO walk on the treadmill do a few lengths of the pool, just take the first and hardest step! 3 years ago I was 4 stone heavier. I hated going to the gym. Know I am a gym bunny who does triathlons. I started going as I was sick of feeling horrid all the time. I slowly gets addictive.

When I see people taking that first step I a feel proud of them and no matter what remember you are over taking the person on the sofa! Go enjoy it sport should be fun!

Keep at it,
I started at the gym, couldn't run more than a minute without being out of breath, several stone overweight.
I just went every day and did what I felt like - some days just a few weights, some days just 5 minutes on a couple of machines (I found rowing the easiest)
5 months later I had lost 2.5 stone (dieting as well) and ran a 10k with only a little bit of walking.
It is achievable and little steps is better than nothing - you're still lapping everyone sat at home doing nothing!!

OP, if it would help join or start a thread in the exercise section (hidden in health!) where others can encourage you and vice versa.

When I started going to the gym again after paying for it for months but not going last June I was 4 stone overweight. I was also "hopeless" and felt very self conscious.

I very slowly built up my stamina and now I love going and am only about half a stone overweight.

Do ask for help. Do find zero fucks to give about what others think (even though they aren't even thinking about you at all).

Keep going. These first weeks are the hardest.

I agree with the pp who suggested classes as a way to start as you get the benefit of an instructor especially if you're shy. Something like Zumba is a good way to start. If there's a gym try swimming or Aqua.

Take a little book with you and write down exactly what you do.

Do 3 mins on each thing. Next time do 3.5 mins. Write down how many calories you use etc.

I'm used to be in the same boat, I'm still just as heavy but I built my fitness up over time and it has stayed with me. I used to only be able to do 3 mins before being exhausted. Even after a whole year off the gym I managed to do 15-20 mins on each.

Good luck

I couldn't speak to anyone at the gym! There are super fit and motivated. I am useless.

the suggestion isn't you approach someone working out. but a member of staff.
don't give up.

I was 10 stone overweight when I joined my gym...at first I just used the sit down bike ,it's like an arm chair but a bike...it took me 2 hours to burn 300 calories...I went every day and just did that....then one day the gym was empty,I'd been eyeing up the rowing machine and wondering if I could get up of it afterwards as it's low down....so I had a few goes getting on and off it...then I started rowing every day....fast forward a month and I try the cross trainer....and it's like I'm flying😜..then I tried the running machine and the stepper and a thing that is like yr skiing....all this took a yr before I now run go on the stepper ,cross trainer,row ,bike.every day I burn 600 calories..weight loss has slowed down ,but I'm also nipping bulimia in the bud as well,and the exercise massively helps with that ...do keep going...as I say to myself,if I'm at the gym ,I'm not eating😃

I couldn't speak to anyone at the gym! There are super fit and motivated. I am useless.

No. No. No. They will love you Seriously - they can help you make a difference. A big difference to your size and your health/fitness levels. Help you live longer.

Tweaking the programme of a size 8 gym bunny is dull. Helping someone change their lives is what makes their job worthwhile.

Speak to them. Please.

Just to give you a background here before any advice..I was a personal trainer with a particular interest in obesity (changed career 15 years ago, had two kids and ironically am now overweight myself - gearing up to get back in the gym but have a lot of other stuff going on so finding it really hard).

Joining was a brilliant first step. You shouldn't be feeling like you do though, especially the pain. All of the previous posters suggesting a couple of sessions with a personal trainer are spot on. A PT can talk to you about your goals, how it all makes you feel and design a programme that suits you. If it was me I would have introduced some very gentle (walking pace on a cross trainer) for a minute or two with a minute or two rest, lots of appropriate stretching, perhaps starting some squats (with a gym ball against a wall) and lunges (teaching proper technique essential) and also referred to a nutritionist or slimming club - although for me the eating usually falls into place with the exercise. The experts are there for a reason - just going in blind and hoping for the best because it it is 'just exercise' can be a disaster (and once you get going and learn good technique you will realise that a lot of those 'super fit and motivated' people have shockingly bad technique and will be doing more harm than good!).

Good luck!

Yes yabu to not go. You signed up for a reason, others opinions of you should be of no importance and not stop you from achieving a goal. You have every right to be there and if you are exhausted after 3.5mins, take it much slower and set your own pace

At reception ask if they have induction sessions or if any of the personal trainers will do a free session with you. Find one that you like with the free sessions and then book a regular session. Even if it's just every couple of months.

Another fan of Slimming World here. Their food optimising approach is very, very successful. Please do join up. You will quickly lose the first half stone and then you will find that exercise becomes progressively easier.

Stick to the gym. But you must talk to a member of staff and get them to make up an exercise plan for you. Start slow and steady and gradually build it up.

You should also have a health check with your GP. If you are 5 stone overweight get your heart and blood pressure checked before you embark on a new exercise programme.

Oh, and invest in a really good, supportive bra. And be prepared to buy a new one every time you go down a clothing size.

Good luck !

Ah, you're all lovely! Thanks to your cheerleading (I was dying walking) I carried on.

I think you're right that I was trying to do too much. I actually used to be slim (well, sort of slim!!) and active and so I think my mind remembered that - unfortunately, my muscles didn't, whereas in the past they have, if that makes sense.

So I lumbered on the treadmill. I used to do it at an incline but I just find this is too painful for my legs.

Again, the rower - I used to be GREAT at this but it really hurt my legs which surprised me - I think of it as an exercise which will make my arms look like Michelle obamas but the pain was all in my legs.

I am intimidated by the gym people as even when exercising they look perfect and I have primark jogging bottoms and Asda trainers and am red and puffing and sweaty!

Swimming - I have a love hate relationship with, I'd probably be a great hippo as I love wallowing around IN water but doing lengths I'm not so great at!