Tell me about your journey from fat and can't move to fit.

[ferriswheel]

I'm 17 stone a bit overweight. I have lots of excuses reasons. If I do ten minutes exercise twice a day then how long will it take me to see a difference?

People who constantly fidget burn an extra 300kcal per day. Tap your legs, flail your arms. Take the stairs instead of the lift. Waiting for the kettle to boil? 10 squats. Waiting at the till? Flex your stomach muscles. On the sofa reading? Cycle with your legs.

Ultimately, you need to change your diet. Start by not snacking at all, ever.

Ten minutes twice a day equates to 140 minutes a week, which is in line with government recommendations for exercise. Although diet is the most important factor for weight loss, exercise has a role to play because it is the ‘expenditure’ part of the calorie equation.

OP, interval training is good for weight loss. This means raising your heart rate dramatically for short bursts of activity. e.g sprint for 30 seconds, walk for 30 then repeat 8 times. It is hard and you would have to really push yourself to your limits; but it is a great way to burn lots of fat. You will also need some resistance training to build muscle. Muscle tissue needs more calories than other types of tissue- even when you’re at rest.

Although the 80% diet 20% exercise thing is true, a recent study suggests that the secret to ‘keeping it off’ long term is in exercise: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/oby.21986/full

Whether you lose weight or not, exercise is very good for you in myriad ways. You might find that the benefits are numerous enough to make weight loss much less important to you.

OP firstly, well done for recognising that you need to make changes and for acknowledging you have excuses and not reasons for not exercising!

I've only recently come to accept just how hard I have to work in the gym to burn off a measly 500 calories. And just how easy it is to replace those 500 calories by eating a bar of chocolate and a banana! Its so frustrating!

To answer your original question, it would take a long time for you to notice a difference in your weight if you exercise for 10 minutes twice a day. If you can do it, incorporate more movement into your daily life - walk with the kids, jiggle around when ironing, cleaning, washing up whatever! Dont sit down to do anything except eat. Dont eat standing up - not even a biscuit. When things have settled down a bit you can carve more time into your day for YOU to do some activity

Good luck OP!

OP. I hope you're ok. Sounds like you've had an awful time and good for you for doing something positive about your weight now.

If I'm honest, I agree with the majority of posters saying it's diet. I've lost nearly a stone in the last couple of months by cutting out processed sugar and going on the 5:2 (I.e. fasting 1 or 2 days a week).

This doesn't add any extra time to my day really. I still buy and eat ready meals, I just check the label on the back for "sugar" and try to go for weight watchers or slimming world ones. Ready made soups are also great. Bung them in the microwave and away you go.

The 10 minutes twice a day will be good for your heart, OP, and might stop you from gaining weight. Both great benefits.

I used to swim two km and walk four miles most days.

Do you want to build back up to that? It's the sort of time that many folk do, to benefit heart & keep weight gain away. Call that 80 minutes a day. Maybe come up with a schedule where you do 10 minutes twice a day and then add 5 minutes (twice a day), every two weeks until you're hitting 75 minutes most days. Any activity you feel up to and little bits at different times in the day (like a 10 minute walk) count towards the total as long as they're minimum 10 minutes each time.

I wouldn't want to run at 17 stone. I see people who do, but since you know how to swim well, swimming would be a better bet to minimise injury risk.

You need to get fit enough to do more exercise. So actually those 10 minutes will make a difference, as long as you increase the time as you get fitter.

When I started the gym (15 years ago!) I could only do 10 minutes on the cross trainer. I built up slowly untill I was up to 50 minutes 4 times a week. I lost 2 and a half stone in 6 months.

Prwviously I had lost this amount of weight at Weight Watchers but put it back on. The gym way I kept it off for 10 years. The menopause has struck now and despote still going to the gym I am overweight again.

Don't listen to the nasty people. Why should you explain your whole life story? You wanted to know about exercise. Some cowardly people just can't resist putting the boot in.

It sounds like you have been through a tough time, and I commend you for finding the strength to leave. My mum stayed with a bully for 65 yeats and died miserable because of him. You have the chance to find joy! Good luck, and stay strong.

I'm on a weight loss place myself. I lift and I'm pretty fit but I've found intermittent fasting no helps me. I noticed I have more will power ans less appetite early in the day so I no longer eat on the morning unless I've worked out. I tend to eat most of my calories in the evening when I have a tendency to snack. But I try to not eat for at least 15 hours a day.
It does feel a bit weird and takes so. E getting used to but it's working for me. I am noticing I am leaning out more.

I was the same weight as you and lost 5.5 stone 5 years ago (and kept it off until I got preg earlier this year. ) as others have already said above the main change was diet. I joined slimming world that worked really well for me as I like to cook from scratch and try new recipes. Once I lost about 3.5-5 stone I started running and doing exercise classes like HIIT style. That pushed the final stubborn pounds off and has helped me maintain the loss. But (before preg) I was running 3-6 miles 3x a week and doing 1 or 2 hour long classes. So it’s quite a lot more than I think you’re imagining it might take.
But it’s possible! Go for it!

It was a different situation as it was caused by an SPD ridden pregnancy that caused the weight gain and complete loss of fitness, but I did start with less than 10 minutes of exercise, walking to the postbox and back then lying down to recover. That quickly built up and within a couple of months of gently going a little bit further each time, I could walk a couple of miles which then meant I was getting fit enough for more mainstream exercise.

10 minutes isn't going to cure anything in itself, but it's starting point to greater benefits, and there is positive effects from 10 minutes being active compared to being sedentary. So yes, 10 minutes is worth it

With diet, especially if life is overwhelming, make a positive change at a time. It might be something small like drinking more water.

Tiredness can be a vicious cycle. Avoiding activity and having quick fix simple carbs make it worse. Introducing more variety of protein, healthy fats, complex carbs and veg will long term help towards more stable energy levels. That doesn't have to mean lots of cooking and faddy diets. Something like porridge with frozen fruit takes the same time to make as a round of toast, but satisfies for far longer.

Good luck making positive changes in your life OP.

I lost weight this year I was doing my 10000 steps at the time and then I lost 25lbs i genuinely feel I can run and do exercise. I would consider weight loss and walking soon as the weight goes you will feel like doing more. Good luck 😉

Wrt to diet: it must be incredibly difficult to devote time and effort to it when you are a single mother to three very small kids, plus the fact you are going through a very difficult time emotionally.

If you mainly exist on toast, you won’t be able to achieve the health benefits and weight loss that you want. Do you have any time at all during the week or over the weekend that you could spend doing a bit of batch cooking? Things like chilli/bolognese/chicken casserole to put in the fridge/freezer. You can use lean meat/lentils/quorn and serve with brown rice or other whole grains like vulgar wheat etc. Not exactly diet food but not unhealthy as long as portion sizes are controlled.

Lol @ vulgar wheat. Don’t use that! 😂

If it's fitting round the children that's the problem for exercising, why not include them? Pushing a buggy and chasing DC round a playground are great forms of exercise!

Start with a short walk, then build up. The DC will get fitter as well (the ones not in the buggy).

I think you are doing the right thing.
Start with 10 mins (walking not running) and build up gradually. ~Don't try and kill yourself because you wont stick at it
I motivated myself by booking myself on to a trek in the Ugandan rainforest to see gorillas in the wild.
It worked. I went from walking for 15 mins a day in wet and windy wales, to trekking into the jungle in search of mountain gorillas (yes I found them). Only trouble is, I stopped walking when I came back and had to book another trip to Nepal (poor me). Now I have just booked another to Peru.
Still not skinny, but a lot healthier and thinner than I was.
Pick something to motivate you and go for it. Slowly

Post 2 implies the OP is what is called in these parts a GF. I wonder if this sort of automatic response puts some people off posting?

Loveka I think you have misunderstood rose. I think she is saying that the first response to the OP was the goady fucker post - and that it's replies like that which might deter people who really need help.

You can't outrun your mouth (i.e. you can't burn as much as you eat) so sort your diet first. Much easier to save 500cals putting that donut down than to try and burn those 500cals after.

Hi op

I orders a cheap version of fit bit off eBay and it connects to my phone. It tells me steps and Cala burnt. You could get one any try and do steps/ Cals a day. It was like 11-13 pound I think. It's good 😊

Calories ffs iPhone !

Oh, I see! Sorry Rose!

Go for it, OP!
I’ve always been v slender but I’m aware that time is marching on (46 now) and although I walk five miles a day on the school run, I feel I need a bit extra to stay toned.
What I do (and I’m so glad no one can see me) is do things like squats/leg raises when I’m cleaning my teeth and putting my contacts in. That’s an extra 4-5 minutes a day of movement or targeted exercise.
If you’re unfit and uncoordinated, maybe don’t try squats with a brush in your mouth, but if there’s sth else you can use as squat time, then do it!

I’m also a real jiggler! Seriously. I reckon if you can start off gently with the ten-minute sessions, some juggling and some bends/squats/baked bean can arm-raises while the kettle boils, you’ll see some results by Xmas.
Ditch the toast habit though. Or at least add some hummus to it.

I've lost just over two stone by following Slimming World (not particularly strictly) and walking at least 10K steps every day.

You can do it. Good luck!

Much easier to save 500cals putting that donut down than to try and burn those 500cals after

^ this x 100

I think it's a great start OP. I am super unfit and can't do more than 10 mins depending on the intensity. Start at 10 mins and build to 15 and keep building. If you don't have time, get up early. I find it i exercise i eat better anyway because I don't want to ruin the hard work I've put in and find it far easier to turn down shitty food.