to ask for exercise advice as a monstrously fat woman with dodgy knees?

[Greensleeves]

I'm sick of being fat and uncomfortable and feeling like shit all the time, and have decided to Do Something About It. Have joined MFP and a great weight loss thread on here, am managing the diet thing well and dh and I are walking 3-5k every evening.

I want to do something other than walking, but it's difficult - I'm incredibly unfit and very self-conscious, and I also have a badly dodgy knee (severed my ACL and meniscus a few years ago and have bone spurs, it makes sickening noises when I walk up steps and gets tired/weak very easily).

I looked at Aquafit classes, but I think I'm just too self-conscious to be seen in a swimming costume (honestly, it's a frightening sight) and probably too unfit for it as well. Walking long distances every evening is lovely, but very time-consuming.

Does anyone have any ideas for ways I can boost my exercise without having to look a fool or feel completely overfaced?

Swimming but take advice from a physiotherapist about what stroke is best for your knee. After my knee surgery I was told I could do all strokes eventually but it's best to check.

YABU for calling yourself monstrous!

Swimming is great exercise and easy on the joints.

Believe me, you can't be bigger than some of the ladies I've met at aqua fit. Not if you can walk.
No one cares.
Some ladies will only change in the disabled loo, not the changing room. That's fine.
Water supports your weight and joints.Its good fun, music is usually aimed at , shall we say, those of us from a certain era. Sometimes some of us sing along.
There'll be some skinnier people- usually because we've got joint problems, so still need the waters support.
Try it, you might love it. And exercise we enjoy is what we keep doing.
One of the women who's there as part of a weight loss thing, has lost more weight than the body weight of the skinniest person!

I wear board shorts (actually men's swim shorts from primary) and a vest style tanking top from yours clothing when I swim and feel very comfortable. No fat belly or thighs on show, everything covered but not frumpy.

DDPYoga. You can do it from an app in your house. Different levels of ability from ‘can only do it lying in bed’ through to much more challenging stuff. Focuses on getting your heart rate up and helping you burn fat without putting pressure on your joints and is surprisingly fun even if you’re not an exercise or yoga person. £6 a month with a month’s free trial.

I started it at 17stone in conjunction with calorie counting on MFP and am now at ten and a half. I do 30-45 minutes a day while the kids are sat at the table eating breakfast.

I feel more comfortable in one of those swimming costumes that has a sort of skirt-frill. They're flattering and I feel less naked!

Keep walking but do longer distances some days to switch things up.

If you can find a class near you try Fitsteps - it's dance-move based but you can do low impact versions of the moves at your own level, it's great fun. And full of normal women of all shapes and sizes, not gym bunnies!

I always work out at home because I hate working out in public. You'd be shocked at how fit you can get doing resistance workouts at home!

Try a simple beginner routine:

10 x squats
15 x press-ups (on knees)
15 x lunges (each side)
15 x crunches

Repeat for 3 rounds. Follow a personal trainer like Kayla Itsines on FB or Insta. She's just had a baby, so she's posting great beginner/easy workouts at the moment. She also includes routines with no jumping if you have bad knees!

I second the Aqua classes. A lot of fun too and people of all ages and sizes. Give it a try.
The more you wait to 'be thinner' before taking these things on, the more weight you will put on while you 'wait' and get demotivated to do anything. The support of others is what you need.

Online pilates is great for toning your muscles so you’ll start to feel better about your body shape. It will also strengthen your dodgy knee and surrounding muscles. There are 20 and 10 minute sessions on youtube so it’s easier to motivate yourself regularly. Likewise with yoga, little and often is more sustainable and will get great results in strength and confidence.
Don’t call yourself monstrous, you’re doing great and you should be kinder to yourself!

Op I'm a size 28. If I can do aqua fit you can. I've just started walking my dog for an extra half hour late at night when it's cool and it's brilliant

Body groove by Mist Tripoli is a great dance workout with short 3-5 mins sections that you can mix and match depending on the level of impact you’re after. Class are on line and/or on a dvd, I can’t remember how much it was but it wasn’t extortionate.

Is there anywhere you can realistically walk to where you would otherwise have driven or taken public transport?

Who gives a shit if people look at you, you are trying to do something about your weight so stuff what anyone else thinks!

Pretty much this.

Anyway, from my experience the vast majority of gym users are too focused on doing their own thing to even notice you and if they do they will probably thinking 'fair play to you'

I’m also very large with dodgy joints and I go to the gym and do low impact but high intensity such as the cross trainer (or elliptical I think it might be?) the rowing machine and also the stair machine thing. I also do yoga.

Try a personal trainer at a gym. They will be able to tailor things so as not to stress your knees. Lots of weight training as well as cardio that doesn't have to put pressure on your knees. You don't have to stick with the trainer once you've worked out what you need to do, though you might find it motivating.

Weight training is brilliant for losing weight but also for protecting against things like osteoporosis in later life.

Just make sure you sign up to do sessions with a well qualified PT.

Ideally someone who specialises in strength and conditioning. Find out what qualifications they have (some PTs are nowhere near qualified enough IMO).

My DH is a specialist PT (masters degree, 20 years experience), if you let me know the area you're looking in I can ask him to research who is in the area that he would consider well qualified.

The shit thing (for us) is that well qualified PTs only get to charge roughly the same as your average 19 year old PT with bugger all knowledge because most people don't appreciate the difference!

Oh wow, thanks for all the encouragement! I'm thinking I might grit my teeth and give the aquafit a try. I'll definitely keep going with the walking as well. DH and I both gave up smoking (on day 6 now!) and he's suggested I buy a fitbit with some of the money we'll be saving, am a bit nervous about that but MFP and Google Fit are really helping me understand the maths with calories eaten/burned so maybe the fitbit will help too.

Apologies for the word "monstrous", but that is how I feel! I flinch at the shape of my shadow when we walk after dark

If you invest in a few low weight dumbbells you could do some exercises that avoid putting strain on your knee (my husband also has dodgy knees and is overweight so i've given this a lot of thought!). e.g. stomach crunches with your feet off the ground, knees bent so your legs are right angles, tricep extensions while lying on floor (lift weights up and back over your head), chest presses. You could also try the plank.

i was a size 24 when i started aquafit - trust me, no-one cares and most of us are wobbly-sized! the reason we all do aqua classes is because we cant (for one reason or another) do dry land classes - for most of us this is because we are overweight and have joint issues. i have low self confidence so bought myself some swim cropped leggings to hide the cellulite and that makes me feel confident enough to go.

I love my Fitbit, I have the charge 3, and it's stupidly motivating when you get the well done messages and the excited buzz and message when you do 10,000 steps

I'd have also suggested aquafit, swimming, cycling (or cycling on an exercise bike). Anything low impact really.

I wouldn't worry about size. In my experience most people in fitness places respect the fact that people are trying to improve their health and fitness, not judging people at the start of their journey.

Well done OP. Remember: you're still lapping everyone on the couch.

I swim most days and I'm far fitter than I've ever been and rarely get the niggly injuries I did when walking and running. I've noticed there are quite a few people who pool walk, if you can find a pool walkable in. They are all shapes and sizes. No one cares honestly. I look exceptionally unappealing in my swim suit but I care so little I forget to even shave my legs most weeks. A few people use the little waterproof mp3 player earphone things and then they are lost in their own little pool walking world.

Can one cycle when one is very large? I'd sort of assumed I couldn't