I feel like I'm so unfit that getting fit is going to be actually impossible.

[OhioOhioOhio]

I feel like across between a slug and an elephant with a sore head. I'm so unfit and fat it seems pointless to even try. Can anyone give me any advice or pointers? Thank you.

Change 1 thing. Walk a bit more every day. At the start, small changes really make all the difference. You can do it!

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed but by focusing on 1 small change and just repeating that, the rest will follow later. If right now you are managing 1000 steps a day... go for 1500 tomorrow and then every day for the rest of the week. 2000 next week. You got it!

Your thread has just motivated me to ask my husband to do a bit of exercise with me tonight. Start small, like me. Get some of those stretchy bands and see if there are workouts on YouTube.

No physical problem, just a head problem of being totally defeated and feeling like it's an impossible challenge.

Here’s a handhold OP. You CAN do this! Start really small.

I tried C25K and found it too hard. I just wasn’t even at that level of fitness and any amount of running exacerbated a back problem.

I found this quite helpful as I can do it at home in private ( although it took me a week (!) to work up to the whole 20 mins. I don’t enjoy it, but I am seeing and feeling a difference.

Just remember to start small - and that its fine if your small is not the same as someone elses (looking at you C25K!)

One last offering. OP, try this. (Photo. I don't know who to credit as it's just a photo I saw on the Internet.) It doesn't look like much but this little sequence has sustained me for about three years now. It's both gentle and strenuous and takes no time at all - but leaves me feeling mildly pleased with myself. I often do it in pyjamas, last thing before falling into bed.

Don’t even try G if you have a bad back!

That’s a sun salutation. Yoga

Shssh, Atalune! It's nothing at all - just a little bit of gentle stretching, which is what the OP asked for ...

And she's entirely free to leave out any part that seems too challenging. (I have the worst knee and this really helps to keep it mobile.)

Op it does sound like you have a little bit of a mental block about how much potential you have. Aim to make a little time when you wake up thinking in detail about a few things ;or even one, you are going to achieve that day to look after yourself, cooking a healthy meal, yoga, a wAlk, doing your hair nice, doing a kind act for someone, feel how you will feel when you do it, embrace that feeling and hold onto how good it feels. Find time to do it during the day so you can actually create rather than just imagine how it feels. At the end of the day think about what you achieved, if it didn’t work out quite how you wanted it doesn’t matter you can try again. Know you can do these things and you will.

No physical problem, just a head problem of being totally defeated and feeling like it's an impossible challenge.

Make it a smaller challenge then. Choose a miniscule addition and add it to your daily routine - take any of the ideas on here, and scale down as far as you need until it feels doable.

E.g. if you choose dance, dance slowly to 1 short song with the kids each day. After a week, the next step will feel less daunting, and you could pick a longer song, or dance more energetically. Bit by bit you will become fit enough to find it really fun.

Fitness builds on itself: start to remind your body what you want it to be doing and it will respond.

the secret is to start now and stick with it. It takes time, you need to make peace with that. If you give yourself to stick with something for 3 months, you will start to see progress.

improving your diet won't hurt, it's 70% of weight loss (roughly)! But of course it's hard. It's harder not to start.

You know, the fittest, slimmest strongest people I know look like an absolute mess when they are training. If you find yourself in a snotty place with people looking down at you, don't be discouraged and find somewhere else. Some people exercise to show off make-up and pretty gear and selfies, others exercise for the fitness aspect. Just join the right crew if you feel insecure.

You inspired me op. I did a workout after this.

How was your evening OP? Have you had any thoughts about where you'd like to start?

You’re aiming too big. I’m mega fat and unfit. I started walking, 10 mins or so. Increased it and kept going and a few months later I did a 15 mile charity walk. Now doing couch to 5k. Is it hard? Yes. Am I stupidly slow? Also yes. But all you need to do is put one foot in front of the other. As long as you can do that, you can get fitter

When I train I sweat so much my hair and top is soaked through.

Completely.

My face is scarlet and I bear more than a passing resemblance to Ms Trunchbull.

You just start at the beginning.

Maybe waking up before the kids is the secret? Get up at 6 and do a class. If you want to DM me you can join my online zoom gym? My instructor is great. And people at all stages and ages are part of her classes.

OP I started with the Leslie Sansone Walk at Home sessions on youtube - the one mile walk is doable at home and manageable for beginners - even if you just do the 5min warm up to start. I am terribly unfit but as a single mum can't get out for a run and this helped me get started.

1. Another vote for Leslie Sansonne. You can start with a ten minute video. It's very basic and easy, and designed to get people who are absolute beginners up and moving from the convenience of their living room.

1. Download a calorie counting app just to get started on understanding where your excess calories are coming from. It really helps so much to be informed.

1. Focus on yourself for meals. Don't worry about changing the whole family's eating habits yet. Just start with yourself. Double the vegetables in whatever you have planned, and halve the carbohydrates. Or make yourself big salads with chicken or cheese, and let the children eat beans on toast so that you aren't making two complex meals. Once your own health starts to improve you can think about better meals for the whole family.