Aibu to not know how to exercise as a fat person

[Blueonwhite]

Really really fat (140kg) and need to lose weight.

I want to exercise as part of my journey (I know and understand that food is the most important part) but it’s so physically hard! Went to beginners yoga and couldn’t do hardly any moves. My stomach was in the way of simple moves and I just can’t hold my own weight on my hands right now. The teacher sort of gave up on me after two sessions.

Tried a beginners fitness/stability class and couldn’t lie on my back and lift my legs to the ceiling. Again too much fat on my stomach to do the moves. The teacher said not to sit on the stability ball so I guess they’re not for people of my weight. Had to sit out that part.

Tried spinning and lasted 5 mins if that. The seat really hurt (I presume because I’m so heavy) and I just don’t have any stamina.

Going walking is fine but isn’t going to help burn calories/get the heart pumping/help with mental health.

Aibu to think I’ll need to lose a lot of weight before I can exercise properly?

need more cardio workouts - now it can be just walking or alternating jogging or swimming, start at the minimum comfortable time and increase. be patient - it's not so fast, the main thing for you is to confidently start your journey with at least something! I believe in you! read a lot of examples on the Internet and join!

Track your food.

Walk everywhere at a pace that you can breathe at but is still feeling like you’re doing something.

No way would I be doing any classes etc until I’d lost a significant amount of weight.

Agree with keep up with walking. Also try to build up the big muscle groups if you can, quads and glutes esp. start by literally tensing the muscle for 10 seconds the release just to get some movement there. You really need to consider protecting your joints though. I would invest in at least a few sessions with a personal trainer to show you how to exercise safely. When you’re carrying a lot of weight it’s especially important alignment is right.

But you’re doing great setting out on this journey, best of luck

Well done on getting started on making changes OP. I'm no expert but I'd say look at things that get your heart rate up but are easy on your joints to start with, like swimming, cycling and the cross trainer. Could you join a gym or buy an exercise bike or cross trainer to use at home? A bit of home kit might work better than a gym as it's easier to fit it the time to do it, and you can work out in your bra and pants while watching Netflix if you want. I have an exercise bike with a fan set up in front of it, and use it every morning even if it's just for 15 minutes.

Brisk walking should get your heart up and help with weight loss but again careful of your joints; if you start going for 10km hikes all of a sudden your knees and hips probably won't thank you. Going for three 10 minute brisk walks a day have been found to be beneficial for peoples health, maybe try to fit in a ten minute walk in the morning, lunch and evening. Find some interesting podcasts or audiobooks to listen to while doing it.

So my shopping list for you would be...

• either a cross trainer or exercise bike (I'd start with the bike). I got mine from Argos for just under £100, also have a look on gumtree and pre loved.
• a fan to set up in front of bike/cross trainer.
• A yoga mat (loads of YouTube videos to do at home).
• Comfy walking shoes.

@SchrodingersImmigrant
Thanks, I know I'm lazy I'll try and weigh everything out. It's just when you're rushing to get dinner ready and put in 100g potato for example and there's pages and pages of different options I find it off putting so CBA, but I need to BA!

@madcatladyforever I went out after dark so nobody would see me struggling

Oh god don’t let the fat person be seen by other people it could be so offensive to their eyes🙄🙄

I like Zumba and swimming also kettlebell workouts x

You are not being unreasonable. The first step to making these changes, and finding a healthier lifestyle is to make small changes that work for you. Food is 80%, fitness 20% so smaller portions, and more steps to start.
When I started losing weight last year, I looked at what I was eating and I upped my steps to 10k a day. As I got more comfortable, and started losing pounds I upped my steps to 15k then 20k. Once I've lost a substantial amount of weight, that was when I looked into more fitness. Swimming, running etc.
You will find it so much easier if you focus on what you can do, and what you enjoy than what you feel you have to do because it's expected.
You've got this op!!

Also if you aren't sure you can do an excessive amount of steps a day, start with brisk walking. Enough that you can still talk, but you start to feel a little bit more breathless and warm. You can build up to the bigger things when you're ready.

[quote daubrew]@SchrodingersImmigrant
Thanks, I know I'm lazy I'll try and weigh everything out. It's just when you're rushing to get dinner ready and put in 100g potato for example and there's pages and pages of different options I find it off putting so CBA, but I need to BA![/quote]
Oooh i get that. The good thing is that it keeps your selection. So next time the same potato will come up first. Or scan codes. I usually take few min before to do this rather than during cooking. It's a pain first few weeks. It will help though to get an idea about your intake, portions, ingredients. You don't have to do it for ever. Good luck!

Even walking up and down in the winning pool is good if you can’t manage to swim at first. The water supports you and helps you not damage yourself.

Search for low impact all standing workouts on YouTube.

Don’t underestimate walking. Fit bit on and fast pace. I aim for 15,000 steps minimum usually 20,000. I lost 5 stone in 8 months. Down mainly to diet. I also swim a couple of times a week.

There is a youtube video called 'yoga for bigger bodies' the focus is very much 'do what you can today and next time you'll be able to do a little bit more' I was surprised at how quickly my flexibility improved which made being more active easier

I'm a very similar weight, OP, and can empathise with the tummy being in the way part.

I do strength exercise (lifting weights, which can be improvised at home) and I do yoga/pilates stuff. It sounds like you had a rubbish teacher to be honest.

There are plus size yoga teachers on you tube, if you search for them. Here's a beginner's routine;

And it's been years since I visited the site also apologies if it's changed but Nerd Fitness was great for learning about working out at home and lifting heavy stuff. Women are generally afraid of lifting heavy in case we get "bulky" but that doesn't happen, and 6 reps of lifting something heavy like a 5 litre container of water is a far more effective way of developing stronger, toned muscles than 100 reps of lifting a tiny light tin of baked beans.

As others have suggested, stay away from high impact stuff - no running or jumping for now, and spinning is horrible on anybody's joints. As aforementioned, walking is great. Aim for a purposeful stride that leaves you slightly out of breath but not gasping.

I'd be happy to keep in touch as accountability buddies if you'd like?

'Going walking is fine but isn’t going to help burn calories/get the heart pumping/help with mental health.'

Did someone tell you that or is that what you think yourself op?

Because it simply isnt true.
Walking is a fantastic way to kick start weight loss providing you watch your food intake as well. It does wonders for your mental too, out in the fresh air, you're out of the house, you can push yourself as much as you want, walk briskly to get you're heart rate up and incorporate some slopes

My dp and I lost alot of weight just by walking and watching our diet a few years back and kept it off too

Walking alone wont lose you the weight but a long walk makes me feel feel good, motivated me and keeps me out of the cupboard and considering I was severely depressed at the time helped those feelings of worthlessness

Once you've lost some.weight then by all means try other classes but dont underestimate a long and brisk walk :)

I started at over 120kg, I found swimming the best exercise. It burns loads of calories and won't hurt your joints. You need to find something you can do consistently where you won't injure yourself.

I did this combined with Keto. I'm now 82kg and have been for over a year now. If you get the diet right you don't whack the weigh back on if you can't exercise for some reason. I maintain perfectly well now on just low carbs.

Whatever you do, I would try make it low impact as it's so easy to get injured in our weight range.

OP, perhaps the mistake is joining fitness classes that are geared towards people with lower BMIs. You will need a lot of modifications initially and there's no shame in that. It's brilliant that you want to do this.

I recommend you look up some of the fat fitness gurus as they are inspirational. Try some of Jessamyn Stanley's workouts at home. And definitely buy yourself a kettle bell and some weights, and learn to do some basic lifts.

You can also create your own programme of development and build it up each day. E.g. To build up squats, start by just sitting down and getting straight up from a solid chair. Or put the loo seat down and get up, sit down 10 times in the bathroom. Do that every night while you clean your teeth, adding one extra sit-down-stand-up each night until you are at 30. Then try the first one where you stand up again just before you actually place your weight on the seat. (Your flesh might still touch it but your weight isn't resting.) That's a squat. Next day do 2 like that and the rest as normal etc until you are doing 30 proper squats each day. Then you can develop a really good routine with squats: wide squats, squats with weights, pulsing squats etc. They are a brilliant exercise to master because - bluntly - they make it easier to get off your tush! If you can spring, strongly out of a chair when the doorbell rings or someone calls to you from another room, then you are starting to increase your daily exercise in tiny but useful ways.

I met a school DM I hadn't seen in months, she was beaming I had to mention how well she looked she lost about 3.5 stone and really toned up. She said she walked briskly for 5 miles 5 days a week with her ipod.

Take a look at these women. All of them teach fitness or are fitness influencers for plus size women. They will encourage you to feel it is possible and fun and right for you.

I couldn't exercise and walking was something that helped me a lot. I walk daily for an hour and keep the diet.

@Dixiechickonhols - did you not find your feet really hurt doing 20k steps a day while carrying excess weight? I love walking but at my heaviest I really struggled when I walked that far several days in a row when we were on holiday and sightseeing.

Definitely keep walking, if you do enough distance or add in a hill or two it will get your heart rate up! Maybe try aqua aerobics, its low impact on your body but definitely a work out. If you can afford it get a PT, this is what they are trained to do and are well worth the money. Good luck!

I was 18.5 stone at 5'2" after I had my children, so very overweight. After much whinging about it to DH, I decided to join a gym.

To begin with, I felt embarrassed to even walk into the gym (I chose my local council-run leisure centre), but after the first couple of times, I realised that no one there was looking at me, everyone was concentrating on themselves. My favourite exercise was the cross trainer, because I felt supported, I didn't 'jiggle' as much and it didn't hurt my joints like the treadmill.

I also focussed on my eating and kept a calorie diary of everything I ate, making sure I stayed under 1,500 a day. After the first few weeks, I realised I was no longer dreading each trip to the gym and instead, was starting to enjoy it!

The weight came off quickly, and soon I was able to add in some weights, resistance training and floor work. My body will never be what it would have been had I never let it get to such a state, but I'm much healthier than I was, and far more likely to live longer than I would have if I had stayed at 18.5 stone. I wish you the very best of luck, once you get started, I'm sure you'll begin to enjoy it!

You're not walking enough or fast enough if it's not getting your heart rate up.

Aim to do 30 mins of walking every single day for a week. For 10 mins of that, fast walking. You might not manage 10 mins to be fair, because you're not fit. That's fine. Start off by doing 10 mins normal walking to warm up, then 10 mins of fast walking and then 10 mins cool down.

Each week, increase your walk by 5-10 mins. Build it up gradually. Don't push yourself too quickly, you're not capable of it and will hurt yourself.

If you can afford it too, get a fitbit and set it so that you get reminded to do 250 steps every day. I jog those now on the spot in the house while working, that's been a few weeks of building up walking and now I can jog.

If it helps to push you as well, take up one of those virtual challenges on FB. I'm doing one that's walking from lands end to John o groats. You get a year to do it in, which is only 2 miles a day on average. That might seem a lot now, but really it should only take you about 15-20 mins to walk one mile, so in half an hour you're almost there. And the fitter you get, the more you can walk.

Good luck with it. You can lose weight just walking. I really wouldn't do fitness classes until you've done a couple of months walking, increasing the speed and length of time you walk for.

Can I just say we’ll done you! Also, I’m 9.5 stone and I too, cannot hold my own body weight in a plank etc and my gut gets in the way of certain moves

This is just lack of fitness and mobility I think. Keep at it, I liked the suggestions of walking but could you also do things like online dance class etc where you can’t really go wrong!!!!