To ask anyone who’s been really out of shape how they sorted it?

[agododopushpineapple]

Over the past twelve months I’ve done practically zero exercise and been eating terribly.

I’ve got a better handle on the food now, but went back to the gym for the first time today (class) and lasted only 15 minutes and then was quite literally sick afterwards.

I’ve never been this unhealthy (or this big - I’ve gone from a fairly slim 12 - 14 as I’m tall to a round 18 and have developed a round stomach,

I’ve booked more classes next week but am scared that I’ll feel sick like this every time.

Is there anything I can do to try and work up to being a bit fitter?

Hill walking. No treats in the house.

@AnAwesomePossum wow we are in the same boat. I started smoking again during lockdown too. It makes it all so much harder.

I’m like you OP, my exercise use tolerance fell off a cliff last year as I stopped going to the gym.
I’ve started doing exs classes on You Tube now and feeling much better about myself. I mix up kettle bell work outs (max 30 mins) with HIIT and yoga. I even attempted some weird dance fit video yesterday with a very attractive looking man who smiled a lot at me while his feet did unnatural things.

If you feel sick you need to do easier exercise and increase fitness levels. It's a long term commitment and no way would you stick to what you are now doing if you hate it.

Too much if you're throwing up afterwards.

Do you enjoy walking/hiking? I'd do a mixture of that and light weights at home. You could start off with a simple 20 minute walk. Buy a notepad and keep a diary of your walks, a page per week. Then you can see your progress.

Get some weights from Argos and do some simple youtube vids. Doesn't need to be tonnes, 10 mins a day would be a good start.

You can see improvements within 10 days from some of these things.

And I do have a dog so do walk - but he’s small and it’s a lot of him off the lead and running around etc.

You need to re-purpose your dog walks and turn them into exercise for you, not just him! You're already using up that time for a walk, so make it work for you.

When I'd had to give up running, I got in the habit of strolling very gently with my very unfit friend down to a place where we could just stand around and let our dogs run off lead. It didn't do anything for my fitness whatsoever. So I started doing a really brisk walk instead (about 40 mins) including a fairly steep hill. It's enough to raise my heart rate make me sweat a bit.

I mean... exercise classes, videos, running etc are all good, but people often don't stick with them. Whereas the walk...you have to do it anway. Just make it count as proper exercise!

I've transformed my fitness this year and I owe that to online yoga videos - worked wonders for my mental health too. I started with yoga with Adrienne, I really like yoga with Kassandra too. I do other exercise now too but I found yoga a gentle starting point for using my muscles again (after a long period of not using them very much at all!)
Good luck

Yes, yoga is great too. It won't improve your cardiovascular fitness, but it will make you feel stronger and more flexible and make it easier to do things like walking, running etc. It cured my plantar fasciitis too!

So this is what I had planned for next week - I thought this was easing myself in gently in terms of fairly easy classes but now worrying it’s going to be too much.
Monday - Zumba
Wednesday - Aqua
Thursday - Pilates
Saturday - dance fit

Gradual change works for me.

Baby steps. Do a little every day and work from there.

Oddly I’ve always found yoga one of the hardest things - even when I was very fit!!

That sounds like a lot OP, if you already felt sick after one class!

You are being far too hard on yourself op.

It's been an utterly crap year for many of us, physically and mentally. With a backdrop of existential angst thrown in.

Well done on getting a handle on your food intake.

As for exercise, you need to build up very gradually.

Start with 15 mins of brisk continuous walking six days out of seven this week. Then double that. Start taking stairs. Walking to shops. Walking in lunch hour. Just gradually allow your body to "wake up" again. Then add in some 10 min bursts of faster aerobic activity per day. Then start doing You Tube walking work outs such as those by Leslie Sansome etc. Don't go too fast at the beginning else you will injure yourself and frankly you won't want to exercise if you puke! It helped me to have a wall chart covering 12 weeks where I planned the gradual build up and ticked them off. Good luck

To be honest diet is more important than exercise. I’ve lost 5 stone and haven’t really done anything outside of walking a lot.

Thank you @Stanleysaysyes love the wall chart idea too!

@mamaoffourdc

Just start with walking and using my fitness pal - I've lost 2 stone since jan using this method

Can I ask as I think that is one of the ones I have heard of, what is my fitness pal? Thanks.

@Redruby2020 it’s a calorie tracking app. I’ve used it quite a bit in the past.

I used to be v v slim & ate anything. Come my 30's the weight piled on & I was nearly size 18. I do 15mins You Tube beginners keep fit every day & cake)choc is only once a week now .The difference in my boobs is huge, they are back to their size 12 best, not saggy & my waist is coming back. I'm looking at longer exercise routines targeting my upper arms & thighs now . Tip: Bung Magic FM on for your fave 80's hits & it's no chore tbh. My social anxiety is too bad for a gym, I find them terrifying.

I finally kicked my baby weight using my fitness pal and sticking to 1200 cals per day until it was off. I exercise 4-5 times a week to tone up and for heart and lung health but not for weight loss.

Also....you can set mfp to track your exercise and adjust calories accordingly. I ran 5k yesterday and it awarded me only 228 extra calories which shows what little effect exercise has v food intake.

Yes after being very ill for about a year. I was incredibly unfit. It took a long time to get to a normal level of fitness again never mind being very fit. You just need to be patient.

I do intermittent fasting - Google Dr Jason Fung or the diet doctor. Fung says “diet is Batman; exercise is Robin”.

I’ve done IF for years and stayed around my goal weight which is to be under 10st. I usually do low carb but IF means you can have the odd treat in your eating window
Currently on a 24hr fast and not even hungry. It’s brilliant because in my “eating window” if I really want to have eg fish n chips (which I’m having tonight) I do. However i honestly no longer have the urge for junk all the time.

I’m in a terrible state but I’ve just got a PT. I’ve no idea how it will go but he’s able to modify things for me and accepts what I can and can’t do and I’m starting slowly.

Oh I meant to say I’ve got the PT as my body is weak and I need to build up my strength. Exercise has very little impact on weight loss.