Exercise for very fat and unfit people.

[bigoldbird]

My BMI is currently about 35, making me obese. I feel it in my joints as they are carrying far too much weight. I really want to start getting fitter and possibly lose weight. My favoured method is by home fitness DVDs, I have done this for many years. However, since I gave up exercising a few months ago I have got so fat and unfit my usual DVDs are a bit much. Does anyone have any suggestions for overweight unfit people? I am well, other than that so there are no real issues except I can't keep up with youngsters leaping about at the moment.

Any ideas would be great. Thank you in advance.

How about getting a pedometer and walking? Or use an app such as walkmeter on the phone, you don't have to get hot and sweaty and no one will look twice at you, do 10,000 steps every day.

I'm in the same position as you bigoldbird. I am going to start by walking short distances to school and to the shops instead of driving. They are 15 minutes away but I get out of breath just walking that distance.

Now that is a good idea. Why don't I think of these things myself? Thank you so much. Will go and check pedometer prices now, app won't be much good to me as I am a phone phobic, haha.

I was going to suggest walking too. It really is a great form of exercise and relatively low impact.

Do ensure you are wearing supportive footwear though.

If you don't wan to invest in a pedometer, you can measure the distance you have walked on a mapping site such as mapometer or just time yourself with a watch. Aim to increase distance or time over a few weeks.

Beginning of last year, dh was very fat and very unfit. He started cycling, and at first a couple of miles was a real effort for him.

A year on, he's lost a lot of weight, and this morning cycled 50 miles

Hello, I'm in a similar position to you, except my bmi is 38! I started walking more, adding about an extra 7 miles a week, mostly uphill. Got me fairly sweaty to start with, a bit puffed and rosy cheeked! Once it started feeling easier to do I added in a fitness DVD, so do that a couple of times a week, and tomorrow I'm starting c25k, been out and bought a new sports bra and running shoes :)
Going to wobble my fat arse down the village streets and feel good about it! Good luck x

If your joints are troubling you, how about swimming?

Walk or cycle. I love swimming, but imo it is too easy to do too little in the pool….swimming slow lengths with breaks between won't achieve that much.

As you get fitter, go further, go uphill, go faster. You can do that stuff without fancy technology….so time yourself for a particular section of your walk on your watch/phone. Then try to beat it by 15 seconds the next time, then by 15 seconds more the time after etc. Or walk for longer. Or add hills or uneven terrain.

Try not to 'reward' yourself with food after - it takes an awful lot of walking to burn off a relatively small 'treat'.

Do your DVDs. Just stop when you need to. Will get you fitter far quicker.

Myfitnesspal estimated that swimming 'leisurely' burns twice the calories of walking at a 'moderate pace' in the same time period. 'Breaststroke, general' burns over three times. The resistance of the water doesn't feel like much but uses a lot of energy. Most people can obviously walk for longer than they can swim but us worth bearing in mind if you're short of time.

If swimming laps seems boring you could look for aqua aerobics? Apparently that's good for weak joints.

Brilliant ideas and inspiration. Thank you. I like cycling and swimming, but always thought the way I swim probably wasn't doing much so maybe I need to revisit that idea.

BettyBoop, yay for you. It did occur to me that my husband walks to work, it's not far, but I could start by walking in with him, and walking to meet him in the evening. He works crazy hours, so it would fit in round my job.

Very impressed with a 50 mile cycle ride.

I feel so tired all the time, but I am 99% sure that it is because I am so unfit, and that if I started it wouldn't take long to get going. It is motivation I lack, but you have given me a boost, to such an extent that I am going to get dressed and start now.

Thank you all so much for your ideas.

Walking is easy and inexpensive. I found sites like map my run quite good to tell you how far you are walking/ help you design new walks and keep you motivated. I also like to have some dancey/uptempo music to listen to.

Water aerobics are great and would be easy on your joints as the water "carries you". It's also a great class if you are a bit self conscious as they are all ages/shapes and sizes IME.

I also found spinning good, it takes a bit of getting used to, but with every lesson you can do more, and it's a class that people won't notice if you're not going as quick or doing all the stuff that the others do.

The hardest bit is actually getting yourself out of the door or to the gym.

More support for walking, swimming and aqua aerobics. That's how I start my campaigns to regain my fitness after having babies and months of being sedentary.

Walking is great for your health and your weight control. However in order to lose weight this will need to be in conjunction with a calorie controlled diet. Can you review your diet and make some changes ?

I agree with walking, it's not only great for exercise, but I find it's good time to think and is relaxing. If you get a pedometer and don't like the phone apps etc then why not get a notebook and write down how many steps you do each day. I have one for my walking/running and it's nice to look back and see you're making progress.