How do you go from fat to fit?

[CatBlaster]

I've never been sporty and I'm uncoordinated. I've never felt like my body does the things that other people's bodies do but I've realised it's because I've never used it properly (dur) and maybe my body could get stronger and fitter if I tried...

I've tried Couch to 5K a couple of times but couldn't get past Week 3 - just wanted to die!

I've started a weekly pilates class and I'm so much weaker than everybody else in the class, I'm embarrassed!

So where do I start? What kind of things do I need to do? What combination of exercises (and nutrition) will actually lead to changes?

My goal is to be 'healthier'. Any advice gratefully received.

Apologies everyone for the Body Pump obsession! As others have said - find the thing/s that works for you

Definitely don't give up on swimming, I'm sure there are loads of tutorials on YouTube etc. to help you improve your style. I used to swim for a club when I was younger and I remember doing drills where we swam ever other length as a sprint with a recovery length in between. This can help with your pace. Set yourself a target of 100m and swim every other length as fast as you can. Learn about breathing as well as elongating and streamlining your body so that you're more efficient in the water.

At the moment I'm aiming for 3 hrs exercise a week - broken down into 30mins a day for six days with one rest day. This translates as 3 days of Body Pump (every other day to give muscles a chance to recover and build), 2 days of brisk walking for 30mins and 1 day of yoga. In practice I'm actually adding in extra yoga and walks as and when I want, as long as I'm meeting the minimum goals I set myself. I've actually printed off a calendar and record it all

The 30 min/ day thing is a bit of a revelation. I've always exercised for an hour minimum, believing that to be the minimum effective time . Of course you start making excuses and end up not sticking to it on busy weeks. I'm finding the above a lot more manageable while still achieving a decent (exhausting) workout. As my plan progresses the Body Pump workouts become longer (45-50mins) ditto the walks. I've promised myself that if I'm short on time it's okay to do a shorter (30min) workout rather than nothing at all, which is what I would've done previously.

Haveyou I love that swim training idea. I might have a go at that. And YY to doing something, even if it's less than you'd planned. Anything is better than nothing.

Is there any running groups nearby. I have made the change from couch potato to sporty in a year by joining a sports club. It is amazing how the social aspect helps getting over the difficulty of exercise. I now train 5-6 times per week 3-4 runs and 2 gym classes. The thing is though like you I am still one of the weakest and slowest because that is how I am built but I am still happy with my progress.

Definitely just try a load of different stuff! If you're struggling with co-ordination and don't think you can keep up with following a class then something like circuits or Funky Pump (boxercise basically) might be better as you're not following someone stood in front of you. I LOVE classes and struggle to motivate myself when I'm alone. I also run but it sounds like you've given that a good try and don't like it so I'd move on to something else.

I found looking at nutrition really helped me get better with the exercise, i paid for a nutritional plan that is based around my goals, when I exercise and stuff.

Oh and fitnessblender.com is good for trying out lots of different types of exercise - and it's free!

I love the look of fitstar and fitnessblender! I'm going to have a go at them tomorrow I think.

Great to be able to do at home and keep it varied.

I've been looking at the gym timetable and I realise I'm really intimidated by the thought of going to a class after my disastrous step experience.

Please don't be downhearted or intimidated just because you didn't get it right first time. There are so many moves and you and everyone else who goes to that step class started out not knowing what to do. If you think you would enjoy it, just go for a few weeks. No-one cares if you get it wrong. Almost certainly someone else will start as a complete beginner during that time which will make you feel better!
Re the swimming for fitness, there are a lot of pools that have the SwimFit series of cards that help build up your swimming fitness and improve your strokes. They start from swimming 10 lengths (using various strokes) up to 120 lengths. Just take a card and work through it, they really help. There are also loads of You Tube videos about how to improve all your strokes, not just front crawl.

Forgot to say, I don't like step myself, but a friend goes to a Les Mills step class and she says there is a man who goes every week but who is so uncoordinated and just seems to do his own thing. No-one minds, least of all him!

What type of classes are available at the times you could attend? Do you have a preference towards morning or evening exercise?

If you narrow it down perhaps we can offer some tips

I think the first class is always intimidating. Once you get one under your belt the second and third ones are nowhere near as nervewracking. After that if you decide the class isn't for you nobody can say you didn't give it a fair chance Don't get disheartened, quickly move onto something else if you're not remotely enjoying it

Does your gym offer any free day passes? Do you have anyone who could go along with you the first time?

And another thing - sorry to keep going on! - as a beginner, you think you are the only one making mistakes. If you keep going, you'll find that everyone is making mistakes all the time!

Definitely a yes to making sure you enjoy it. I hate the gym/yoga/ and detest swimming. I however adore running. Rattling off 50 mile weeks is not a chore and i find more relaxing than watching telly with a glass of wine.
My mum loves yoga my sister enjoys dance classes and dp loves hockey.

2 years ago I started my fitness "journey" with swimming. Just saying ok I'm going to swim for 40 minutes, etc. Gradually upping how many lengths I did.

Ok, I've made a start with a couple of short workouts on fitstar and I like it! Nice and accessible, with no fear of falling over in front of anyone

You did start with the most difficult type of class, so the only way is up now

I used to go to those massive step classes back in the day when they were all the rage, often saw people fall over. Evil exercise!

Glad you're enjoying Fitstar :) I wouldn't have made half as much progress without it!

The first class is scary as hell, I tried the kettlebell class at my gym today and thought I was going to throw up at the end I worked that hard! But, I've now got a good ache going on, I feel like I really worked my body and I've booked in to go again next Tuesday. Be brave!
Try a variety of classes and definitely have an induction, the trainers will be really helpful and supportive and help develop a plan that suits you.
I got chatting to an instructor the other day as I've started swimming a mile every week and I was asking for advice about my upper body strength to help improve my technique. I ended up having a half hour training session and it was great!
I can't run, I'm exceedingly overweight (5st) but I've really got my head into the right space at the moment and I'm loving it. I do a mixture to keep interested:
Monday - 45 mins cardio, a couple of circuits of the weight machines
Tuesday - 60 min kettlebell class
Wednesday - 1 mile swim (64 lengths, currently at 52 minutes)
Thursday - 60min yoga class
Friday - 45 mins cardio, free weights
I try to go one morning at the weekend too with Dh and have a sauna afterwards, annoyingly I'm not noticing any change in my weight but I am noticing my tummy pulling in and just feeling more vital I guess.