Limping, obese, middle aged woman in chronic pain seeks...

[Gingernaut]

Weight loss, strength training and stamina building

How do I do this?

I have a very sedentary job, a binge eating habit, a gimped left knee with atrophied muscles, chronic and multiple issues with feet and ankles, causing a 'walking on sharp stones' sensation when I walk, I can't drive, work a rotating shift pattern and I am 14 stones

I'm bigger than I have ever been, in a shit job and thoroughly depressed with myself, my life choices and life in general

Does anyone have any suggestions, for someone who has to manage stairs one step at a time

Don't say swimming, as there isn't a pool within walking distance that's open when I'm awake

Allen Carr’s ‘emotional eating’ book. It will revolutionise your diet. Can’t recommend it enough!

I second the walking.

But, try and challange yourself. How long does it take to the bus stop? Can you do it in 2 minutes less? ect.

When walking stairs, make sure you put the whole foot down and in a straight position. However hard it is, try not to use the handrail- or set a goal like every 5 steps.

I got fiter like this, and then bought a decent backpack and put some weights in ... starting with a 1l water bottle and ending up with sand filled weights of 12kg.

PS: once you reach the backpack stage, you'll notice other people useing them for training/ fitness around the neighbourhood!

Suggest you try this diet. DP has been put on this by his GP. I decided to follow it as well as I am also middle aged, obese, with chronic illness and a binge eater. It's the only diet I've done where I don't snack, binge or get hungry. I'm being a bit more flexible than DP (as I don't have so much to lose) but basically it's no carbs or sugars.

amclowcarb.com/green-foods-yellow-foods-red-foods/

I would suggest speaking to your GP before starting it though. I don't think it would suit someone with high cholesterol though.

Also see a physio for exercises for your knee.

I would look at doing Pilates at home if there isn't a studio near you. The Lottie Murphy online classes are excellent. Free on YouTube or you can join her online platform for a monthly fee and access many more. I've been doing Pilates for years and also have joint issues, and she's the best online instructor I've found.

With that much walking already I do floor based exercises where you are off your feet. Ankle weights and lifting your legs in different positions, small dumbbells to start with which you can use seated. You'll soon find you'll be able to move onto heavier weights.

But the biggest thing that would change your life is diet. Join SlimmingWorld and go to classes if you can. Don't do a ridiculous low carb or keto, it's too restrictive and you won't stick to it for the rest of your life which you need to do. An overhaul on your diet to make it a lifestyle change rather than a 'diet'. Stay away from things packed with artificial nonsense and look at increasing whole foods.

You'll find your body will change drastically once it's not carrying around twice as much weight as it's designed to carry.

The foot thing could be Metatarsalgia and sadly the only think I know of which helps is weight loss.

It’s not exercise you need it’s an eating plan which will drop weight quickly and is maintainable. For me low carb works but I can see some PP have recommendations too which look interesting.

Essentially you need to want to lose weight enough to put the effort in. It will definitely reduce the pain you’re in but it’s not easy and it requires a total mind shift. You really can’t eat shit and exercise it off.

You need to cut out sugar and carbs. It's not exercise that's the issue if you're getting all those steps in.
Your diet is causing inflammation in your body which is causing these issues.
Protein, green veg, berries is what you need.

You don’t need a Pilates studio near you - go on YouTube.

Also I assume you have looked for amenities - pool, Pilates - near work instead of home?

OK, sorry to be harsh OP, but you're currently existing on a diet of pure processed crap.
You need to start eating real food.
Switch out the slim fast shake for some full fat Greek yoghurt with honey.
Switch out the meal deal for a homemade salad with goats cheese and walnuts.
For dinner, make a proper meal - meat and two veg, chilli and rice, spag bol - anything, as long as its home made.
Have some dark chocolate as a snack every day.
BUT BE AWARE OF PORTION SIZE.

Yup

Not in an middle class area, so gyms are around here tend to be second homes for the Muscle Mary types, grunting and roaring away with free weights

No Pilates classes

From the times I've been posting, you can probably guess, any pools and classes are more often closed when I'm out and about

I do eat processed crap

Diet is the easiest thing to address atm

Like I say, you don’t need a Pilates class. There is tons of free resources on YouTube - not just Pilates. I regularly use videos about:

pilates
fascia stretching
plantar fasciitis
hiit
wall pilates
dance workouts

But I agree with others, it’s the diet. Definitely look into low carb.

Making drastic changes to diet is daunting but give it 4 weeks to start off with and see how you go. Think of it as the medicine you need right now.

prep some easy lunches and meals.
Chicken or tuna and veg like leafy salad, spinach, courgettes, broccoli, green beans, peppers is quite easy.

Make burgers and have them with lettuce and salad.

Fish and veg.

Have full fat Greek yoghurt with berries for desserts.

Snack on a few nuts and a bit of cheese.

Do some research on easy low carb meals.

Good luck.

Outdoor swimming might be an option if pools are few and far between - I have major foot problems to the point I use a wheelchair some of the time.

Swimming in rivers/lakes is colder than pools but your body adjusts surprisingly fast and I have found it helpful for both pain relief and exercise.

m.facebook.com/groups/outdoorswimmingsociety/?ref=share
You could ask on here where people swim in your area.

Your diet sounds like mine a few years ago and I wondered why I wasn’t losing any weight when I was barely eating anything and everyone around me was having big meals and being satisfied.

Track your food.

The idea is to eat as much food as you can whilst within a calorie limit.

It doesn’t matter if these calories come from chocolate or salad.
But you obviously get to eat a lot more food if you’re eating lower calorie foods than higher calorie foods.

Forget about low carb, high protein etc for now and just focus on your calories and mindful eating.
Most of these fad diets only work for the short term and then you’re right back where you started from.

I went from eating like you eat to eating full meals and snacks and lost weight.
E.g. scrambled egg on toast for breakfast, tuna and light Mayo jacket potato with salad for lunch and fajitas for tea, plus snacks like a mars bar ice cream, fruit and jelly.

Download my fitness pal and set your calorie limit to a high number.
Weigh yourself, do it for 2 weeks and then see how you get on.

Your body needs good nutrition right down to a cellular level.
If all you eat is crap then you’re going to feel like crap.
How are you going to have a healthy body when you’re not giving your body what it needs.
It’s like putting petrol in a diesel car.

You need to change your diet before you can think about exercising.
Once you’re fuelling your body properly then you can think about exercising and you’ll be so much healthier and less tired that exercising will be much easier.

I got a second hand exercise bike and just started off with 5mins each day and then gradually increased it.
I also got milk bottles and 1/4 filled them with water (you may need to sellotape the lids on) then increased the weight by adding more water.
I would use them to do some arm exercises and squats.

I agree with @Madamecastafiore that slimming world or WW may work well for you.

Restrictive diets do not work for anyone and I’m guessing that these sorts of diets have resulted in where you are today.

It is absolutely a life style change and if you can’t see yourself eating this was for a year, you will never succeed.

If you can learn how to fuel your body properly without SW or WW then great but some of us lose sight of what’s a healthy way to eat because there are so many contradictory advice.

I personally worked out my calorie limit and focused on eating 3 meals a day plus snacks if my calories allowed by using MyFitnessPal.

If you have the room at home, I would thoroughly recommend a peloton. It is readily available at all hours without travelling, is low impact, has classes of various lengths and difficulties, and can provide a really good work out in a short amount of time

From a fellow fat woman (who is now a bit less fat) - stop eating shit. Nothing that comes in a wrapper or bottle and promises you LOW FAT!! NO SUGAR!! Fuck that bollocks, it makes you hungrier than before you ate it. Start eating good stuff. Veg, fruit, nuts, pulses, meat, fish. Don't fuck about with calories at this stage. You should find that you eat less as a result because you're being filled up with protein and fibre. Then after six weeks, look at what you've lost and then think about tracking calories.

Swimming? Invest a good gym membership, it will be pay off as it makes you feel good as well as motivate you to go.
Basically, treat yourself in a way that doesn't involve food. So a nice swim, sauna, black coffee, herbal tea, read a book, watch some trash telly, draw a picture, write a poem, anything that doesn't involve food in a reward/ punishment or validation sense.
Signed
Fellow fatty

I agree, cleaning up your diet ought to be your first priority.
Vegetables, lean protein, EVOO, complex carbs and just a small amount of dairy.
No UPFs or other packaged rubbish.

But I would urge to have a look at Lucy Wyndham Read. Her short workouts are perfect for beginners. Check out this 5-minute stretch routine - you don't need any equipment:

Sorry, OP, you've had 10,000 suggestions here and I'm about to add another one 😄

I'd work on the foot/joint pain before anything else, it must be dragging you down mentally and physically.

I recommend Tom Morrison's videos - some free on YouTube, or he sells 'The Simplistic Mobility Method'. It works on making sure all your joints are strong and able to work through their full range. So strengthening your feet will help with the foot pain, but at the minute your wonky feet are probably pushing your knees out of line and causing pain, which will then throw your hips out etc.

Once you have a stable foundation, you can look at a wider range of exercises.

YouTuber Holly Honjo is a good workout video to do. Her videos are for overweight and disabled people who can’t jump around but still high impact and has a variety of workouts to suit.

I am going nowhere near the canals!! Jesus, they're open sewers!!!🤢

Seconded. It's the only exercise I've done consistently for over a year now

Weight training!

There are some brilliant plus size weight trainers on youtube/Instagram. I would focus on trying to feel strong and tones rather than restricting my eating for now.

Cool! So what’s your plan then? Read back your posts - you are very ‘no no can’t can’t’. I live with chronic pain from an autoimmune disease, so I get it. But it requires you to dig deep and help yourself and research and try stuff.