Help! Wouldn't have the first idea what to do if I walked into a gym. I don't know how to exercise.

[Anonymous]

There is very little correlation between exercise and weight loss - there is between exercise and maintaining your weight, though. So you've got some time to figure this out as you lose. Do you WANT to do to the gym? If so, people have given good advice. But there is nothing wrong with swimming, light yoga, and functional exercise, either. How about getting a pedometer (really cool ones out there by FitBit or Nike) and set yourself an ambitious goal - 10,000 steps or so. They will also track your "very active minutes" which will be things like going up those three flights of stairs, fast, or taking your pace while walking up really high. My husband is totally obsessed by his FitBit, will go for a quick walk late at night or will dash up the stairs to bed in order to get his active minutes goal. Good luck, OP! You are doing great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is very little correlation between exercise and weight loss - there is between exercise and maintaining your weight, though. So you've got some time to figure this out as you lose. Do you WANT to do to the gym? If so, people have given good advice. But there is nothing wrong with swimming, light yoga, and functional exercise, either. How about getting a pedometer (really cool ones out there by FitBit or Nike) and set yourself an ambitious goal - 10,000 steps or so. They will also track your "very active minutes" which will be things like going up those three flights of stairs, fast, or taking your pace while walking up really high. My husband is totally obsessed by his FitBit, will go for a quick walk late at night or will dash up the stairs to bed in order to get his active minutes goal. Good luck, OP! You are doing great.

This is one of the dumbest things I've read in a long time. OP you can lose weight by dieting alone, but it will not be as easy and you will not be any more fit. Not only that you won't look or feel as good and the SECOND you eat normally, you will gain it back. It's really easy for me to tell the difference in people that have dieted only and the ones that work out as well. I've lost over 50 lbs in the last 8 months and there was a lot of exercise involved. I haven't even reached my goal and I am way more fit and there is nothing like the high you feel after a workout. Particularly after reaching fitness goals (doing pulls ups, dead lifting, running an 8 minute mile, running over 5 miles at a time). These are only a few things I've accomplished in well under a year, starting at 230 lbs and not being able to run over 1/4 of a mile at a time. I look so much better and feel amazing everyday. Do not discount all the health benefits of exercise an its role in getting you to where you want to be. I wish you well in your journey!

[Anonymous]

I'm not agreeing completely with the poster who said exercise won't help you lose weight, but I think the point should have been that you can't outrun the fork.

[Anonymous]

It is actually not dumb. I know a lot of fat asses that workout. Yet they remain fat because all that working out makes them hungry and they haven't learned to cut those calories. The one I am thinking of must be at least 350lbs. He has been working out for over a year. He proudly facebooks about being at the gym and 2 days later he is at the buffet.

Exercise has great health benefits but I think people should work on their diet first and know that burning 200 calories in a workout is not a free pass to eat a 900 calorie chipotle wrap.

[Anonymous]

The gym is not the only place to get a good workout. I hate the gym because I get bored.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is actually not dumb. I know a lot of fat asses that workout. Yet they remain fat because all that working out makes them hungry and they haven't learned to cut those calories. The one I am thinking of must be at least 350lbs. He has been working out for over a year. He proudly facebooks about being at the gym and 2 days later he is at the buffet.

Exercise has great health benefits but I think people should work on their diet first and know that burning 200 calories in a workout is not a free pass to eat a 900 calorie chipotle wrap.

I know a lot of "fat asses" that go to the gym as well. This has no bearing on the statement that there is "very little correlation" between exercise and weight loss. That is what I called dumb. Of course you can ruin a workout by eating. You can also not ruin your workout and have all those calories burned help you get closer to your goal. Many people do it all the time. Also, just because people are in the gym doesn't mean they're getting a good workout. Sad, but true.

All that being said, I agree with you completely that you can't expect to get there without controlling your diet. But to say exercise can't help is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

I think you should add some weight-lifting. Building muscle will boost your metabolism. If you can afford it, work with a personal trainer. If not, try a book like The New Rules of Lifting for Life.

[Anonymous]

OP, you sound sound a lot like me - same age, same injury (broken ankle from 16 years ago repaired with a lot of permanent hardware), and also overweight. The difference is that I'm more than 50 pounds overweight. Ugh.

I go to the local Planet Fitness gym. No one blinks when I waddle on in there. It's cheap, there are plenty of machines, and they have free classes. You can check online to see if there is one near you. They specialize in being a gym for non-gym kind of people.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Check out online workout trackers too. I've been using Fitocracy, and it's pretty fun. Friends (and strangers) can "prop" your workouts, giving you encouragement. You also climb levels as you log in more workouts. There are various groups that you can join based on your interest (losing weight, music, hobbies, etc.). I like it a lot.

[Anonymous]

I just bought a groupon for 5 workout sessions at fitology to get a basic plan for myself. I've struggled with doing stuff at the gym beyond the basics, so I think I'd rather go somewhere that I'm anonymous to get a plan. I'm also doing a couch 5k to 10k program to get the cardio.

[Anonymous]

OP, I am just getting back into exercise myself, and it can definitely be intimidating. What's helped me is investing in 10 sessions with a personal trainer to get started. I'm seeing him once a week, but do whatever schedule works for you. And if you go that route, get a trainer who can recommend exercises that work with your history (the ankle, etc.).

[Anonymous]

Another idea -- if you have a friend that works out regularly, ask them if they'd be willing to work out with you a few times to help you with weight lifting form, etc. And use the websites out there - there are tons to give you ideas. I would also recommend doing a session with a trainer maybe once a month or so for a while.

[Anonymous]

Best advice I received was to hang your ego at the door. Struggling with weights, etc. is short lived if you start going regularly. You'll be a seasoned vet in no time, just takes a little patience.

[Anonymous]

This quote isn't true at all. If you need to lose weight cardio isn't the way to go. Running a mile, which at an untrained, out of shape level, will take ~15-20 or so minutes (maybe more), will only burn 100-150 calories. That is less than a bottle of coke.

if you need to lose weight focus first and foremost on diet. Ease into exercise to get your muscles going again, and also lift weights. Plenty of resources on the internet for easing into weightlifting and exercise

Anonymous wrote:If you need to lose a lot of weight, then you need to do "cardio" - like 30-45 minutes on the eliptical machine.

On your first day, somebody gives you an orientation to show you where all the equipment is. Ask them how to operate the eliptical machine and ask them to help you try to get it started so you know what you are doing.

After you lose a lot of weight, then you can add on weight training to tone your muscles. But weight training now will keep you bulky, so I would only do cardio right now.

[Anonymous]

the poster is also wrong about the sequence of cardio vs weightlifting.

Weightlifting will not get you bulky. Quite the opposite - muscle is far learner per pound than fat. In other words, a pound of muscle takes up a lot less space than a pound of fat. I would also shy away from anyone who uses the word "tone" - its not really descriptive and actually does not mean anything.

Again, I would focus primarily on your diet. Find out where you can cut easy calories; switching from coke to diet coke, buying smaller plates to cut down on portion size, etc. Those are very easy things to do that do not require lifestyle changes. Honestly - just using a smaller plate that cuts your portions by 20% will cause significant weightloss over time. Ditto with moving away from sugared drinks and drinking water/tea or low cal drinks instead.

Focus on making those minor lifestyle adjustments that have outsized gains, i.e. the low hanging fruit. Exercise, but don't do it because it will directly help you lose weight (again, running a mile will have only a negligible caloric impact), rather exercise to get your body used to moving again and using it to its full potential. That also includes weightlifting, as it will help improve your bone density, pack on leaner muscle tissue, and also increase your baseline metabolic rate (meaning you burn more calories maintaining muscle than fat).