Overweight and VERY out of shape - suggestions to start again

[Anonymous]

Focus first on diet. Stick as close to nature as possible.

Work on getting your step count up. If you are now taking 3000 steps/day, work on getting up to 6,000 steps/day then 8,000/day until you hit 10,000+ steps/day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It amusing, and telling, that OP asked a question about FITNESS and EXERCISE and being out of shape — yet most of the replies focus on or at least recommend diets and food restrictions.

Go back and re-read OP’s post. At no point does she ask you how to track calories or which entire food groups to eliminate.

Now you’ll all come back to tell me that the only/major way to stop being “overweight” (OPs word) is to diet diet diet. That’s untrue. We hard-core middle-aged athletes are evidence to the contrary.

As a previous long term hard core athlete, I’m going to tell you that your thinking is off,probably because you’ve never struggled with your weight. You can’t BE a hardcore athlete without paying attention to your nutrition and diet. Injury and illness would end your goals pretty swiftly.

Aside from that, having been in that world, I’m going to tell you that a huge proportion of middle aged hardcore athletes have eating disorders (orthorexia being predominant), body dysmorphia, and exercise compulsions (anxiety over a lank day in their workout logs).

PP hit the nail on the head- you can exercise all day long, but if you’re not paying attention to, and cleaning up, your diet, you’re seeing minimal returns for hard work, especially in terms of weight loss.

Agree. And it is very hard if you were extremely overweight to exercise due to the excess weight. The excess weight is extremely hard on the knees. Increasing steps alone is not going to help you lose weight. Overweight people often feel frustrated trying to exercise because it HURTS and because people in the gym stare at the fat people. Diet and exercise is how to lose weight. And exercising becomes easier as you lose weight.
Signed - fat person loosing weight with diet and exercise

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just start! Start with a 2 mile walk. See if you can do that 4 times a week. Then increase the length by .5 miles. Repeat. Cut back in calories. Do you have any idea how many you are eating? If not, start with 1600. Plan ahead what you will eat and you won’t be nearly as hungry if you can stick to mostly lean proteins, fruits, vegetables. If 1600 is doable, try 1500 after 2 weeks. Eventually try to get to 1400. Good luck! I think the only way to do this is to get started. And don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

+1

[Anonymous]

YouTube Classical Stretch. That and eliminating all sugar works for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It amusing, and telling, that OP asked a question about FITNESS and EXERCISE and being out of shape — yet most of the replies focus on or at least recommend diets and food restrictions.

Go back and re-read OP’s post. At no point does she ask you how to track calories or which entire food groups to eliminate.

Now you’ll all come back to tell me that the only/major way to stop being “overweight” (OPs word) is to diet diet diet. That’s untrue. We hard-core middle-aged athletes are evidence to the contrary.

You are wrong. Exercise makes you fit, dieting (meaning eating healthy and normal portions) makes you lose excess weight.
As long as you are eating junk and too many calories, you will never lose weight, no matter how much you exercise.

I'm not wrong. OP lamented that she is no longer physically FIT and does not EXERCISE and wants to know how to GET STARTED EXERCISING. She did say she's "overweight." I assert, based both on my n=1 and on evidence from randomized controlled trials, that a person can lose weight and stop being "overweight" by maintaining their current caloric intake while significantly ramping up exercise. aka, energy expenditure. You know, science.

[Anonymous]

As someone in a similar situation OP, I would go to see a physical therapist and get evaluated before you start. Doctors will encourage you to walk, but I totally screwed up my knees that way because my body was out of alignment.

Usually riding a stationary bike, light walking or swimming is a good way to start. Also recording foods and calories, like the pp suggested..

[Anonymous]

Listen to intermittent fasting stories podcast. Host is so compassionate & inspiring.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you so much to everyone that responded, and with such great suggestions. So Many of you have really inspired me to just get up and do it. I will be coming back to read the responses again for motivation.

I took a long walk yesterday and am going this afternoon again. And I’m picking something extra each day, like stretching, an workout, whatever to get me started back towards strength training, which I like because it’s metric driven.

The diet is a major issue, not just for weight loss, but overall health and well- being. I just feel better when I eat better food. I’ve just been in a rut of convenience. I may re-join WW or look at another program that provides meal prep tips. Someone mentioned watching you tube videos - do you mind posting a link or name of the person?

To the poster with the really long post about changing the mindset, thank you. I think that’s been my biggest hurdle. I’ve probably been depressed or in a funk on some level and that really helps.

Thanks again and please keep suggestions coming.

[Anonymous]

I'm not a diet person but my SIL got me listening to Trim Healthy Mamas. I think they are crazy balls and halfway to religious nutters but they have some really good thoughts, except for the Stevia push - yuck.

[Anonymous]

OP: Talk to your Doctor and see a registered dietician or nutritionist. My Doctor's office has a nutritionist, I might have the degree or job title wrong but you get the idea. You can discuss your lifestyle and diet with that person and they should be able to help you make adjustments that will help your lose some weight and tone.

The short of it: Talk to a professional that is recommended by your Doctor to get a plan that works for you. Try and find a way to move a bit more. There are far too many opinions on the internet that might be fads or work for one person and not another.

My personal anecdote:

I use MyFitnessPal to track what I am eating and make myself be honest with what I am eating. It gives me a little bit of extra accountability that helps me remind myself that I don't need that bowl of ice cream or I have the calories for one scoop of ice cream instead of a full bowl. I am not a big fan of "diets" because the few times I have done those have been failures. I see a good amount of loss while I follow the plan but once I have lost the weight and I stop "the plan" I regain the weight because "the plan" was too specific to weight loss and did nothing to teach me how to eat properly.

I am not a super fit person, although I am getting better. I have about 10 pounds to lose to be at the top of my weight range. But I know that making changes that will cut out all carbs or sugar or whatever is not a long term solution for me. So I am trying to make better decisions, cook more at home, eat more fruits and veg and not graze on the candy bowl at the office. I also increased my activity level. I had been focused on steps, getting 12,000 a day, which helped me maintain my weight but did not do much to lose the last 10 pounds. We bought a Peloton bike around Christmas time and I have gone from only walking too between 60-90 minutes of exercise a day. That is a combination of spin classes, strength training, cardio classes, and a bit of yoga. My weight is slowly dropping, I have MyFitnessPal set for half a pound loss a week and that is about what I am losing. I am also seeing small muscle weight gains and a 2% drop in belly fat.

The Peloton is working for me because I did not like taking my 7 yo DS to the gym with me to work out. I was not happy with the child watch options and I would hurry through a 30 minute elliptical and a quick weight routine so that I would be done in under an hour. The bike at home allows me to be more comfortable getting in a good deal more exercise. DS can do his home work or read or play with his toys or find a way to entertain himself. He is happier and I am more comfortable with exercising because he can come to me if he needs something. It is not the bike, but the freedom for me to exercise longer and more completely. I happen to really like all the classes offered through Peloton and have found a couple of great groups on Facebook that I work with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It amusing, and telling, that OP asked a question about FITNESS and EXERCISE and being out of shape — yet most of the replies focus on or at least recommend diets and food restrictions.

Go back and re-read OP’s post. At no point does she ask you how to track calories or which entire food groups to eliminate.

Now you’ll all come back to tell me that the only/major way to stop being “overweight” (OPs word) is to diet diet diet. That’s untrue. We hard-core middle-aged athletes are evidence to the contrary.

You are wrong. Exercise makes you fit, dieting (meaning eating healthy and normal portions) makes you lose excess weight.
As long as you are eating junk and too many calories, you will never lose weight, no matter how much you exercise.

Np. I wouldnt say never but you do have to do extreme exercising, like a professional athlete or performer. Phelps comes to mind but most of us arent doing that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
OP: Talk to your Doctor and see a registered dietician or nutritionist. My Doctor's office has a nutritionist, I might have the degree or job title wrong but you get the idea. You can discuss your lifestyle and diet with that person and they should be able to help you make adjustments that will help your lose some weight and tone.

The short of it: Talk to a professional that is recommended by your Doctor to get a plan that works for you. Try and find a way to move a bit more. There are far too many opinions on the internet that might be fads or work for one person and not another.

My personal anecdote:

I use MyFitnessPal to track what I am eating and make myself be honest with what I am eating. It gives me a little bit of extra accountability that helps me remind myself that I don't need that bowl of ice cream or I have the calories for one scoop of ice cream instead of a full bowl. I am not a big fan of "diets" because the few times I have done those have been failures. I see a good amount of loss while I follow the plan but once I have lost the weight and I stop "the plan" I regain the weight because "the plan" was too specific to weight loss and did nothing to teach me how to eat properly.

I am not a super fit person, although I am getting better. I have about 10 pounds to lose to be at the top of my weight range. But I know that making changes that will cut out all carbs or sugar or whatever is not a long term solution for me. So I am trying to make better decisions, cook more at home, eat more fruits and veg and not graze on the candy bowl at the office. I also increased my activity level. I had been focused on steps, getting 12,000 a day, which helped me maintain my weight but did not do much to lose the last 10 pounds. We bought a Peloton bike around Christmas time and I have gone from only walking too between 60-90 minutes of exercise a day. That is a combination of spin classes, strength training, cardio classes, and a bit of yoga. My weight is slowly dropping, I have MyFitnessPal set for half a pound loss a week and that is about what I am losing. I am also seeing small muscle weight gains and a 2% drop in belly fat.

The Peloton is working for me because I did not like taking my 7 yo DS to the gym with me to work out. I was not happy with the child watch options and I would hurry through a 30 minute elliptical and a quick weight routine so that I would be done in under an hour. The bike at home allows me to be more comfortable getting in a good deal more exercise. DS can do his home work or read or play with his toys or find a way to entertain himself. He is happier and I am more comfortable with exercising because he can come to me if he needs something. It is not the bike, but the freedom for me to exercise longer and more completely. I happen to really like all the classes offered through Peloton and have found a couple of great groups on Facebook that I work with.

I second talking to your doctor to get the name of a good registered dietition. I was overweight, out of shape, pre-diabetic, and suffer from GERD when I went to my doc. She steered me to to dietitian who recommended more healthy eating tailored to me and took me through three months of coaching. I really appreciated it because I got so confused by all the fad diets out there and didn't know what would be good for my particular conditions. Also, I recommend a dietition, not just a nutritionist. What I learned was that anyone can call themselves a nutritionist, but a dietition has to have a degree and specific training. Good luck OP! I'm rooting for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It amusing, and telling, that OP asked a question about FITNESS and EXERCISE and being out of shape — yet most of the replies focus on or at least recommend diets and food restrictions.

Go back and re-read OP’s post. At no point does she ask you how to track calories or which entire food groups to eliminate.

Now you’ll all come back to tell me that the only/major way to stop being “overweight” (OPs word) is to diet diet diet. That’s untrue. We hard-core middle-aged athletes are evidence to the contrary.

You are wrong. Exercise makes you fit, dieting (meaning eating healthy and normal portions) makes you lose excess weight.
As long as you are eating junk and too many calories, you will never lose weight, no matter how much you exercise.

I'm not wrong. OP lamented that she is no longer physically FIT and does not EXERCISE and wants to know how to GET STARTED EXERCISING. She did say she's "overweight." I assert, based both on my n=1 and on evidence from randomized controlled trials, that a person can lose weight and stop being "overweight" by maintaining their current caloric intake while significantly ramping up exercise. aka, energy expenditure. You know, science.

PP you replied to. I'm a research scientist, and you're still wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It amusing, and telling, that OP asked a question about FITNESS and EXERCISE and being out of shape — yet most of the replies focus on or at least recommend diets and food restrictions.

Go back and re-read OP’s post. At no point does she ask you how to track calories or which entire food groups to eliminate.

Now you’ll all come back to tell me that the only/major way to stop being “overweight” (OPs word) is to diet diet diet. That’s untrue. We hard-core middle-aged athletes are evidence to the contrary.

You are wrong. Exercise makes you fit, dieting (meaning eating healthy and normal portions) makes you lose excess weight.
As long as you are eating junk and too many calories, you will never lose weight, no matter how much you exercise.

I'm not wrong. OP lamented that she is no longer physically FIT and does not EXERCISE and wants to know how to GET STARTED EXERCISING. She did say she's "overweight." I assert, based both on my n=1 and on evidence from randomized controlled trials, that a person can lose weight and stop being "overweight" by maintaining their current caloric intake while significantly ramping up exercise. aka, energy expenditure. You know, science.

PP you replied to. I'm a research scientist, and you're still wrong.

+1

N=1 PP, there is plenty of research that says exercise alone isn’t that effective in weight loss.

I don’t feel like scouring for scholarly articles, so here’s an article with a summary:

https://www.vox.com/2016/4/28/11518804/weight-loss-exercise-myth-burn-calories

Exercise certainly aids in weight loss, and aside from that, the health benefits of fitness are worth making it part of life.

[Anonymous]

Exercise alone could possibly work for losing a small amount of weight, but it is not going to work for significant weight loss. It also takes a lot longer to lose weight without adjusting your diet.

take this example.
Someone is 50 lbs overweight. We'll say a woman is 200 lbs with a goal weight of 150 lbs. to maintain her weight of 200 lbs she needs to consume 2500 calories day. Maybe she can burn 500 cal/day through exercise and gradually lose weight. but as she weighs less she will need fewer calories to maintain her weight. Sure she can keep eating those 2500, but she will also need to keep increasing exercise to make up the difference and again, unless she exercises 7 days a week she will quickly be at a place where she can not lose weigh through exercise. Diet will always need to change.