[TXMary2]

I am afraid to start exercising because when I do I feel like I am starving and always end up bingeing which basically cancels the workout I just tortured myself with. I think one problem is I workout too hard for my condition!

Since I just started calorie counting again yesterday I think I will wait for a while until I have adjusted to the lower calories. Then I think I am going to start out slow with walks around my neighborhood.

If you were 100+ overweight, how did you start out exercising?

[redsox33]

I'm personally more of a fan of never being starving, because when I'm starving, that's when I make the poor eating choices: "I can't make it 20 minutes to get home and make a healthy turkey sandwich, so I'll just go through this drive-thru and get a couple of burgers." is one example.

PLEASE consider upping your calories so that you're not hungry, but choosing calories that are good for an active body. Eat more veggies and whole grain carbs, lean proteins instead of heavily processed foods. Stick with it. I've been exercising almost every single day for the past month, and working out HARD... my appetite already has shrunk SO much. I'm consuming only about 2/3rds of what I use to eat during my meals and I've just about dropped down a full size. Clothes I was wearing a month ago just fall off of me.

Don't think of food canceling out your hard workout. Food is fuel, and if you're feeding yourself healthy, you are fueling your body to work the FAT off of your body and are building healthy muscle at the same time. That muscle you build will require MORE FAT from your body reserves to live, and trust me, you'll begin shrinking in no time.

Good luck! Please please please consider working out over strict calorie counting. I'm NEVER starving, I eat when I get modestly hungry, I eat GOOD WHOLE foods, and I'm getting smaller. And after only a month!!!

[bonnnie]

Just wanted to add my little two cents. I started seriously jogging about 9 months ago. At first, I was REALLY hungry. I do think I gained a few pounds. But, after sticking with it for awhile, I found that my body became naturally "unhungry" - as if it were saying "If you are going to make me jog 4 miles every other day, then I'm just going to insist that you are a bit lighter".

The extreme hunger pains went away - I looked at food like energy.... I didn't want to eat too much, because then I would literally feel heavier when I ran.

Something funny I have just noticed, after taking 6 days off to give my joints a rest, my hunger pains have actually started returning! I'm happy to go jogging today to 'kill the hunger' - if that makes sense.

If we put our body in a regular, intense program - i do think it eventually responds in the proper way. It just may be somewhat shocking at first. Exercise also helps us stay youthful, it helps overall skin health, and it fights depression. For me, the depression aspect was really noticeable.

[constance21]

The key is to plan your meals..so when you are really hungry after a workout, you already have a plan of what/how much you are gonna eat. This helps me a lot!

[caryesings]

My exercise when I started was walking (hiking on weekends), swimming, and recumbent bike. The occasional aerobics video when I couldn't get the other things in. I still exercise exactly the same way 1 year later. The difference is, when I started out my goal was 30 mins/day, 5 days per week. Now my goal is 6 hours minimum per week.

However, I have noticed since I've crossed the 1 hour/day threshold that I've bumped my calorie average up 100-200 calories. So in a way, I guess you could say my workouts get cancelled out calorically, but that's not how my body is acting. Even though my calorie deficit is narrowing, I'm still losing at the same rate of @ 6lbs/month.

[seabiscuit]

Something personal trainers have told me before I exercise and a protein afterwards. I feel hungry after exercising too but if I know I am going to have some lean protein, it makes me feel better.

I have just over 100 lbs to lose and when I was heavier than I am now, I started off by the exercise I still do: walking.

Amy

[choirgirlhotel]

Originally Posted by bonnnie

Just wanted to add my little two cents. I started seriously jogging about 9 months ago. At first, I was REALLY hungry. I do think I gained a few pounds. But, after sticking with it for awhile, I found that my body became naturally "unhungry" - as if it were saying "If you are going to make me jog 4 miles every other day, then I'm just going to insist that you are a bit lighter".

I tend to agree with this. I have a friend who is a professional athlete, plus my brother who is 6 ft 3 in and extremely active and physically fit, and they both don't really eat a lot more than I do. I think we *think* we need more food than we actually do - and especially in the beginning.

But as I am finding - you are the boss of your body (and stomach/hunger). Once you boss it around and tell it what to do, it resists and fights you for a while and then it just gives up and listens. lol.

~CGH~

[saef]

I started exercising by walking. I lived then in a rather hilly area, an older neighborhood with good, wide sidewalks. It's a city, with a lot of amenities nearby in the neighborhoods, & a lot of people walk to get to shopping & entertainment & restaurants & etc. I felt so self-conscious about my weight that I did not want to go to a gym. But walking on the streets, I felt okay, because people of all shapes & sizes are walking around. In some of the leafier, slightly wealthier neighborhoods, there are lots of women walking for exercise, often friends in pairs. So I felt what I was doing would be unexceptional & normal.

I did what I could. (Remember those hills. Several of them were quite steep.) Then I read about the 10,000 steps thing, which gave me a goal, & got a good pedometer. Over time, I increased the distance. Then the speed. With jogging intervals.

But I did too much too soon & hurt my feet. Had to go to a podiatrist about pains in the joint of my big toe and plantar fasciitis. He made me some orthotics & told me to stay off my feet. By then, I was hooked & losing weight steadily. I didn't want to stop. So I started using the gym at my company (we are fortunate to have an on-site gym) & using a stationary bike there. Same thing: Gradually upping the resistance & staying on it longer. (I got bike shorts because I rubbed my butt raw & bleeding after some rides.)

Then I saw a once-a-week yoga class offered through the local high school's adult ed evening classes, so I took that, as my rest day.

By this time, I'd lost enough weight that I ventured to sign up for a Sunday morning beginner's swim class. (I swam many, many years ago, loved it, and wanted to see if I still enjoyed it.) I picked it because of my bad feet & because I'm trying to learn to do something that I can do when I am even older, if my joints give out.

One thing just gradually led to another. But the walking started it. It all began just with lacing up sneakers. I got better & stronger, I lost weight, I gained confidence, and I tackled the next thing, to vary my routine, or because I had to (from injury) and over time, I ended up a gym rat.

So best of luck with your walking. Once you start, you never know where it might take you.

[SCraver]

Like others have said, your body will adjust. You will only be hungry at the very begining, then things will even out. It is important to get enough protein. You should have a little snack a bit before you exercise and a snack soon after that includes both carbs and protein (I like things like Chobani yogurt or Low Fat cottage cheese with half an apple or 1 oz cheddar cheese with half an apple, etc.)

[stillwagontsl]

Saef, what an encouraging post! I love that you've branched out and tried different workouts. Me, I started walking years ago and I'm still doing it today. It's low-impact and easy on my body, except for those days when I over do it (it becomes somewhat of an addiction after a few miles and if I'm not careful, I just want to keep going and going).

As far as being hungrier, I notice that I do have 'hungry days'. When that happens, I just eat a little extra protein or some fruit and veggies and that takes care of it. Most of the time, I think the walking helps control my eating. I always think twice before giving in to the ice cream or chocolate because I don't want to undo all the good work I've done.

[TXMary2]

Thanks everyone. I think I will go ahead and implement walking now and plan to eat protein after the walk. I just don't want to set myself up for a situation where the hunger has more power than I do! I have not disciplined myself enough in the past. One reason I am doing so well this week with the food is that I am not allowing myself to get too hungry so I don't get in that mode of "I have to eat anything, something RIGHT now or I will pass out."

Also, I get easily winded so I think walking my neighborhood is probably the best start for me.

[seagirl]

I usually have an egg or some bread with almond butter before I exercise. The protein keeps me full.

Also, eating doesn't "cancel out" calories burned through exercise. Exercise has tons more benefits than just burning calories - building muscle, improving flexibility and balance, reducing stress, cardiovascular health, higher metabolism through out the day, etc. Eating because you are hungry after exercise isn't going to cancel out all those benefits!

Just plan ahead before and after exercise so your body has enough fuel.

[wilma729]

I have felt, as a friend and I have started walking every morning, that feeling of hunger after our walks. I always make sure to have a fruit smoothie (home-made) before the walk so there's something in my tummy in the morning, and make myself drink at least one glass of water afterwards. I find the water settles my hunger down, so I just move on to coffee and can make it until my morning break at work (3 hours later) and sometimes all the way to lunch (about 5.5 hrs later) just by drinking more water!
Water is amazing!

[cikiciki]

Hi

I'm new on here, I wonder if this thread is still available?

How are you girls doing so far with the exercise?

I just started my walking on treadmill for 30 minutes at 6pm. And 6 hours later I felt hungry, then I slept when I woke up I felt hungry every 2 hours after I eat until now. I'm wondering is it normal? This is my first time exercise btw.

Should I keep eating when hungry or I try not to eat and just follow my daily eating habit 3x a day?

The hunger is so much!

Thanks for your inputs