100 lb. Club - Hello Everyone !! :) (and some questions re: excersize)

I've been trying to find my "home" on this site for a few days and I think this is where I belong.

I'm 33, Married and have a 2.5 year old son.

I started at 250lbs on Feb 2, 2006 and am down to 243.8 :D as of this morning !! Of course, I still have 100lbs to lose - but I'll take my victories where I can get them :)

I have a question for you chicks :) (and gents) of uhm similar stature ;) .. how do you excersize when you can't do the correct 'moves' ?

For example - my husband bought me "Pilates for weightloss" to add to my regimine - and I can't do more than 1/2 of the excersizes / positions because my fat gets in the way - then I get discouraged and end up sitting there and 'stretching' while watching the DVD.

I have an excersize ball - but I'm too 'fat' to get on it and I don't know how to "adapt" excersizes in order to be able to do them at my current "physique" ;)

So I end up just walking on the treadmill - (1mi / 24 minutes) - which is better than nothing - but I want to do MORE... I wanted to do some weights on MWF and pilates/yoga on T&Th (in addition to the treadmill) ...

How do you "adapt" ?

Hey welcome to the group! Ok as for your questions you can try to modify the exercises or go a little slower than the tape/dvd you got. The treadmill is an awesome start ;) If I can't do a certain exercise ( I do taebo) then I just modify it. I don't kick as high, go as fast or something. Just do as much as you can, push yourself a little bit more each day and you'll be able to do more no matter what you weigh or your body type ;)

Hi, I use the Walk Away the Pounds exercise series. If you can walk you can do this series. :) When I first decided to add exercise to my life, I checked out some exercise videos from the library, including some Pilates ones. I couldn't do the beginning ones even.:o Luckily I also saw the WATP DVDs and found the ones for me.

You may want to try these.

I have the WATP (walk away the pounds) ... Leslie Sansone bugs me :P - I've even tried doing them with my ipod on ... I don't know why but I feel like I get "more" out of walking on the treadmill than doing the same 1mile with Leslie... plus it's more entertaining :D

Hmmm...you say you are too "fat" for your exercise ball? Many of my friends over at the 300+ forum use them, and you are thinner than that. The weight capacity for most is at least 300 pounds, and many go up to 600 pounds...

As for not being able to do the moves, just do what you can, and slowly build up. It will come with time. If you can't do a move that they are showing, do one that you know you can do, and do that in it's place.

Same goes for exercise dvds. When I bought "Dance off the Inches:Calorie Blasting Party", I couldn't do very much...but I've gotten the moves down, and can do all the routines on the 50 minute program.

you say you are too "fat" for your exercise ball? Many of my friends over at the 300+ forum use them, and you are thinner than that. The weight capacity for most is at least 300 pounds, and many go up to 600 pounds...


What I mean is I'm not very "stable" on the ball ... I guess because I carry all my weight in the front all I can really do is "sit on it"

If your ball is tall enough, try sitting on it in front of the computer...believe it or not, you'll work your muscles! Or if your ball isn't that tall, simply sit on it while in front of the TV. :)

COOL !! Thanks !!
Should my feet touch the ground while I'm sitting on it ?

YES!! Did a video or booklet come with your ball? There's lots of simple exercises you can do - like sitting on it and "marching in place".

As far as the other stuff - just do whatyou can and in a short amount of time you'll be doing it all!

On the ball - what size is it? That can make a difference.

I don't actually own one as my cats would go nuts, and kill it! lol...my "knowlege" is strictly from other people's experiences. :)

I have used the ball in excercise classes before, and it will just take a little practice getting used to it. Part of the great thing about used the ball is it improves your core muscles and balance. The first few times I used was really strange and I kept falling off of it, but you will be surprised how quickly you pick it up. In terms of the moves that you do, listen to your body and modify where you need to.

I second the exercise ball....I just do what I can and figure that eventually I will be able to do it all. Look at it this way, these DVD's are designed for people who are already in shape....you wouldn't be expected to keep up with the marathon trainers if you had just started jogging, would you? The other thing you can use is a BOSU (stands for Both Sides Up and looks like half an exercise ball with a platform). Many people find them much more stable when first starting out. (They use them a lot on Biggest Loser, if you watch the show)

Finally....WELCOME to the Club! Hope you have found a home. Good luck!

Sara

Even thin people, or especially thin people struggle on the ball. I am the biggest in my exercise class, and the most stable on the ball!!! My centre of gravity is lower :D ;)

Your core muscles aren't used much, but they respond really quickly to exercise on the ball, you'll get better in no time.

I have never really modified anything formally, just done what I can. The only thing I really can't do is HIIT (high intensity interval training) that my trainer thought would be good for me, as I have asthma. But now I have started interval running and am coping, so I might try again.

Keep trying lots of different exercises, and don't shirk away from things that look difficult, before you know it, you'll be doing stuff you never thought possible!!! If you had told me this time last year I would be running on a treadmill, I would have laughed at you, now I'm training for a 10 k run :dizzy:

Welcome to 3fc!

I Couldn't agree more with Kykaree - you are unstable on the ball because you have weak core stability (ab muscles), not particularly because of your weight. I just started doing a fit ball class in January and though I am improving all the time, there is still loads I can't do or can't do a whole set because my abs are still weak. I just do what I can and it is amazing how quickly you gain strength.

Here are a couple of exercises I do in class that you can try:

Lie on your back with your legs straight ahead & your feet resting on the ball, put your hands by your temples and sit up. (basically sit ups with feet on ball). Also, instead of crunching forward, you can use one hand to stretch down and try to reach your toes. (right hand , right foot, left hand, left foot)

Standing up staraight, abs in, hold the ball above your head with your arms straight. Lean over to your right, centre then left and repeat slowly. Also do this with the ball held out in front of you.

Lie on your back, put the ball between your feet and raise your legs in the air, as vertically as possible - from here you can do sit ups, side reaches or just slowly lower your legs down to the ground and back up again- but I warn you, that last one is a killer!

Hope this helps you - it's quite hard to explain exercises clearly! Fit balls are quite amazing and once you get past the fear that you are going to pop it, you will find all sorts of wierd and wonderful things you can do! Keep up the cardio too - that will get the weight off even quicker.

Good Luck,

Love Amanda x

Welcome to the group. Good for you for jumping right on the exercise and wagon and asking questions. I've never really had to modify any exercises (except the amount of time I was able to do them ;)) and I started right at the weight you're at right now. Amanda's suggested exercise sounds good. Did you give it a try yet?

~Dee

You all are a wealth of information. Yesterday I had posted in the exercise section about some in home equipment I could use for streghthening and sculpting. All this talk about at fit ball has convinced me that it's one piece of equipment I should get.
Thanks for all the info!!!!

The other thing to think about is if you can't "do the correct moves" because your belly gets in the way. I have had that trouble with Pilates and Yoga especially, because there are some positions where my big ol' belly takes up the room, or makes it very uncomfortable for me to move into position. ("child pose" in yoga is like that, as are some of the Pilates laying-on-the-belly exercises) I tend to avoid any exercise tape where I know I'm going to be sitting/laying on the floor, for that reason. But there are LOTS of great videos out there where you are standing through most/all of it. I love Fat Burning for Dummies and The Biggest Loser and The Firm Basic Fat Burning and Tae Bo Basics. Those are the four I do most often. I do have WATP (with the sound down/off because Leslie annoys me) and Richard Simmons (he's annoying, too, but he's got GREAT music and plus-sized exercisers).

And for those days when I am feeling like a challenge, I do Pilates for DUmmies, or AM/PM Yoga, or Stability Ball workouts. I just know going into them that I will have to modify or watch through some of the exercises that my body just isn't ready for yet. But every little bit helps!

(Side note: In truth I use my stability ball primarily to help me with squats. I put the ball between me and the wall, and then lean back on it as I squat down. It's something my personal trainer taught me back when I belonged to a gym, and it really helps me stabilize my body and focus on working my quads and glutes, which is what squats are excellent for. )