So, had an interesting thing happen this morning, and by interesting I mean kind of stupid.

So I have been on my back for the past four days after pulling a muscle in the lower portion of said region. Excruciating pain, inability to walk/move and just downright miserable.

So this morning, I get out of bed and I can walk. Huzzah! My father, who has invited himself to stay with me, has been walking five miles a day around a local track. At 190 he is trying to lose weight to impress some chick he is digging. Feel free to gag.

That is when he told me that I need to avoid any exercise “Because at your weight you could kill yourself,” * Blank stare *
“I think you should at least lose another 15 pounds before getting active,” “You need to listen to me and not all of your little friends because I know what I am talking about,” “I think you should wait until at least Spring,”

Mind you, I hadn’t even had a cup of coffee yet, which is detrimental in catching me in a good mood.

I had to ask. “Now, Dad, what friends would you be talking about?” He didn’t have an answer. I told him that the only advice I am getting is from an online weight loss forum (you guys) because a lot of these people have been through the ups and downs of weight loss and usually that is where I get my support.

You can see from my ticker that I am by no means unable to move. They don’t have to cut a wall down on national TV to get me out of a house. ****, I even went roller skating last week and did laps around my nine year old sister. I was winded – but I rocked the house to Hannah Montana.

Is he smoking crack or am I just not taking advice well?

Don't listen to your dad, he doesn't understand.

I weight a lot more than you and I'm way active. I run, dance, and do anything I want. He probably means well, but he doesn't get it and that's ok. You may want to put up a boundary with him and ask him not to comment on your exercise or health choices. Just a thought.

Oh my GOd,
that sounds like something my grandfather would tell me.(he is totally old school.)

I would flat out tell him, you are doing what you want to do and you appreciate what he is telling you but your an adult and do things the way you want to do them.

I wish you the best in your journey and i am glad to hear you are doing so much better. Keep up the awesome work!!

Anyone who isn't in shape should be careful going full speed ahead into exercise. I know from experience when I was your weight, for example, that I couldn't run...I have bad knees and it just would have been excruciating. Definitely would have been a problem.

But, at your weight (and heavier) I did plenty of exercise, including:
Walking with brief jogging intervals
Jogging on a mini-trampoline
Aerobics videos
Rollerskating/Canoeing/Hiking/other fun weekend activities
Strength Training

Obviously, I didn't kill myself

If you have medical conditions, speak with a doctor to make sure you're cleared, don't go too hard to fast, and listen to your body (if it hurts, you get dizzy, you feel weak, or any other major thing like that, you probably should slow down/take a break/reconsider your exercise). Otherwise, go forth and exercise!

Not exercising? Ridiculous!

There are things that EVERYONE can do to move more at whatever size. Not that we should overdo it and run a 10k when we've never walked faster than 3mph our entire lives... I mean we have to use our common sense.

There was an inspiring story on TV a long time ago, about a woman who weighed about 1,000lbs. I believe it was Richard Simmons who worked with her. And all she could do at her top weight was clap her hands. So they started there. She clapped her hands until she got her heartrate up a bit.

I think that exercising at any size is a great habit to build. It doesn't have to be high intensity, but moving is important!

I love your subject line.

In my personal opinion, I disagree with what your father is saying. He just doesn't understand. I really don't think being active and exercising has anything to do with your size. Ex - I have a good friend that is probably about 5'8" 135lbs. She could not run down the road for the life of her. Funny how that works, huh?

I would just disregard what your father is saying. A lot of people are just not educated about weightloss, they haven't been down that road.

You have lost 18lbs girl, that is great!! Keep doing what your doing, it's obviously working.

Yup, he's on crack.

He's smoking crack. Hahaha.

With anyone the most important part of exercise is listening to your body cues and the first couple of weeks on a new program are critical whether you're 100lbs overweight or trying to drop 5lbs. This is when the body is most susceptible to injury because your tendons and ligaments haven't had time to get used to exercise. This is when you need to break in slowly.
And sure, some people have physical ailments associated with being overweight/obese such as they're predisposed to certain joint issues... but plenty of skinny people probably could do less than what you can do. You just have to make sure you can tell when something doesn't feel quite right...slow, dull aches are usually just "good" muscle pain whereas a sharp, burning pain that comes on suddenly is something more serious. If you are stiff after a workout and it's been days and you're still sore you could have a strain; also, if it hurts when you don't put any stress on the muscle it could be a strain (ie: my quads are in pain when I'm lying in bed doing nothing). Listen to your body and you'll be fine.

I also disagree with what your father is saying, but I'm also seeing some attitude towards your dad there, too!

Probably moderation from both sides is needed here.

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Dont listen to him i started at 372 and i was at the gym and walking around the block. i took it one day at a time. u do a lil and then when ur ready go 4 it

Lol, oh the attitude is SO there. lol. The man is sleeping on my couch, eating my food, sucking up my electricity and cherry coke zero. He has also been mocking my food choices ( totally unneeded as I am my own prison guard) then he hits me off guard with how I shouldn't workout? If I had a bat - it would have hit his face. I feel like I am 16 years old again paying 1300 in rent a month to have him up my a**. The dynamics of my life right now are causing serious bouts of attitude and verbal lashings. lol

WAIT! There is cherry coke zero? I've never seen that one.

sorry...didn't mean to hijack...

Your crack smokin' dad needs an intervention. I started out two years ago at 234. the first thing I did was start excercising. THEN I started counting calories. moving more and being more active is the KEY to weight loss. Even if its just getting off the couch to change the channel instead of using the remote. So, your not ready for a marathon yet, but you sure as heck can still find excercise useful and not die from it.

i agree with the fact that you should not listen.
maybe he feels emasculated since he is staying on his daughters couch, and he is trying to make up for that by showing you that he can be smarter than you when it comes to exercise.

crack, uh huh.