New here, I don't know if someone else has made a similar thread, but I couldn't find it and I need some advice, please!

I know I need to exercise, but I have no stamina and a bunch of physical problems due to the excess weight. All my doctor has said about it is "you have to build your stamina!" Okay, that's great, but I'm so heavy that my body doesn't want to support itself for anything more strenuous than a slow, two-minute walk. I get winded walking from my car to my office. It's awful and I hate it, but I don't know what to do!

I know you can't give Medical Advice, but has anyone out there encountered similar problems? Have you found any solutions? Thanks.

Do you have access to a pool anywhere to where you could move - even if just walking from one end to the other in a lap lane? Would that be something that you'd be comfortable doing?

Perhaps finding some resistance bands that you could use to strengthen your muscles while you're losing weight. You could remain sitting for some of them if needed. Or the little unit that has two pedals that you pedal like a bike while sitting would work your legs. Arm exercises without weights would also help and that would probably raise your heart rate, too, with getting the arms up and moving. Even if only five reps of one today, you'll be at 7 next week, etc.

Best of luck, Duchess!

Swimming and the pedal thing ( my mother and sister both have one) are great ideas. I think walking is great. I started walking 10 minutes away from my house and 10 minutes back. If you can walk 1 minute away and one minute back for a week twice a day, that would be great! Then maybe next week you feel like an extra 30-60 seconds would be possible.

Good to meet you.

Welcome to 3fc's! Try googling "chair exercises" to get an idea of some things you could start slowly with. I second the recommendation for one of those little portable cycle thingies. You can place it on the floor to work your legs or put it on a table and use it for your arms. I've seen them at Walmart.

Good luck!

I would say that if you can walk for two minutes, walk for two minutes. Then tomorrow see about walking for three minutes. You have to start from where you are, but any start is a good one.

When I started exercising at my highest, my goal was 10 minutes per day of marching in place in front of the tv. If I was in pain I could stop and start up again later. From there, after I had lost a bit and started to gain confidence I was able to do more. I didn't do anything for a long time because I thought I had to start right away with 30 minutes on a treadmill, etc. You absolutely don't.

I've seen advice on TV for people to start with putting on some music and dancing. If you need to be seated at first, just groove with your upper body and arms.

I hope you find some exercises that work for you - good luck!!

@JustSharing,thats a really good idea.

Anything that gets you moving will help until you're a bit stronger

You need to stop seeing exercise as 20 minutes of heavy sweating. You may want to even substitute the word "movement." Move what you can, when you can.

When I started, I was virtually housebound. Taking a shower - even using a shower chair, took all the energy I had for the day. I couldn't even "rinse repeat" when washing my hair, and had to use a shampoo and conditioner combination because I barely had the strength to wash my hair even once (lifting my hands over my head was torture).

I started trying to move more just with very little things - things no one thinks of as exercise, like washing the dishes during commercials. When I started, I couldn't even stand the whole time (or much at all) and I couldn't even make it through one whole commercial.

In the water, I can do much more (even at my worst, I could do much more). The problem was realizing how much I was doing in the water, because I eventually would have to get out of the water. If I overdid my water workouts, I'd get out of the water, and barely have the strength to get dressed, and I'd end up in bed for three days. If I could have lived in the water, it would have been awesome.

The important thing is to increase your strength and endurance, and you don't have to do that in 30 minute increments - you can do that in 2 minute, or even in 20 second increments. Move more. Try to do more today than you did yesterday or two days ago.

One thing I did, and still sometimes do is use one of those step-counting pedometers. My goal was to exceed the previous day's count (even if only by two steps). Often I'd forget to check until the next morning (because I clipped my pedometer to my shoes, so I wouldn't forget and let it go through the wash).

I didn't always beat my record - there were sick days and lazy days, actually a lot of them, but it made progress a lot easier to measure. If I hadn't documented my daily record, I might not have seen progress. It's easy to forget (even now) how little I could do when I started. Unless you record your progress it can be very easy to forget that you've made any. So I'd suggest writing it down, either in a journal you'll keep or on a calendar.


Literally when I started, my steps measured in the hundreds. That's really sad, which reminds me that I need to find my pedometer. I got out of the habit this winter because of frequent health issues, and I need to get back to it, because it helped tremendously.

I second and third everything everyone has said. If you will make yourself do that 2 minute walk as often as you can, I think you'll surprise yourself and find that you can go to 3, then 4, then 5 much faster than you expect. I have not managed to lose weight over the last few years (well, I've lost the same 10 pounds a bunch of times) but I have definitely increased my stamina and mobility, just by sticking with it.

Recently I found a great DVD of seated yoga that I'm truly loving. I've also gotten a variety of easy exercise DVDs. I can't finish a one of em, but I can do twice as much of each one as when I first got them. It's a great feeling, and it's worth starting where you are and sticking with it to feel more able.

Have a great trip! I bet you'll find parts of it good soon!

You got lots of good advice in this thread. I've been from little to big to sort of big to massive down to sort of big and back up to big, and I know that when I was at my heaviest exercise intimidated the crap out of me. Everyone said "oh, just walk!" like it was the second coming, but it was hard to explain that even that was too much for me. But something was better than nothing, so I started parking farther away at the store. Then on a nice day I walked the two blocks I could, and maybe helped my boyfriend in the garden. Or vacuumed. Or put on some great music and danced around like a dork while I was making dinner. None of it was really intentional exercise, but it was enough to start building back up my stamina.

Yoga was my first "official" exercise in years, and I can't tell you how absolutely amazing it is. Even if you can't do all the poses, or even most of them, it's great for getting your stretch on. I did it every morning at 309 lbs and even though I wasn't doing it well, I go to the point one day where I didn't totally suck.

The gym started very slowly for me too -- my friends (you know, the skinny annoying ones with expendable income) were all "GET A PERSONAL TRAINER!). a) with whose money? and b) uh, no. I was not ready for someone to get all Jillian Michaels on my as&. Instead I started slowly on the treadmill, maybe 5 minutes at 1.9 miles/hour. That turned into a 5K a few months later.

I'm back at the gym now 5-6 days a week -- just came home from one of the hardest workouts I've ever had and I feel great. I'm in no way in shape or even kinda not fat now, but I'm getting there. And it all started with just moving more, whatever that "more" is for you.

And word, word, WORD on water workouts. Gentle on your joints, and with a really great instructor it's an amazing way to exercise.

Hang in there and find what works for you. No way's wrong -- it's all about committing to something you feel comfortable with.

Good luck!

I second PHAT's suggestion for a Leslie Sansone dvd! I don't have the same one, but it's one of the Walk Away the Pounds series -- I ordered mine from Amazon. They are basically just walking in place, with some kicks, knee lifts, and arm movements thrown in. When I started, I couldn't even finish the "warm-up" -- totally wiped me out! But I did what I could and gradually increased my stamina. And I liked that I could exercise in the privacy (and air conditioning!!!) of my own home.

Duchess, OMG, you have lost a tremendous amount of weight -- so GREAT going!!!!! WooWWWWOOOOO!!!! I bet even though you can't do a lot now, it's more that you COULD do, right?!

When I first got started, everything was hard. Just walking in from the parking lot at work, or doing household chores. Very basic, barely enough to keep the house from looking like a wreck, type of chores.

I don't want to be the odd man out, but when I first started losing weight at 350 lbs, I did not focus on purposeful exercise at all. All I did was try to get a couple extra chores done in a day, with a thought that if I was going to be moving, there was going to be something getting done with that energy that needs to be done. So a 2 for one deal. At that weight, I was strength training and doing cardio just doing a load of laundry.

Now that I'm down to mid-200s and my house is in order, I have added exercise slowly over time. And I am simply amazed how much easier everything is just without the weight, without ever having focused much on improving my stamina.

You are doing an outstanding job! Keep it up!!!

Thanks for all the advice! It's comforting to know a) I'm not alone, and b) things can get better.

I really appreciate the advice about other types of exercise--or, rather, movement. When I think about "normal" exercise (push-ups, chin-ups, running, etc.), I get all knotted up inside; gym class was not kind to me. I *hated* those Fitness Week things. I couldn't even WALK a mile, let alone run one! Forget chin-ups. And the worst part was that my gym teachers knew I couldn't do some of the exercises, but they made me try them anyway.
I used to love swimming, but the only indoor pool close to me is at a fitness center that I can't afford to join. Heck, I was even a member of a women-only gym near my office, but they shut down soon after I joined. I signed up because they had those machines that make you look like you're skiing and don't put any strain on your knees.

Thanks again!

We had a long time member whose high weight was in the 600s. She started by doing scissor kicks in bed and built from that. She had trouble making it to her mailbox at first, but built from that.

I agree with others -- build on the 2 minutes. Add slowly. You'll be amazed!

I encourage you to count those minutes and join our exercise thread. Make a commitment! Today you can walk 2 minutes 5 times, right? That's 10 minutes.

Tomorrow do 2.5 minutes 5 times. Do that a couple days. then make it 3 minutes.

just keep moving and building and you will do it!!