I was wondering what exercise programs do you all recommend? I was thinking about doing Winsor Pilates but it kinda looks to hard and looks like it's for the thinner people. Have any of you tried it? I also want to know what exercise program you all are following now on this 300+ group.

Butterfly, welcome to the area! I think you'll find that the girls here do a number of different things. I'm not sure how many are on a structured "plan" other than one they've put together for themselves. A few do different videos. Walk Away the Pounds, and Richard Simmons. One was doing the Dance Dance Revolution game thing that kids are into. A couple do Curves. You need to just start moving. Do something different until you find something you really like. Alot of the girls just walk. Hope you'll find the inspiration you need. Please jump in on one of the numbered threads so the girls get to know you.

Hiya Butterfly ... I have been using my Fitness Flyer every day .. but have just ordered Turbo Jam .. so that is going to be my next lot ... Im hoping I can get it right .. not overly co-ordinated lol .. but could be something I can do with a lot of practice.

I think basically its just keep moving .. even if you put on the radio and dance around for half an hour a day to start with Good luck!

I think the most important thing to do is to look at where you're starting from fitness-wise, and determine what you CAN do, and then then determine what you WANT to do. What kind of things you find fun (or at least tolerable).

Even in our "weight-class," you'll find people with a huge range of fitness levels. Some of us have more strength and stamina than most average size people, and some can barely stand. I was at that point when I first started. I could walk only about twenty steps before my legs started to hurt, and had to rest every three to five minutes.

There are videos for every level, and I've tried a few of them. I have a tai chi video I like, and a few others on my wish list, but I've found I'm not really fond of videos. I use exercise bands during commercials, and I dance to music (and sometimes just to the music in my head). When we first married, I did silly dances for my husband, and he thought I was nuts, but we'd laugh and now I have HIM doing little dances for me (he even made up a weird little love song that he always sings to me - extremely off key).

We bought bicycles this summer, and sometimes I still think I'm crazy for talking my husband into it, because I can only ride for about seven minutes and maybe a third of a mile, but when I started I could barely go three blocks.
It was just so exciting to do something "normal" people do, if you know what I mean.

I LOVE water exercises, because my weight doesn't work against me, and I can actually get the heart rate up and do a real work-out. I swim several laps, and then tread water and do aerobic and weight resistance exercises in the water. If I had easy, cheap access to a pool, I'd swim every day. My dream would be to have one of those water resistance pools (where you swim against moving water) but we live in an apartment, and even if we had a house, the darn things cost like 16,000 - 20,000.

Really, the only thing you can do, is start somewhere (anywhere) doing something that is a little hard for you to do, until it's easy. Then you do more of it, or do it faster, or find something else that is a little hard to do and do that until it's easy, and try to build up your time. Keeping a journal of your daily activity lets you see your progress. I journal a lot. I'm really bad about missing days, but I can still look back and see progress beyond just the pounds.

Well I say I "do" Walk Away The Pounds which means I own the video and once in awhile I pop it in and actually do it. I'm just restarting this whole thing though and haven't started exercising as part of it yet. It's very low impact and very easy and of course if you want to take is easier than on the video you can.

I haven't excersized lately..but I did get a job on 8/4 and thats been keeping me active so I've been losing a lot. I weighed in on Friday and Monday, and I lost 3 pounds since Friday. So, I'm doing something right lol. I used to walk 1/2 mile every night, but since I started working, I don't walk. Hope you find something that you like and that you can stick with and better yet, something that works for you

I agree with Colleen, it has to do with your fitness level more than it has to do with your weight. I do yoga and I've done pilates before. I won't say that I do them with perfect form but I do them. I've always enjoyed cardio machines (I love the elliptical) and weights. I also do hiking, when the weather is cooperating. If you aren't used to doing exercise, I'd start with walking, it doesn't require any investment other than your time and a good pair of walking shoes.

When I started, I decided to start slowly but consistently. I decided to do at least 10 minutes a day of something, just to get myself up and moving. Many times that was just marching in front of the TV while watching something I enjoyed. I then added on by trying several videos like Walk Away the Pounds, Bellydance for Beginners and Just My Size Yoga. I have a gym in my office building and I decided to brave my fears and join, and as it turns out I love it. I have slowly built up my stamina over time. For example, the first time I got on the elliptical I did 5 minutes and thought I was going to die. But after about a month of walking on the treadmill I tried it again and did another 5 minutes, the next time 6, then 8, etc. I now normally do half an hour on the elliptical, and it is my favorite cardio. I then sometimes do more time on the treadmill, depending on how I feel. I am also lucky enough to get subsidized by my job (they pay half my fees) and so I have a personal trainer for 30 minutes a week. I also decided to start strength training and began by getting an old video by Susan Powter (don’t know if you remember her – she actually had larger people in her videos and stressed modification). I did that for a while to get started and then I did some reading, got some books and now have my own free weight routine drawn from several different sources.

One of the big promises I made to myself was that I could always stop after 10 minutes if I didn’t feel up to it – and I have taken myself up on that on occasion. I didn’t want to injure myself or push myself too far and burn out. It isn’t a race – it is a personal journey for you and your body. Don’t let anyone push you if you know you aren’t ready, but at the same time it can be a fabulous feeling to continue to best oneself. It has certainly carried me through several times when the scale wasn’t moving as I had hoped. I also now have sports I want to try when I am ready – martial arts and fencing, so that gives me something to shoot for physically.

When I started exercising in July, I began with walking the dog. I could hardly go 1/10 of a mile before my back would be in excruciating pain. I then started to supplement that with various fitness tapes I had previously purchased, yet rarely used. Even with those, 10 minutes would be all I could accomplish. After a few weeks, I started the Push strength training/cardio videos. Now it is 6 weeks later and I can walk approximately 1/4 of a mile before I have to stretch my back and I can comfortably finish the WATP 2 mile tape and have continued with Push. For some reason, exercise tapes do not hurt my back as much as walking outside.

I was so frustrated when I started because I could do so little without pain. I still get frustrated because my ambition is stronger than my muscles and I can't do what I want to yet. However, I feel like I've come a long way in 6 weeks. I agree with what everyone else has had to say and every little bit counts, even if it feels like you are not getting where you want to be fast enough.

If you are looking for an exercise video that can be done at 300 pounds, the WATP videos are pretty simple in nature and can be started/stopped whenever you need to break.

Good luck!

This is what I do and you will be amazed how it works wonders and really lifts your spirits. Put on music you enjoy no matter what the tempo you will moving. Good luck

I think this is a good thread to put here in particular because some of us heavier girls find it pretty hard to keep up, and get frustrated.

For instance, when I go outside walking with my hubby, as patient as he is with some things, I can really tell he's frustrated at how slow I walk, compared to him. I feel really pressured to keep up.

I have these videos, and TRY to do them. I do a modified, slower version and just TRY the moves, and I think nothing is wrong with that. One day at a time, it will improve:

Crunch cardio dance party - has a few different menus of different dance combos. The DVD moves a little fast into the 'lets do it all at once' part but I do like it (the CRUNCH part is just the brand name of the video, btw)

Turbo Jam - I have these DVD's and so far did it once but I've only had it a few weeks. I found it pretty hard to keep up with this one but I haven't given up on it yet. The DVD is fun at least and the instructor seems non-annoying.

I also do walking on my treadmill, and my eliptical I find is easiest for me (as in I can use it for longer and get a better workout on it) because it is not hard on my snapping ankles, since it's no impact.

Also I have 2 stretchy band thingies, and a TON of free weights, a weight bench, and a Yoga/exercise ball. We also have a skipping rope (and I can't seem to skip yet) and a punching bag (that's my hubby's bag).

Thank you for all the tips I see here. I think I'm going to reread this thread every day for a while just to remind myself to do what I can do and give myself permission to stop if I need to. Every little bit of movement helps.

I do winsor pilates and LOVED it for a while...kind of burnt out on it right now but the ones that target specific areas is great. The ones i could do right away were "arms" and "beginners". I could not do much else because of my size BUT when they did sit ups with no one holding their feet, i thought yeah right. But i started doing it in bed (to take the pressure off of my lower back) and then, as shocked as i was, i was very quickly doing them on the floor on a mat. I was SO proud of myself. But my sister was the same size as me but shorter and she said her body was just not made for pilates. So give the beginners one a try...some are WAY too advanced and you will get frustrated...the arm one and beginner is doable.

Thank you all for your comments. I tried a little pilates last night in bed and relized I can't get my legs up in the air as much as I seen the people do on the commercial.lol. But I thought to myself "If I keep doing a little bit every night in bed I might improve." So after a while after my body gets more flexible I will probably give Winsor a try.