Hello!

Several of you have lost 100lbs or very close to that, which is what I need to lose. I'm curious to know how things were when you first started out. What kind of exercise and for how long when you first began your journey.

I'm finding that I'm tiring and getting winded after about a mile of walking and just want to compare my starting points to those of others who have already surpassed this part of the journey.
Thanks~

I don't know if my weight loss is significant, but I can share my experience.
When I started out exercising all I did was walk on the treadmill. Very slowly. I was able to do only about 4.5km/hr for about 20 mins and then I had to stop. I was very winded and my heart rate usually went sky high. I'm able to do double that speed now for about 40 mins (usually jogging) so it truly does get easier with time. I have an elliptical now that I use and I've been doing much more outdoor activity (bicycling, hiking, etc.) To be truthful, I'm more impressed with my fitness level now than the number of pounds I've lost. I hope that helps you out.

~Dee

It really does depend on what your overall fitness level has been. My biggest loss was nearly 2 years ago when I lost around 70-80 lbs. I started out doing weights as I had just come off a knee injury. I didn't actually do cardio until about 3 months later. I ended up losing 30-40 lbs before I actually built cardio into my routine. I had also been an on and off exercising including walking for quite a few years before that. When I started on the elliptical, I could only do a few minutes, but I eventually built up to being able to do 30-40 minutes. It took me a couple months to get to that point.

I wouldn't worry about being winded, your body will eventually get stronger and better. You'll be able to do 2, 3, 4 miles without a problem eventually. If you keep working at it, you'll improve.

I started at the beginning of last year. I was given a very nice and easy circuit by a gym instructor, and spent 5 minutes on each cardio machine, interspersed with very easy strength training with resistance bands.

My sessions were very gentle and went for 45 minutes.

Now I can walk 4 miles in just over an hour.

I have gone from being able to swim 12 lengths of the pool in one hour to being able to do 60 lengths in 50 minutes.

My partner Col had to wait for me all the time when out on walks, now I have to slow down for him.

The cool thing about fitness is that it improves really quickly. For me now my goals are all fitness related rather than weight. If you do all the right things sometimes your weight will just not budge, but the same rarely happens with fitness.

My big tip is, try it all. Try adding new things every month, and stay positive about it.

Get as much advice as you can. I have used three different gyms and everyone has been nothing but supportive and giving of their time and expertise. I have learnt so much about exercise and myself, I am really grateful for exercise for giving me my life back.

I started by walking and, yes, I was winded and tired after a mile or so. Then I started doing an over 50 aerobics class, which killed me, but I kept it up and as I dropped weight, the easier it got. Also started lifting weights at that time, twice a week. Then I started water aerobics, both shallow and deep, which became easier as time went by.

Now I do an hour long deep water aerobics class twice a week, run/walk for an hour twice a week, and rowing machine/elliptical twice a week for an hour each time. When I started running, I could only do about 3 minutes, but now I'm up to 35 min. of running and 25 min. of walking. I also lift weights for 30-35 minutes six days a week, and stretch daily. I have an active rest day on Sunday (I walk). So walking for me has become more of a "resting" activity than cardio, but it took me quite a while to get to that point.

So I think you're right on track. As you drop weight and exercise more, your fitness level will improve, and you'll be less winded and able to walk longer. Good luck!

I'll give you a little bit of my background first. When I started, I was 25 years old and weighed 286 pounds, and lost the weight VERY slowly (on purpose). I started about three years ago, and have slowly lost weight every since (with no rebounds, give or take a couple of pounds gained at Christmas time each year). I had been big all of my life (I weighed about 225 at high school graduation and 250 at college graduation).

When I started, I was in my final semester of graduate school, so I had absolutely no money and no steady schedule. So, I just walked whenever I could. Instead of taking the bus across campus, I walked. I didn't have a set amount of time each day to walk - I just did what I could whenever I could. I didn't push myself too hard, though. I just wanted to get where I was going. I didn't care how long it took. In those early days, though, my switch to drinking more water helped a lot. The more water I drank, the less achy I felt.

As soon as I graduated and got a job, I joined Curves. When I joined, I weighed about 255 pounds or so. That was great, and I highly recommend it to anybody starting out on this journey. The people were very supportive, and the workout is very flexible, meaning you can go harder or softer depending on your own personal strength and fitness level. But, if you get a Curves with good trainers, they'll push you as hard as you need to be pushed. I started by going three times a week, and eventually found myself going five times a week. At first, I hurt like crazy. I hadn't donen any weight work before, so I ached in places that I didn't know had muscles! But after a couple of weeks, it started to be more fun...and more of a routine that I could stick with.

I started and after reading the other girls' responses, I guess I was horrendously out of shape, because I could only go on the treadmill for 4 minutes at a time at around 2 mph if I remember correctly. I would do 4 minutes on the treadmill, and then I would jump rope for 5 minutes. I'd complete 12 minutes on the treadmill and 15 minutes jumping rope (very SLOWLY I might add w/ quite a few breaks). I also did Denise Austin's morning workouts. Of course I couldn't do any of the strength work, pilates, or yoga, so I only did the "cardio lite" and "fat burners" segments. It probably ended up being around 15 minutes of cardio. I rotated these; I did aerobics one day and then treadmill the next.

You don't even realize you're improving your fitness because it happens so fast. I think those workouts only lasted about 6 weeks before I was able to move on to longer stints on the treadmill and more cardio. I soon moved on to the "harder" exercise programs, like the Caribbean Workout and Sharon Mann on fittv. (Denise Austin is on Lifetime). I remember early on trying to keep up with Sharon Mann and it wasn't happening, and now sometimes her show isn't even challenging enough. And now I can do yoga and pilates, whereas when I started, I couldn't even LAY on my back comfortably for more than a minute.

Don't worry about it, LakeGirl, just keep challenging yourself and you'll be there in no time. Don't over-exert yourself and keep your workouts at a moderate intensity (meaning you can carry on a conversation, you shouldn't be gasping for air).


Good luck!!!!!

I've always been relatively fit for my weight. Obviously at 260lb that isn't particularly fit, but probably fitter than other people at that weight. I started trying to run right at the start, then realised I might be better building up my fitness doing other gym work first before going back to it. I did a lot of swimming at first, the exercise bike and the cross trainer. Also walking on the treadmill. At that stage I found it worked best doing 10 or 15 minutes on each piece of equipment and moving round to stop the boredom.

Then I went through a phase of building up endurance on the cross trainer, working my way up to 30 minute sessions and beyond, and started trying to run short distances.

Then as my running built up and took on a momentum of its own it's pretty much all the cardio I do unless I want to take the weight off my legs for some reason. All the way through I've done weights too, and recently I've also started doing yoga.

Thanks to everyone for their responses! I was thinking that maybe I wasn't doing enough or that I should be doing more. Plus, I just like knowing any success stories for what has worked well or not worked well for people. You folks are all so inspiring!

Don't worry about your fitness level now-- because you are on your way to improving it drastically. Wherever your starting point is is just that, a starting point.

I don't exercise as much as I should. I have long made it my goal to be able to run 1 mile under 10min and 2miles without having to stop for a little walk in between. I was constantly telling myself, though to lose the weight and then start running because it will be easier and I will be better motivated then..and blah blah blah. Now I realize that whatever I want to be I should start training for now--- not in some indeterminate time in the future.

I did no exercise when I started and having a bad back it did not get much better the whole time I was losing. I lost my weight by just cutting calories. I do think it's important to exercise but that will come more natural when your weight comes down. I now walk an hour a day. So don't worry about doing to little just get your eating habits good and solid and the rest will come into place.

Thank you again, everyone! Howie, I would love to have you talk to my husband because you are such an inspiration. My hubby is very big, not sure of his weight, but I'd venture to say he is pretty close to where you started your journey. He has back issue and now has trouble even standing for very long. He is looked into gastric bypass which scares the H out of me.

I don't even know if this is something you would consider doing via email. Though I am big with about 100 to lose, I don't think the hubby can relate to me the way he could to another man and fortunately none of our male friends have weight issues.

Thanks for your time, Howie! You are doing great!

When I started exercising 16 months ago I was in such bad shape that my heart would race and I would be gasping for air just by showering. Other activities I would stop and take a break. I didn't want to walk as I was afraid I'd get stuck somewhere lol. Someone here suggested Walk Away the Pounds. At first I couldn't keep up and could only do 1 mile. In a matter of weeks I had to increase as it was getting too easy!

After 6 months I added weights to make the exercise harder. Finally last Nov I decided to buy an elliptical. I was hoping to do cardio for an hour. I was very disappointed that I could only do 5 min even on the lowest setting. I felt like I was starting over. I didn't think I'd improve as fast as last time since I was already in better shape. Gradually I added minutes until I could go 45 (one tv show without commercials ). Then I started increasing the setting. I'm at a medium now.

I'm amazed at how far I've come. Doesn't matter where you start. Just do a little bit more each time and you will get there! You'll probably be faster than me as I was pregnant when I started.

Catherine mom to 11
mabear's homepage

I started off weight training on the machines at my YMCA 2-3xweek. IMHO, building and maintaining muscle while you diet is extremely important, especially for those of us losing 100# plus. Just lifting weights caused me to lose 30# without even dieting. The next 70# took serious dieting, however.

I still don't really do any cardio, but i keep vowing to add some rowing into my regimen. I do walk a few miles everyday, but I am now fit enough that that doesn't really count as exercise.

Lakegirl I would be happy to talk with your husband if he wants to. You can email anytime at [email protected]