Just beginning. .. Help
 

Hi Everyone, so I'm overweight by 120 pounds. I must lose before my health deteriorates.. I dont know where to begin as far as exercise. Right now i cant even take a shower without gasping for air.. Can someone please tell me where to start.. thank you..

I started in small steps. Less soda and then no soda. Less portions and then healthier foods. No exercise to increasing amounts of exercise. I did not want to burn out so I took t slow. Now I am very comfortable counting calories and exercising every day. I hope to keep at it and continue to make more improvements. I think it's too overwhelming to change everything at once.

Welcome to 3fc's beck50! I started with just some simple walking. At first I could only go a few minutes but just tried to increase it slightly each day. After some time I was able to use the Leslie Sansone dvd's called Walk Away the Pounds.

I wish you well with your goals!

Thank y'all for replying. I will start out walking as many minutes i can go and work my way up. Also with my eating habits. I drink alot of sodas, so cutting them out will be one of my first changes. I know its going to be hard losing weight cause i have alot to lose. I just joined this site so I'm hoping it will be encouraging. Thank you both for replying.

Welcome!!

I agree, I think small steps are your best bet for sticking with it. Walking is great exercise. Even just a few minutes a day would be great.

Small changes in your diet to start I think is more helpful than just dropping all junk food and trying to eat super healthy at every meal. I don't know what your diet is like now but maybe for breakfast start swapping out whatever you have with some oatmeal and fruit. Or if you drink 4 sodas a day, drink 2-3 and swap the others out for a glass of water. I used to drink a TON of soda. I slowly started swapping out the soda for water. Now I only have it occasionally, maybe 1 every few months.

For snacks maybe try some hummus and carrots. I never thought I would like hummus but its actually really good and I can eat it and don't feel liek I am forcing down a healthy snack.

Best of luck to you!!

Welcome Beck50! You have come to the right place. You'll find a lot of support and advice here to help you along the way. The journey begins. After having 3 heart attacks, it's hard for me to do much exercising, but my cardiologist said to walk! I like you, it was not easy at first, but walk as much as you can and work up to more and more time. You can do it!

Try not to worry about the total amount of weight you wish to loose, just take it one pound at a time and set mini-goals, 1 lb, 5lbs, 10lbs, etc.

Good Luck!

Thank you

Hello beck50! I also joined recently and must say this place is incredibly informative, friendly and good for support every step down the journey. I'm glad you too found your way here!

I think your idea about walking while being respectful of your own limits sounds great! And if at some point you would feel like it, adding a pair of walking poles might help - they help with the balance and take some of the weight off the knees.

I echo everyone here who roots for the small changes - I have found that forming some good, new habits (like eating a lot of fruit - not just apples and oranges, but peaches, apricots, nectarins, whatever is in season and looks ripe and delicious) is likely to push the bad habits away. And counting the calories, if just for a couple of days, and then looking at the numbers and trying to make out: where does most of the calories in a day come from, and is it absolutely necessary.

Good luck!

Scrapping soda is a great place to start. But all change in the right direction is a great way to go.
What I find overwhelming is to consider all changes at once. Try introducing one doable change a week, for example, one week without soda after five. Then the next week, no soda after noon. Something like that. Be sure to be drinking extra water, and know that because you are coming off caffeine you may experience headaches for the first few days.
Also, how about light stretching before walking? Five minutes in the morning, five minutes at night? Work your way up! Challenge yourself, but don't be hard on yourself: this is a GOOD thing! :-)

hello Beck! I am also new and need to lose about 150/160 pounds. I am also starting out by cutting out soda and switching most snacks to a healither version. Good luck!!!