Overweight. Need tips.

[Laqweeta]

Hey everyone, at the moment.. I am obese. My BMI = 38.4. Obesity = 30 or higher.

Now, as it stands right now.. I barely have ANY energy. I assume this is because I DO NOT exercise .. At all.
I want to change that, so.. Here I am.

My question, is it okay to start off small exercising? I tried doing 20 Jumping-Jacks and 5 Push-ups, after that.. I was already out of breath.

Thanks for any help anyone can give me

[Warwithin]

Start with the easy stuff - dieting. Simply cutting back on your calorie intake while maintaining a constant level of exercise (minimal as it may be) will result in weight loss.

When it comes to working out, however, you need a balance of cardio and weights. Muscle = higher metabolism = constant calorie burn whereas cardio = heart rate = calorie burn.

Start simple with both workouts, though. You don't want to hurt yourself. If you're not up for running with cardio yet due to fear of joint injury, etc.; go for the elliptical. Less calorie burn, but much less strenuous on your joints (the knee joint in particular).

As for weights, starting out, you can just do 4 days per week alternating upper and lower body muscle workouts.

[Laqweeta]

Start with the easy stuff - dieting. Simply cutting back on your calorie intake while maintaining a constant level of exercise (minimal as it may be) will result in weight loss.

When it comes to working out, however, you need a balance of cardio and weights. Muscle = higher metabolism = constant calorie burn whereas cardio = heart rate = calorie burn.

Start simple with both workouts, though. You don't want to hurt yourself. If you're not up for running with cardio yet due to fear of joint injury, etc.; go for the elliptical. Less calorie burn, but much less strenuous on your joints (the knee joint in particular).

As for weights, starting out, you can just do 4 days per week alternating upper and lower body muscle workouts.

Thanks for the reply . Running is kind of out of the question, for now. I've popped by Knee so many times. I may look into getting a Gym Membership at my local gym. It's literally 2 blocks away. I could walk there, get on that Elliptical and turn on my Ipod.

[Megiddo]

Don't give him the science..

Mate, all you need to do for starters is the following;

Walk 30 mins a day. (this is really important.)

And change your diet. (Eat more protein and veggies, stop eating food with bad fat, like chips, fastfood, fries, etc.) Eat fish, chicken (no wings cuz they've fat, also no skin)

It is really not about exercising.

Also stop drinking carbonated drinks (coke, sprite, dr. pepper..)
Only drink water for a while. It is the best drink anyways.

[Warwithin]

Don't give him the science..

Mate, all you need to do for starters is the following;

Walk 30 mins a day. (this is really important.)

And change your diet. (Eat more protein and veggies, stop eating food with bad fat, like chips, fastfood, fries, etc.) Eat fish, chicken (no wings cuz they've fat, also no skin)

It is really not about exercising.

Also stop drinking carbonated drinks (coke, sprite, dr. pepper..)
Only drink water for a while. It is the best drink anyways.

Good call on the soda. I used to drink a 2 liter of diet coke per day before I was hospitalized with complications due to a ridiculous intake of Aspartame (ingredient in Diet Pop). Since then, I cut it out of my diet 100% and I'd say a solid 20 lbs. of weight loss was attributed to cutting that out.

[Vorondil]

Eat alot, of the good stuff, don't lose too much weight in a short period of time, this is actually bad for your body, perhaps even worse than being overweight.

[Laqweeta]

Don't give him the science..

Mate, all you need to do for starters is the following;

Walk 30 mins a day. (this is really important.)

And change your diet. (Eat more protein and veggies, stop eating food with bad fat, like chips, fastfood, fries, etc.) Eat fish, chicken (no wings cuz they've fat, also no skin)

It is really not about exercising.

Also stop drinking carbonated drinks (coke, sprite, dr. pepper..)
Only drink water for a while. It is the best drink anyways.

The walk might be okay to do.. But, the Diet will be extremely easy (I do drink a LOT of Soda, that'll be somewhat hard to change) However, I loove Love love Veggies. So, that'll be very easy for me to eat more of :P

What kind of veggies would you recommend? I'm assuming bowls of Salad are okay too? I kind of have a problem on the Salad Dressing, however.. :x. I use TONS of that. So, I really need to change that up.

[Splenda]

Yes. Start off small, make it your goal to go just a tiny bit farther each time you exercise.

Take stairs instead of the elevator. Walk in place as you watch TV. Park your car far away from work/school, etc, simple things like that will get you moving around a bit more.

It's perfectly fine to start out small. Stay hydrated (water, not juice/soda pop) and just move around a bit here and there.

And like I said, every time you work out, aim to go just a tiny bit longer, and before you know it you'll be working out for an hour at a time.

[Laqweeta]

Yes. Start off small, make it your goal to go just a tiny bit farther each time you exercise.

Take stairs instead of the elevator. Walk in place as you watch TV. Park your car far away from work/school, etc, simple things like that will get you moving around a bit more.

It's perfectly fine to start out small. Stay hydrated (water, not juice/soda pop) and just move around a bit here and there.

And like I said, every time you work out, aim to go just a tiny bit longer, and before you know it you'll be working out for an hour at a time.

I love this. Today I did 20 J-Jacks and 5 Pushups, tomorrow I'll try and do 25 J-Jacks and 8 Push-ups (Puh-ups are REALLY hard on me :/)..

[Robula]

The lack of exercise is not my you are obese. The likely cause is unless you have a particular illness is your diet. What you are eating and how much and often you are eating.

For me personally; I eat healthily, I rarely ever get takeaway/fastfood and I have a varied meal every night. I have two meals a day, one at lunch and one in the evening. During the weekends I sometimes only have the evening meal every day. I never force myself to finish my plate, when I'm full I know enough is enough.

[Laqweeta]

The lack of exercise is not my you are obese. For me personally; I eat healthily, I rarely ever get takeaway/fastfood and I have a varied meal every night. I have two meals a day, one at lunch and one in the evening. During the weekends I sometimes only have the evening meal every day. I never force myself to finish my plate, when I'm full I know enough is enough.

The lack of exercise is a factor, however. I, also.. turn my depression to food. :/. This is one of the main reasons I play wow. Playing wow Channels my depression into Wow.. Instead of food. Which is a win/lose scenario. I sit on my butt all day, instead of eating. I gain either way. :/

[wenslydale]

join the army sounds like you need it

[Robula]

The lack of exercise is a factor, however. I, also.. turn my depression to food. :/

And there you have the vicious circle. Find an alternative to eating when you're feeling down or go an see a doctor. A case like this can only get worse unless you can muster the willpower to do something about it. Sorry to sound so harsh..

[Laqweeta]

And there you have the vicious circle. Find an alternative to eating when you're feeling down or go an see a doctor. A case like this can only get worse unless you can muster the willpower to do something about it. Sorry to sound so harsh..

You're not sounding harsh, you're sounding real. .

---------- Post added 2011-07-06 at 09:50 AM ----------

join the army sounds like you need it

Lol. I'm female.. for 1. And, 2nd. I don't want to join the Army. I can conquer this weight-loss on my own. I don't need Drill Sergeants telling me to run in-place for an hour.
(inb4 OMG FEMALEs JOIN ARMIES LAWL)

[HadleyX]

<snip>

User was infracted for this post.

[Oursaviour]

quick tip about eating:

Eat 3 proper meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) every day with the healthy stuff already mentioned. Eat until you're full and don't eat until the next meal of the day. If you want a snack, eat healthy fruit like apples and oranges, but try to stick with 3 meals a day.

[Laqweeta]

And there you have the vicious circle. Find an alternative to eating when you're feeling down or go an see a doctor. A case like this can only get worse unless you can muster the willpower to do something about it. Sorry to sound so harsh..

Most of the time.. Wow is my Alternative for eating. Sometimes, it doesn't work.. though :/

[Deleted]

join the army sounds like you need it

Ignore that tip. On the subject however, I'd personally agree with what's already been said. You don't need to do a ludicrous amount of exercise, just as long as you're active for at least an hour every day. That and the correct calorie intake should have you sorted.

[Splenda]

You'll probably lose a few pounds just backing off of the soda.

[Laqweeta]

quick tip about eating:

Eat 3 proper meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) every day with the healthy stuff already mentioned. Eat until you're full and don't eat until the next meal of the day. If you want a snack, eat healthy fruit like apples and oranges, but try to stick with 3 meals a day.

This can be done for me. I just don't know what types to eat.. I'm assuming, for Breakfast.. Like, a Bowl of Cereal? or something. That'll be around 7:30 AM. Then, 5 or so more hours I'll have to wait for Lunch. I've already tried this.. And I wind up eating a HUGE sandwich. It's really hard for me to wait for the next meal. :/