I am extremely extremely unfit. And overweight. I want to get fit.?

Question

I will be honest and say I am an extremely unfit. Really badly, if I walk for about one minute my breathing changes. I am 25 year old woman.
And I am overweight. I am 7 stone over the weight I want to be.
I know what people will say eat less and exercise more. I understand this.
I am going to my doctors to talk to them about it, i'm just waiting for the day of the appointment but in the meantime I need advice.
I am very unfit and I would like to lose weight and get fit.
At the moment when I exercise I feel like I am going to keel over and I get really hot, red and sweat. I know exercise is good but it makes me feel ill. Thats just a brisk walk that does this.
I am embarrassed for people to see me like that.
I can't run as I worry about my knees and my chest is too big.
I dont eat that much considering the size of me, but I do no exercise so know thats why i'm not losing weight.
Theoretically if I do persevere how quickly should my fitness improve?
Any friendly advice appreciated.

Answer 1

I'm a fitness trainer and I've worked with several clients who were also quite deconditioned.

Brisk walks sound like they're working for you, you just need to slow down your pace until you're more comfortable. You should work up a sweat when you're working out, but your breathing should plateau and stay on a steady, deep breathing kind of level after 5-10 minutes. If your breathing keeps getting heavier and heavier, slow down a bit more. There is no need to run.

Drinking water before and after your walks will help conteract the sweating. You can also dress in layers, so that you have something to peel off when you get hot.

To lose weight you'll need to walk for at least 20 minutes nearly every day. It's a wonderful exercise program. You can do it almost anywhere and see the weather and seasons change. You should try to eat healthy as well. A diet full of a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, low fat dairy products, whole grains, and plenty of water is best. The more those sorts of foods are included in your diet, the better you'll feel.

Best of luck! You're on the right path, exercising and getting checked out by your doctor.

Answer 2

It's going to be a slow path, but seeking help is a great start.

Try swimming. I know it's not going to be fun to be in a swimsuit, but it's wonderful for bad knees, and your chest won't get in the way. Sweat is no longer a factor, either. If you go early in the morning, no one is at the pool.

Try doing some easy strength training and pilates. Bother can be accomplished at home. There are a lot of really great videos on the market. You can get some small weights for under $30 USD. A mat is only about $15 USD. Yoga booty ballet is also an excellent, low impact workout. Check out the videos.

Work on what you eat, too. Make sure you have lots of colorful veggies on your plate. Try not to eat a serving of meat bigger than your palm. Avoid starbucks and any smoothies like the plauge. They're just hidden calories.

Most importantly, have a good attitude. Studies show that women who really think they can lose the weight lose 20% more, and do it a lot faster.

Best of luck to you!

Answer 3

Hey chica,

Small steps is okay. It's good to pay attention to the subjective as well as the objective... I mean, pay attention to how intense the exercise feels, as well as how much you're actually accomplishing. If you're sweating and your heart is pumping, that's great, even if it's "just" a brisk walk. After some time, that brisk walk will get brisker, and then you'll see from there.

Definitely do something you LIKE to do. It can make all the difference between forcing yourself to torturous exercise, and activity that you'll look forward to. Anything. Swimming, yoga, walking, hiking, hitting the stairclimber at the gym or the rowing machine, most of these are easy on your chest for the bounce factor.

In addition to exercises that burn fat, it's also best to do something that will challenge your muscles, the most obvious of which is weight lifting. If you don't have a gym, you can do exercises without weights like pushups, lunges, and squats.

Unfortunately, it's really impossible to say how fast you'll see results, but you WILL see them. Listen to your own body. Don't worry about some chart that says you should lose X in amount of time Y or whatever, just take charge of your own progress!

You might also need to take a look at what you eat. If you're a snacker, those extra mini-meals can start to add up and often people eat when they're not hungry, just bored. Certainly you don't need to start everything at once, though! If you like, concentrate on getting moving to start with.

Also, the little things can make a difference. If you take public transport to work, it's easy to get off a couple of stops early and walk the rest of the distance, or take the stairs instead of the elevator, etc.

And even if you see yourself as "extremely extremely unfit"--don't let yourself believe it! There's always a chance to improve, and be good to yourself and go easy. Patience, hard work, be easy on yourself, talk to your friends when you get frustrated. I dropped a lot of weight myself and it only started to work when I kind of relaxed about my own self-image and started to do it because I wanted to, not because I was afraid about what others thought of me. Good luck!

Answer 4

In order to stick to a healthier lifestyle and not become discouraged, start small. Don't add extra exercise until you talk to your doctors, since from what you described it could possibly be detremental at this time. I know you said that you don't eat a lot, but what are you eating? Also, could you possibly be eating more than you think you are? Try journeling your food intake for a day and see. After you've journeled for a day, take a look and see what you've been eating. Too much soda, sugary sweets, fast food, etc? Pick one or all and cut in half the next day.
After you doctor's visit and with your doctor's approval, I would suggest joining Weight Watchers. It's a simple, easy, and supportive way to lose weight. I've lost 16 pounds on it so far.

Answer 5

I'm not sure how you are financially, but if you are able to spend the money on a personal trainer I would and a nutritionist. This will help you with finding the correct exercise routine and diet for you. I know you said that you don't eat much, but there are some foods out there that will help you in losing weight and gaining muscle, a nutritionist could help create a month's menu for you choosing foods that you like.

If you do not want to spend money on either of those things...then I would suggest joining a woman gym where aqua classes are. These classes are great for people that are overweight and have difficulty with other types of cardio regimes. This will help you in losing weight in a more relaxed way and also aid you in strengthening your heart, and breathing so that you maybe able to try other types of cardio methods later.

if you do continue to work out say 4-5 times a week, and eat healthy, you should be able to drop 2.5-5 pounds a week. But remember don't go by the scales. Many people go by scales which they shouldn't. Go by the inches that are taken off your body. As we exercise we gain muscle and muscle weighs more then fat, so you may not see yourself losing any weight one week, but really you may have lost 3 pounds of fat, but gained muscle. So always check by inches and not the scale.

Best of luck

Answer 6

Dear friend, I must first tell you that you should be proud and real glad to chose to make a change and get fit. There are various ways for you too lose fat, especially if your over weight, surely the results will be much more noticable. Its important for you to keep motivated no matter what. You might want to eat foods that arent fatning, and have little carbs. You shouldn't be embarrased to work out in places where there are many people because eventually if you don't care and continue to excercise you'll have the right body* I really hope and am sure that your doctors our nutritionist will give you the best and most wise advice. Good Luck** =)

Answer 7

Hi,
If you gave me a list of the type of food you are eating and how often you eat, it would give me a better idea on how to help you. A lot of people don't realise that if you eat too little you can actually put on weight because whenever you have a binge day your body doesn't know how to handle it and stores the extra calories as body fat.

It doesn't matter that you get out of breath quickly, we all have to start somewhere, set yourself a target every week, start with 10 minutes activity and do 1 minute more every week, you'll be surprised how your fitness increases.

If you would like online fitness and diet coaching visit me at http://www.sculptrexfitness.co.uk I promise you won't be disappointed.

Rasheed 'The Body Sculptor' Aladel
Personal Trainer
Diet Advisor
Online Fitness Coach

Answer 8

You don't have to work hard and kill yourself to get fit. Start off easy till your body gets used to the idea. Even simple house work like vaccumming and sweeping and dusting or even yard work is a good start.

If you like to swim trying swimming it is a great cardio workout.

Its important you don't over do it though for a couple reasons.
1. You could hurt yourself.
2. Causing yourself pain and uneasy feeling will make you more likely to give up.

Again start small but also change your diet, that will have a huge impact on how you feel.

Here is a simple diet to follow:
No sugar, it actually a poison and makes you sick especially when trying to be active.

Little or no milk - drink no more than 1/2 a cup

Drinks will be water or crystal lite.

Food: No sugary food. (cakes pies pastries, etc)
Chicken will be your main food and can be eaten baked as a breast or in salad.
You may also eat fish, eggs, and beef.
Since you are cutting out sugar and milk you are allowed to eat what ever dressing you like.
The nice thing is you can eat till you can't eat more.

Answer 9

Try Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness. The classes give advice about healthy eating (the diet is low fat, low sugar, and very good) and the exercise will do you good (aerobics, cardiovascular)

Everyone there has a weight problem, and nobody judges anyone. You can go at your own pace, and then when you start to feel a bit fitter, speed up. You should notice some improvement within a few weeks.

Answer 10

First, you say you don't eat much, but I would check out some healthy eating sites to check you are within your daily guidelines. Sometimes, you can consume calories without thinking about them, for example, do you drink tea or coffee with sugar?
Next, when you have your diet sorted, keep on the healthy eating plan while you do some exercise you can manage. Start off with swimming, as the water supports your weight and takes the strain off your heart. Then, when you have started to shift those pounds, take up something more energetic, like boxercise. When you are approaching a more manageable weight, it's best to change to a weight-training program, as with even very light weights, you will see a dramatic difference very quickly, and it also helps increase your bone density.
Good luck!