NEED TO LOOSE 130 POUNDS! HELLLLP :)

[Kyley]

Hello All!!

 

My name is Kyley i am from the UK ,I have only just recently started on my journey (just under 2 weeks ago) I read a book by Josie Gibson who is a reality star from the UK who lost alot of weight i loved reading it and it encouraged me to re-educate myself about food and fitness and this is how i stumbed upon nerd fitness i have been reading every article possible on this site and have found it facinating!!

 

I have previously been on all sorts of silly diets and of course none of them have long term effects and as soon as you stop doing them you pile the weight back on!

 

I started on 13th March with Paleo weighing 281.2 pounds, its now 12 days later and i have dropped an incredible 18 pounds!

 

Now i pretty much think i have paleo sorted and am trying new delicious recipes every day! There are so many foods i thought i hated that i love!

 

I just need some help with the fitness side of things i havn't entered a gym in over 2 years and i have never run in my life, i have tried to run this week and have managed 30 seconds before thinking i was going to pass out! I have looked at the strength workout for begininers and am looking forward to starting that but what do you think i should do on the days in between? I thought about interval training but do you think i need to build my fitness up before i try this??

 

sorry about my spelling! awful i know!

 

Thanks in advance fore helping this 'fat receptionist' as i was once called on her way

[JPrev]

Sounds like you've found a diet framework that's working for you - that's some amazing progress!  Don't be discouraged when the fat loss starts to slow down.  So long as you're eating a caloric deficit (eating fewer calories than you burn throughout the day), you'll continue to lose fat.

 

For the exercise, keep your cardio at lower intensity for now.  High intensity interval training (HIIT) won't do much for you at the moment, nor will it be very safe - you need a strong base before you can do HIIT the way it's intended.  But don't worry too much about that, because HIIT isn't necessary anyway.  It's a flavor of exercise, not a gold standard.  Do things like the elliptical or stationary bike, and throw in some jogging when your joints can handle it.  Work up to being able to do 30min of cardio - it's okay if you start off really slow or have to take it in bursts until then.

 

Ideally, you'll do cardio every other day, or 4 days a week.  Not the end of the world if you do less than that, but it's a good goal to do cardio on most days of the week.  Strength training you can do 2-3 times a week, either the same days as your cardio or in between.  It can be hard to find time for this stuff at first, but as you make it more of a habit and find the combinations/times that work for you, you'll get into a good rhythm. 

 

No matter how unmotivated you might feel on a given day, stay the course!  You don't need motivation if you have discipline, and if you're disciplined for long enough, the momentum of your progress will become your motivation.

[The Beard]

I echo pretty much what JPrev is saying. When I started exercising, I only started off with using the Couch to 5k program (tailored to my abilities at first) three days a week. That combined with eating a caloric deficit helped me lose fifteen pounds in a month. After that a friend recommended that I start doing body weight workouts a couple days a week to help maintain muscle while I was losing fat. The only real change I made during that time was to start doing a third day of body weight workouts each week. Utilizing this, back in mid December was when I hit my weight loss goal of losing 45 pounds.

 

While that worked for me, I would definitely recommend finding something that fits with you and make it a routine. I have a friend that started off only being able to walk on the treadmill and do a couple of knee pushups. Since that was her skill level, that's what she used, along with a caloric deficit. She has since advanced a bit, but again, she started with what she could do and went with it.

 

Again echoing JPrev, stay the course! Use discipline to make whatever it is you decide to do a habit and the motivation will come to you.

[Draezin]

18 pounds in 12 days?!?! I am one jealous guy! 

 

Good one you for starting this trip! 

[Kyley]

ha thank you! how much I've lost just goes to show how much crap I was consuming! 2nd weigh in day tomorrow! fingers crossed

[Nightside]

Hi Kyley

If you have not yet done so and are able to chuck every non paleo also sugar filled temptation into the bin. When you start a lifestyle change the enthusiasm helps but you have a bad day and it is so easy to reach for the comfort food.

[Guzzi]

Hey! Another Brit! *waves hello*

I'd echo everything JPrev and The Beard have said, these guys have some good advice. As for running, I personally wouldn't recommend starting with running, not if it's killing you like that. Any form of exercise will help improve your cardio vascular fitness, and that will translate over to when you do start to run. I did 2 years of exercise and fitness before I tried running, seriously, I hated running THAT much.

Also everyone tries to just jump into running without building up to it. You wouldn't do that with any other form of exercise why do we all treat running as something different? Jog Scotland do a good program for beginners, I'm sure there must be an English equivalent, that will get you up to running a 5k safely and without injury.

Make sure you say "Hi" in the Come on You Brits thread in The Pub. There might even be some nerds living near by. I found someone who only lives 2 miles down the road from me. Bizzarre huh?

[JulesPaxton]

Congrats on your weight loss thus far!

 

My #1 tip is to start slowly. My father is my favorite success story. He lost 60 lbs (I can't remember over how many months - it might have been just under a year?) at age 55. That was before we'd ever heard of Paleo. There were 2 keys to his success:

 

- Brisk 30 minute walk 4-5 days per week. Needs to be fast enough to get your heart pumping! I would NOT try to go full-steam into a gym until you've built up your cardio some and it is safe to start running. I know that if I push myself to a level I'm not at yet, I get frustrated and quit. This was the only exercise my dad did; he sits at a desk all day usually. Once you are walking as fast as you can, increase the resistance or incline.

 

- Ate a low-carb diet. He cut out bread, pasta, and rice primarily - he was never big on sweets or anything else. He originally did this because he was pre-diabetic (no longer!). He does it now for weight maintenance. He had naked or open-faced sandwiches, and wouldn't base meals on pasta or rice. He also added in healthy snacks. The one I remember most was cottage cheese with a sprinkling of cinnamon.

 

I also remember he did some basic dumbbell lifting - light stuff, and only for 5-10 minutes to prevent muscle atrophy as he ages.

[xanjra]

Hi,

 

I also live in the NW of England.  My goals are similar too, I count calories instead of paleo.  I started 'running' by walking fast, once you do it regularly the progression to jogging is easier.

 

Programs to try are any of the Couch to 5k programs.  BBC do one.  Or if you like zombies, the 'Zombie Run 5k' app is amazing!  

 

Will you be joining in for a challenge in the forums?

 

M x

[xanjra]

Oh, also for cardio at home, Josie has a DVD that is pretty awesome.  Its around 20 mins of simple (simple not easy!) interval / circuits sort of thing.  Also 7 Day Slim by Vicky Pattison (Some reality tv girl?) is good for starters.  It is only 10 mins, but I noticed an improvement in my fitness!

 

M x

[CaptainTightpants]

I'm not gonna give you any advice beyond these two axioms I've observed since I started this journey eight weeks and  11kgs/25lbs ago

 

On Exercise: Something is better than nothing

On Diet: Nothing is better than anything

 

I'm not saying it's right. Indeed In terms of your health stick to palaeo and keep your supplies up at all times.

But as long as you have the energy deficit going on, more energy burned than consumed, it will  keep coming off.

Keep kicking  butt

[Guzzi]

Just thought I'd leave this here..... It's a guide to how a lot of people react to such a drastic change in their diet. (Shamelessly copied from another thread, thanks Barfly!) Just thought it might be good for you to read, in case you go through any of these stages.  It can help you to stay on track if you know there's light at the end of the tunnel.

 

http://whole30.com/2013/08/revised-timeline/

[Brovatar Korra]

Hello and welcome to the rebellion! As you can see, people here are very eager to help out and encourage you on this journey! I have nothing new to add, except second two of the wise opinions listed above:

- you can't go wrong with brisk walking, and working up to 20,30,40 min at a time

- I have also used and LOVE the C25K app, it is a great way to learn how to run in a safe, methodic, progressive way

[Jakkals]

Best advice I've read:

 

"Go slow, no that is too fast, go slower."

 

You will get there eventually, do not hurry too much.