greetings from the new girl

othie

othie

New member
hi everyone

I'm new, clearly, and thought I had better say hi. I've been overweight as long as I can remember and while I always thought it would be nice to be closer to my ideal weight, it was never on the top of my to do list. I moved back home for the summer to go to the college here (might be staying to finish my degree here) and my brother let me know that I could go to the gym where they have a family membership. It's a wonderful gym, but I don't really have a clue what I'm doing there. I figured that since I have free pass, so to speak, I had better go all out. I hope I can do it, I've never really tried to lose weight before, but I have heard some horror stories.
As a side note, does anyone have some advise for what to do at the gym? I'm about 280 and I just can't seem to be able to do as much as alot of people there. (sorry if there is already info on this, I haven't read through most of the forums yet.)
 
Welcome to the forum :). Its great you've started working out! It will do wonders for your body and your health. How about just starting out on the treadmill at a pace you feel comfortable. You could also try grabbing some of the 3 or 5 lb hand weights and doing a few simple exercises. There are lots of videos on the web showing how to do various exercises. Main thing is not to worry about what others are doing.
 
Blancita said:
Welcome to the forum :). Its great you've started working out! It will do wonders for your body and your health. How about just starting out on the treadmill at a pace you feel comfortable. You could also try grabbing some of the 3 or 5 lb hand weights and doing a few simple exercises. There are lots of videos on the web showing how to do various exercises. Main thing is not to worry about what others are doing.
Click to expand...

Yes -- start on the treadmill at a slow speed...and totally experiment with holding some hand weights while you're walking on the treadmill.

You'll start to feel your body rising to the challenge and I bet you'll become hooked.

Don't worry about anyone else in the gym. Sure there may be 15 people in the gym doing 'tougher' things than you...but there are 15 million people not in the gym, at home, who can't walk a treadmill like you do. Have fun with it!
 
Yeah, what the other two said! :)

I started working out when I was about 250 (and I'm 5'4", if that gives you an idea about proportion). At first I couldn't do much; 5 minutes on the elliptical at the lowest resistance, 15 minutes of walking on the treadmill, it all kicked my ass. :)

But the more you go, the more you can do. Don't be afraid to ask someone for help if you need it; most people at the gym are happy to answer a question for you or help you figure out a machine.

And I definitely agree with this as well: You could also try grabbing some of the 3 or 5 lb hand weights and doing a few simple exercises. There are lots of videos on the web showing how to do various exercises. Weight training will really help firm and tighten up the muscles and give you some definition - and the cool thing is that you really do see dramatic results at first. :)

Good luck!
 
Thanks everyone, and thank you for the welcome. I'm meeting with a personal trainer (it came free with the family membership) tomorrow, so hopefully she will be able to help me figure out what else I can do, instead of going around and choosing what to do by how pretty the machine looks ^_~.
 
Dont let anyone tell you that the walking on the treadmill has to be done briskly for it to be any benefit.

When I started out I walked slowly - I did everything slowly.

Pretty soon I got fitter and able to walk further. I also naturally speeded up. Walking every day really made a huge difference to my weight loss - I can absolutely assure you of this.

By the way - I see that you have just joined my challenge. I am so pleased. I am sure that we will all have lots of fun and lots of success too.
 
I totally agree with what everyone has said about starting slowly. When I stared walking on my treadmill in early Feb., I could only walk one mile slowly. But, I kept at it, slowly getting faster and going longer. Now I can go an hour at faster speeds and longer distances.

This exercise was an integral part of my weight loss. Without working out, I could not have dropped 35 pounds...now my challenge is keeping it off. Again, the exercise is essential in maintaining this new weight. The great news is I am now hooked on working out!!

Good luck with the gym...lucky you to have the use of a personal trainer!!!
 
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