New to walking (fitness)

Andy said:

Hi all

I used to do a lot of walking/hiking when I was younger. As with all
things I got older started drinking got a car and stopped exercising. I am
now very large and need to lose some weight.

I think most people will agree that there is no substitute for you to
lose weight! The way to do this is to burn up the energy stored in your
body as fat _and_not_to_replace_it! You can burn energy by working hard
and also losing body heat. You can do both these at the same time by
swimming. The more you swim, the fitter you'll become and the harder you
can work and burn energy, and burn it through heat loss. Your lungs will
also benefit, which will help if you start to hill walk. You'll feel
hungry after, but must resist snacking to assuage the hunger. It'll be
hard at first, as you'll not be fit enough to for a significant work rate.

It's easily said, and you probably know all this anyway - but it bears
repetition!

Good luck: Jim Ford

Hello
Perhaps you could buy some light cotton pants.Are they called jogging
pants? They are baggy with elasticated or drawcord waist and ankles.
good luck with the weight loss. i was very pleased this week when I
could do up my trouser top button! i refused to buy larger trousers.my
sister to keep on losing weight got my mother to take in her trousers
so she had to keep off the weight or have nothing to wear!

Remeber also that as you become fitter you may lose weight slowly or
not at all. This is because you will be replacing body fat with body
muscle. i always feel that a person is NOT so much losing weight, they
are changing their body to a more pleasing shape. In fact in the last
six months I have become heavier despite having lost a lot of weight
around my tummy. i have swapped that fat for muscle.

Bitstring <[email hidden]>, from the wonderful
person Jim Ford <[email hidden]> said

<snip good advice>

Quoted message said:

You'll feel hungry after, but must resist snacking to assuage the
hunger.

Actually you can eat and drink lots .. just be sure to eat celery or
something similar (approximately zero calories per kilo) and drink cold
water (calorific value negative .. you have to heat it up before
expelling it again)! Really easy to fill up without doing any calorific
damage (speaking as an ex-smoker who needed to nibble a lot..).

The sad thing is how far you have to walk to burn off an ounce of fat.
The other sad thing is how many calories there is in a can of (non-diet)
coke .. about 100x the calories found in the diet coke (no, that's not a
misprint - something like 2 orders of magnitude).

--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
Google may be your friend, but groups.google.com posters definitely aren't.

Bitstring <[email hidden]>, from
the wonderful person luverlyjuberly <[email hidden]> said

Quoted message said:

Remeber also that as you become fitter you may lose weight slowly or
not at all. This is because you will be replacing body fat with body
muscle. i always feel that a person is NOT so much losing weight, they
are changing their body to a more pleasing shape. In fact in the last
six months I have become heavier despite having lost a lot of weight
around my tummy. i have swapped that fat for muscle.

I can vouch for that too - went from 91kg to 83 Kg by way of 78 Kg.
After 78, all the 'putting it back on' seems to be muscle (mostly in the
legs, if your main exercise is walking). I now float like a stone ..

--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
Google may be your friend, but groups.google.com posters definitely aren't.

GSV Three Minds in a Can said:

(speaking as an ex-smoker who needed to nibble a lot..).

I still smoke, but not when I'm walking; went 3 hours without a ciggy
this afternoon then, more out of habit than need/desire, lit one up as I
was taking my boots off :-(

Quoted message said:

The sad thing is how far you have to walk to burn off an ounce of fat.

How far?

Parish

Bitstring <[email hidden]>, from
the wonderful person Parish <[email hidden]> said

Quoted message said:

GSV Three Minds in a Can said:

(speaking as an ex-smoker who needed to nibble a lot..).

I still smoke, but not when I'm walking; went 3 hours without a ciggy
this afternoon then, more out of habit than need/desire, lit one up as
I was taking my boots off :-(

Hypnotherapy! Or just turn up the willpower .. (You only =think= you
smoke .. it's actually the cigarette that smokes, you're just the sucker
on the end. 8>.)

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The sad thing is how far you have to walk to burn off an ounce of
fat.

How far?

You really don't want to know.
Well, OK, if you insist .. it sort of depends on your weight, and how
fast you walk, and whether it's uphill, or whatever, but generalising
madly, anything up to 3 miles for an ounce of fat (~270 Calories).
That's real fat fat though. i.e. lard or similar, not 'fat the way your
body stores it' (to store an ounce of fat requires you to put on more
than an ounce of body weight).

--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
Google may be your friend, but groups.google.com posters definitely aren't.

I would suggest Cannock Chase which is great for short walks - actually
it is ok for longer walks. Granted its a bit further (4 junctions up
the m6 = 15 miles or so?) but also has varying terrain, scenery and
more wildlife than Sutton Park. Also it is free to park over the summer
unlike Sutton which I recall charges.

Andy said:

Second reason for my post is when I have been walking recently I have been
walking in jeans which can get uncomfortable. I was thinking of ordering
some light weights (walking trousers) but cant seem to find any for really
fat people. can anyone make any suggestions ?

www.bigozzy.co.uk

Quick turnaround and I've had no problems with them.

Chris

Thanks everyone for all their help and advice I will certaintly consider
what everyone has said.

"Chris" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Andy said:

Second reason for my post is when I have been walking recently I have
been
walking in jeans which can get uncomfortable. I was thinking of ordering
some light weights (walking trousers) but cant seem to find any for
really
fat people. can anyone make any suggestions ?

www.bigozzy.co.uk

Quick turnaround and I've had no problems with them.

Chris

In message <[email hidden]>, Andy
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Hi all

I used to do a lot of walking/hiking when I was younger. As with all
things I got older started drinking got a car and stopped exercising. I am
now very large and need to lose some weight.

I have dig out my old hiking boots which where with my old water proofs etc
boy did I laugh I have put on so much weight I could not get one leg in (I
had to laugh otherwise I would have cried).

Anyway I am posting for 2 reasons Reason 1 being I live in castle Bromwich
by Birmingham and when I have been going walking I have been going to
Sutton Park as it seems the easiest place for me to go to. Can anyone
suggest any other places close by where I could go on short walks (IE 3 to 5
Miles).

Second reason for my post is when I have been walking recently I have been
walking in jeans which can get uncomfortable. I was thinking of ordering
some light weights (walking trousers) but cant seem to find any for really
fat people. can anyone make any suggestions ?

The suggestion to swim is IMHO a really good one, if you can face the
boredom. From the sound of it you are *very* large, and walking will
put a lot of strain on unfit joints.

If you do walk, look for fairly uneven places, preferably a bit soft
underfoot. The uneven-ness makes it harder to overstress on particular
area of your anatomy, as does the softness. Also gentle up- and
down-hill is better than on the level, but I'd also suggest that you
investigate monitoring your heart rate as you need to work hard enough
to raise it, but not enough to over-do things.

Also, have you had a health check at the doctors? I realise that might
be why you are posting here (you have and s/he's told you to lose
weight!), but if not getting your BP and maybe cholesterol checked might
be advisable.

In addition, you *will* need to change your diet. Switch to water
and/or green tea instead of soft drink, limit alcohol to a unit a day at
most, and try to avoid fast foods and ready meals. Using a smaller
plate can help as well - it feels so depressing looking at a small meal
in a large plate! Try to eat at least 5 portions of fruit & veg each
day, and save puddings for a weekly treat. Also try to reduce the salt
in your food. It won't help you lose weight, but it less salt usually
results in lower BP. Final thought: try to concentrate on quality not
quantity. My own findings are that good quality food with good, strong
flavours is more satisfying, that eating slowly helps and so does eating
food with plenty of texture. Don't go straight from one course to the
next - it takes the body time to work out that it's full.

Good luck!

--
Surfer!
Email to: ramwater at uk2 dot net