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First time runner at 100lbs overweight.
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Hiya!
I've recently started to change my lifestyle as at the age of 22, I'm 100lbs overweight. I've always loved walking and dreamed of running so now my fitness levels are higher from regular gym and swimming sessions I want to start running.
I'm on week one of c25k and enjoying it, but as a runner who is so overweight, is there any hints or advice I should consider?
I have one flat foot and I'm running in New Balance 600V2s which are a stability shoe.
Thanks!
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Comments
If you feel tired take a couple of days off and then get back to it.
Keep positive, things don't happen overnight so play the long game.
Good luck.
Thank you Millsy!
I was going to just try running on it's own but my thoughts were I'd end up doing too much too soon, and I don't want to put myself off or get injured before I even start!
take it steady, and have some fun
. the big concept most people have to deal with, (which hopefully you won't as you've got some other exercising behind you), is it's ok to be a little out of breath 
. To much, and you'll come to a stop, and that's ok as well, as you've found out you're pushing to hard at the moment. but enjoy pushing yourself now and then, and seeing what you can achieve. And then finding out a few weeks later, that what was hard before, is now a lot easier.
Excess weight will come off fairly straightforwardly with running (obviously as part of a glance diet blah blah blah), and that helps as well
. Less weight carried, makes you go quicker, going quicker will make you happier, and more driven to keep at it, and so you keep going, loose more weight, and the vicious cycle continues :P.
All in all, like Millsy said, take it easy though. Do most of your running early on at an easier pace. Don't push yourself to do to much, all the time. But a little bit of pushing yourself, can be quite fun as well
.
Most of all, enjoy the post run euphoria
, it gets addictive.
just go for it.
don't do to much to fast, same advice for anyone. The running is great but will not make much difference to the weight loss. That is down to diet.
so good luck, one of the hard things is remember it feels bloody hard work, but actually you aren't burning that many calories, and so you cannot eat any more otherwise you will end up getting fitter, but not loose any weight.
basically I was where you are -15 lbs two years ago... It's not just running that will make a difference. You need to stop, look at yourself, and say I want to change, and then do it... It's not running a bit and dieting a bit, else you would not be where you are now. You need to totally change your lifestyle, but in a good way.
The great thing is that loosing the first bit of weight is relatively easy, the hard thing is keeping going and accepting it takes a while for your body to catch up.
i lost 5 stone in 6 months, it took another 6 months to loose my 6th stone, and I'm around 5.5st down at the moment
you go through stages where your body feels awful, and the skin goes a bit saggy, but then it slowly compresses itself down to fit your new shape.
i know that it feels really hard work, but it's worth it, starting to diet and then run was the best decision I made in my life.
i couldn't run 50 yards to my car in April 2012. Now ... Well I've managed to do a few marathons. So just be strong.
i did simple things that made a huge difference. Throw out all sweets, that's easy just throw them in a bin and replace with fresh fruit. Need a sweet hit, easy an apple, or nectarine, need something a bit more solid, ohh that will be a banana, I eat a ridiculous amount of fruit to begin with, far to much but it worked
start each day as a fresh day. yesterday has gone you cannot change what you eat then or make up for it... All you can do is make sure each day you try your best
+1 for throwing out the sweets, and junk food in the house etc.
If it's in the house, it'll get eaten :P, if i managed to avoid buying it in the shops, well then, in the shops it stayed :P.
it's all about habits, breaking old ones (eating to much at meals, snacking on cookies and junk between meals, lazing around all the time) to making new ones (fruit, cooking better meals, going for that jog/swim/cycle when you have some free time) and feeling better for it
.
My best advice is to listen to booktrunk.
She is is a prime example of what you can do when you set your mind to it. Heed her advice!
I cant add much to what anyone else has said, especially booktrunk! think she has said it all
however i would just say, if you reach a week in the C25k that is too difficult, and you cant manage it, dont be worried about doing the week over, no one will judge!
I had to do that several times when i started!
As others have pointed out it's about habits. You have to break bad habits and get used to new habits.
If you can keep nice things around then power to you... I can now... but for the first 6 months they were a complete no-no anything nice i knew i'd eat it so who cares about the cost out it goes, and you start afresh.
Food wise, I know it's easy to say from a distance, but I stopped having take away. I do now in moderation, I stopped eating pre packaged foods. It's hard work to begin with, but it makes an incredible difference. So i get a load of peppers, mushrooms, and other veg that I like (i'm a really fussy cow so I hate traditional greens) but get tons of veg, and basically have veg and chicken stir frys, they are great, use a few sprays of a 1 cal oil. it's healthy, tasty, and pretty good for you.
I also joined WeightWaters, online wouldn't ever go to a meeting but i used their app on my iphone and that in conjunction with being really strict with myself was fantastic.
It's all about priorities, and also growing a thick skin, because you get friends that don't mean to, but they end up teasing you saying just one sweet, what difference will that make... just one slice of cake. Technically it makes no difference at all, it's not about that, it's about saying NO i'm changing and i'm a different person. Yes you can have treats but seriously... I was 80lbs plus overweight, if you want to change, then you have to change whole heartedly.
After six months i allowed all the nice things back into my diet in moderation, but seriously it's your whole life how difficult is it to say no for x time say 1 month i'm going to give it everything frankly it's a drop in the ocean of your life, and then look at the results... it just made me want to keep going.
This sounds daft, and frankly it probably is, but we all lead such pampered lifestyles these days it actually took me a while to learn this..... and i've got the odd brain cell so i should have grasped this at a lot younger age... But.... When your tummy grumbles at you saying hey brain i'm empty, fill me up. You can just turn around to it and say NO.
That is one of the most important bits of advice i can offer, these days we are frankly a bit soft n fluffy, and just saying no, to your tummy rumbling, just saying to yourself you can keep on bloody moaning, i'm not going to eat till x time. You won't fall over dead, you won't collapse in a screaming heap, you just have a grumbling tummy. Hard luck
I got far to use to just stuffing food in my mouth (not saying anyone else was like this) but i found i just eat, sitting around bored for 5 minutes, oh stick something in my mouth! tummy grumbling eat something. No! just stop and say no to yourself.
Hi,
Firstly, well done for making that first step. Secondly, as has already been said, it's a complete lifestyle change. The only downside is, you will need a whole new wardrobe very soon (not that you ladies need much of an excuse to buy new clothes
).
Keep away from processed/refined food, and back off the alcohol - all a waste of calories. Walk instead of taking the car/public transport where possible, and always take the stairs. These things will all become second nature, and just by making a series of small changes will add up to make a huge difference in the amount of calories you burn daily. Good luck, and enjoy the new you!
I dont drive, don't drink or smoke so I already have those to my advantage! I just need to really master portion control with food as it's where I really struggle! I boredom eat, but I'm working on it by making sure I don't have too many unhealthy things to snack on, although my OH has a very sweet tooth!
I'm so excited to be on my journey to becoming a runner!!
Good luck, don't be afraid to ask any questions, there are no daft questions, just daft answers, we are sometimes a bit if a blunt bunch, but we tend to show our friendlier sides on the beginners forum
have fun
that's an important thing, try to enjoy yourself even though you will have the odd week thinking bloody hell this is hard work, when your legs ache and your exhausted and feel utterly knackered that can also be the best of times, as you know how much you are achieving 