I’ve been thinking of just walking around tracks or trails but the weather over here has been cool with the wind and all. I don’t like gyms too much as there can be a lot of people there. I’ve gotten so lazy and uninterested in exercising since Covid. I eat healthy mostly except for ice cream most of the week. Haven’t worked in like a year so stay home a lot and bored af. Idk I just haven’t been myself since getting overweight and not exercising in some capacity. I have anxiety and depression as well so that factors in too. I only get motivated to make some changes when I get high at night and say I’m going to start doing things tomorrow. Once I’m sober I lack the motivation to do anything
Daily walks. From there I’d recommend getting a bicycle.
Pick a time of day and just step outside and do a lap around the block or two
Have you ever heard of frisbee golf, or disc golf? It’s popular in places. Perhaps there could be a course somewhere near you? Then just talk a friend into coming and soon you won’t even notice the exercise you’re getting on accident because you’re looking for a throw that kinda went wrong and now you’re having to find the damn disc because youre definitely not going to give up on finding your best one.
But also when you succeed, it’s fun.
Walking, and add a weighted vest or backpack. Start light, like 5lb/2.5kg for a week or two, then increase by that much a week until you get to 40% of your body weight in a few months.
I find that 30lb/15kg is a great place to stop though, much more feels pretty rough.
Then just walk around. You can listen to music, podcasts, nature, bird sounds.
Do that 45 a day and you’ll be significantly healthier in a few months.
Thx I’ll look into it. Currently no money to get a weighted vest or backpack tho
Start eating high fiber foods.
It’ll save you money and make you lose weight because it takes forever to digest. That makes the walking easier, and won’t hurt your joints as much.
Like, if you’re gassed after walking 20 minutes, you don’t need a weighted vest for a while.
When you can walk 20 minutes and have the same level of energy as you started, then start thinking about stuff like carrying a heavy book, or anything that’s roughly 5-10lbs.
Don’t overthink it. You’re just making it slightly harder everytime what you’re doing gets too easy.
Fill up milk jugs with water
It even works for winning gold in the Olympics https://barbend.com/olympic-weightlifter-hidilyn-diaz-quarantine-training/
Bottles of water in a backpack is weighted for what it’s worth, It’s called rucking.
If you’re just starting regular walking up to 20,000 steps a day is a great first goal.
You can get creative. Put water bottles or something heavy in a backpack.
Get a little high, pick a high energy album to put on headphones and go for a walk/jog. I used the Zombies Run! app to get from walking to running. Having a voice directing me when to run or walk helped a lot and it is designed to build you up from walking. The story is whatever, but I think having any narrative to follow makes a huge difference over just basic instructions
Walking is a very good start, yes. And start slow.
When you get high at night, go for a walk. Night walk is lovely.
Also whenever you think about it, stand on one foot, sounds odd but it’s good for your body. Little exercise breaks, go up the stairs and back down a couple of times.
Mostly I want to say - building a habit takes six weeks. Force yourself every day for six weeks. After that it gets easier because you will feel better on a day you exercise, than a day you don’t, and because you will have found the time of day that works. Habit works a lot better than willpower, but you have to power your way through those first few weeks. Commit to six weeks of daily something. Push ups, walking, whatever.
Swimming may not be an option depending on where you live, but it has a very low risk of injuries and exercises the whole body
It’s also such a damn efficient workout.
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Depending on where you live, a bike can do wonders. I hate the gym too, but being able to ride my bike and see different places and things at my own pace is really motivating for me.
This is big for me. I used to go to the gym daily for 8 years. Now i cant stand gyms, but my bike is the best thing for me. Just hop on and ride for and hour and take every street possible just to see it all.
The best way to start is to find little bits of extra activity in your day: park at the back of the lot and walk a few extra hundred feet. Get to the store early, grab a cart you can use to make the walk easier, and do a few laps around the store. If need be, there are workouts on youtube you can do in your bed, if you’ve gotten big enough that walking is difficult.
That sort of thing.
Once you notice these activities getting easier, increase your difficulty and begin training harder.
I would strongly recommend trying Couch to 5k. There are a bunch of free apps for it. It’s a program that can get basically anyone from doing zero exercise, to being able to run 5km. I literally never ran until my 30s and now I do 5km 3 times a week, and even did a 10km race.
It’s very gentle and achievable but all of a sudden you’ll realise you’ve finished the program and you’re a runner haha.
It’s biking for me, specifically mountain biking. Though, if I’m particularly busy or not feeling well I’ll still try to just bike around the neighborhood
Basic cardio. Walk 30 minutes at a 12 degree incline, 2.5 - 3.0 MPH, 5x a week.
Legit, if you do ONLY this, you will lose weight.
After two weeks of doing this, add on 30 minutes of weight lifting 3-4x a week. Nothing crazy, just get your muscles working.
Do that for two weeks. Congrats - you’ve been exercising for a month. Keep scaling up but listen to your body. Stay hydrated through the day, and 1lb of protein per lb of body weight that you’re supposed to weigh.
I don’t think you mean “1 lb of protein”. I think it’s a around 0.5 grams per 1 lb?
I meant 1g per ideal (goal) weight in lbs. If you’re starting at 200lbs and want to be 150lbs, eat 150g of protein per day.
Swimming works for me. I joined a gym at a hotel that has a pool, reasonable price and usually fairly few people. I like to swim lengths, thinking of nothing at all, for half an hour to an hour. Good for general fitness, stamina.
https://leisureguy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/rcaf_xbx_5bx_exercise_plans_text.pdf
All you need is a stop watch. 15 minutes a day, and you advance at your own pace.
There’s a reason it’s been around for so long, it works.
Yes! This is called 5BX if anyone wants to look for books and modern resources. There are apps for it, too.
Just walking around or going for a short hike is a good start. But, spoken from my own experience: the best first step is to stop getting high. Usually helps with depression and anxiety as well. It did so for me. It’s not easy, but it should be the first thing.
Seconding walking. I had gained 40lbs and eased back into fitness slowly over 2 years. My issue with hiking is the prep time and driving and felt like extra steps. Stepping out the door with a good podcast on was the most accessible for me (recognize that I’m lucky to live in a place with sidewalks and some paths). If the nature part of hiking makes it more interesting to you though and more likely to follow through, go for that!
