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• ironkav Posts: 259

  September 2009

  Loose 3 stone between now and Feb.
  
  I injured my back and went from being very fit to very fat in about 9 months. I lost it all in 4 months on a very strict diet and NO exercise cos my back wouldn't allow it.
  
  If you are seriously overweight and are very disciplined you can loose 5lbs a week easily..
  
  This worked for me.. every one is different. Went from 17stone to 14 stone in 4 months.
  
  No offence but if u start running you will damage knees, and if your self conscious you wont go to pool.
  
  Start walking. Do some exercise bike workouts. And diet.
  
  If you want any more advice you can PM me.
  
  Best of luck
  IK

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• jibby26 Posts: 261

  September 2009

  I think there are more than a few people on this forum that have been in a similar position. Personally I have lost about 9 stone (from 24), most of it 5 years ago before I took up tri. Training for tri doesn't have to be expensive, all you need at the end of the day is a swimming costume, goggles, bike, helmet, jersey and trainers. When I took up running a couple of years ago I was quite self concious about the way I looked, but once you get out and run round a park you notice that actually there are just as many people that are overweight as "normal"/underweight. The same goes for swimming, although you may find there are certain times of the day when there are more people in a similar postion to you which may make you more comfortable.
  
  Most theories suggest that the winter is the time to do long, slow, steady effort work to build your base upon which you can add speed come february/march time. There are plenty of people more qualified than me in terms of what training to do, so ask questions. From experience I found swimming for 1 hour 5 times a week was a great way to shed a lot of weight and it is also a great way to build up some fitness without picking up injuries.
  
  Good Luck

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• MintyMat Posts: 98

  September 2009

  You need to eat well and raise the heart rate. Sounds simple, and it is. Don't do anything drastic, if you cut out everything you love it won't last. Think back, what did you like doing as a kid. If it's riding a bike - bike, if it's walking in the country - walk, if it's competitive - compete. Lots of councils and workplaces have schemes to get people back into sport. You will have to eat a bit less and do a bit more but that's about it.
  
  Look at your diary, schedule times you can dedicate to getting outside and raising your heart rate. Then write them in and tell yourself and your friends. It can help if you know someone at your level or a fit friend that can take you out once a week for a session. But it's not essential. These forums are fab, there are people from all different levels here but don't pay any attention to anyone else's PB, this is you against a clock. Nothing else matters.
  
  I wish you all the best and hope to see you here over these next few months. I love winter training.
  
  Mat

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• Jack Hughes Posts: 1,262

  September 2009

  Start off simply and set achievable goals. You don't need a heart rate monitor now in order to tell you how you are improving.
  
  If you are really overweight, then just walking, before running will be a good thing. Try to get a benchmark of how you are now. It could be a walk round the block or up the hill. This will serve to let you measure your progress. You will need to do this kind of thing a lot - because there will be (many) times that you get disheartened - being able to take a step back and see where you've come from will be very good.
  
  Sort out a diet that you think you can stick to - just make some minor changes - don't cut too much out at once. Look at reducing the amount of beer/fizzy pop that you drink, say, and try to eat a bit more fruit/veg. Snack on nuts if you get hungry.
  
  Take a walk - as brisk as possible for 10 minutes every day. Fit this in around work/school/college or whatever. If you take a bus, get off the stop before the one you would normally get off at, and work the rest of the way. Use stairs instead of lifts. Or get out of the lift a floor or two before you need to and walk the rest of the way. Just make small changes to start with. As you get fitter and more confident then go for the big ones.
  
  If you start off trying to run a mile in 4 minutes, you'll just get frustrated. You only need to compare what you do with the you of a few weeks ago, not other people!
  
  This will be your base training - once the weight starts to drop, and the fitness rises, then you can start to look at running/swimming/cycling. Taking it steady will also help you to avoid injuries.
  
  Best of luck and good on you for having a go!

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• durhamvam Posts: 246

  September 2009

  Hi there,
  
  I seem to remember you were doing cardio training at the gym when you last posted - how was that going before you ruptured your tendon?
  
  Have you been having physio for your injury?
  
  I would second what's been said here (although I'm really not an expert) lay off the running and build up really slowly again when you've lost a bit more weight - there are lots of good starter programmes out there to get you going and that will help you stay injury free. In the meantime stick to walking - and I mean fast, I have to do lots of this as I have a back injury which hampers running. You can still do all the same sort of drills you do for running - intervals, short and fast, longer and steady and get the same sort of fitness benefits - also to be honest I walk almost as fast as I run and keep it up for longer (I average 12min miles walking for a half marathon which I couldn't even think about running)
  
  Core strength and stability are important for running so you should probably also work on that if you can.
  
  Oh and I'd start looking about for a sprint to enter in the spring to give you something to focus on.
  
  Good luck and let us know how you get on.

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