So lost

[Rybaby]

Hello! So I have a very general question. How do I get into running/other cardio? I have always wanted to be able to jog, but I never got into it because of my asthma. Which I obviously was just using as an excuse. I am currently 100 pounds overweight, and since it is summer time I would love to get out more plus my daughter loves to be out in nature. So any tips on training, the  best gear for support, or just tips in general would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much!

[GershonSurge]

@Rybaby,

First, I'll address the asthma. There is an excellent chance that if you eliminate all dairy products from your diet, you will greatly reduce and maybe, eliminate the symptoms of your asthma.

Now, let's talk about progressive training. Suppose you started walking a mile a day and increased your distance by five feet (two steps) every day. How many miles do you think you would be walking a day in 10 years? The answer will surprise you -- 28 miles a day! So, get any pair of comfortable shoes you already have. Walk for five minutes heading away from home and put a piece of Guerilla Tape on the curb. It will stay there for years. The next day, go about a foot past it and put another piece of Guerilla Tape on the curb. Soon, you will have something like the growth chart you have or probably will get for your daughter. Take a picture once a week. Don't worry about how fast you walk. It really doesn't matter at this point. Don't start running until you lose about 70 pounds. There are too many injury traps along the way. If you use an alternate method of counting steps with your Fitbit, don't link it to your GPS. Then you may get all wrapped up in how fast you go.

Unfortunately, exercising to lose weight can be a trap. What happens is people lose interest for a time, and their weight can shoot right back up. Although exercise is important for many health reasons, one of those reasons is not losing weight.

The key is in your eating.

Everyone talks about burning more calories than you eat and how much of a deficit you need to maintain. With your schedule, there likely won't be time for doing a good job counting calories. You said you drive a bus. Let's say you have a timing stop every hour and use this time to eat a bag of potato chips or something you know isn't healthy.  Bring a small snack baggie filled with fruit for each timing stop of the day. Grapes, mandarin orange slices, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, apple (unpeeled or it will turn brown), or have a banana without the bag.  You actually don't need a lot of berries. About eleven will do. About three strawberries is enough.

This is enough for now. If it interests you, let me know. If not, just say so. 🙂

[Mukluk4]

---

@Rybaby wrote:

Hello! So I have a very general question. How do I get into running/other cardio? I have always wanted to be able to jog, but I never got into it because of my asthma.

---

Jogging can be boring as hell.  I would suggest finding a sport or activity that raises the ol HR and stick with that.  Once you get into that groove you can branch out to other activities that you are interested in or can positively impact the activities you do enjoy.

[Rybaby]

I loved this! Super informative. I am definitely interested in hearing more about anything you wanna tell me haha. The reason I chose walking/running is because I actually love it. I have always loved being outside and just exploring. I did it a lot more in high school when I was a ton smaller. I am not huge on hitting the gym. I can strength train maybe once or twice a week before I actually just lose all interest in it. Granted I have never actually been a real jogger, but in high school I played tennis so I did a lot of cardio. 

My asthma has always been a problem. I actually have very little dairy in my diet as it is. When I had my daughter she couldn't handle dairy so I had to switch my entire diet around to accommodate her needs. 

I guess my current and biggest problem would be my household. I have a grandfather who is a powerlifting coach/personal trainer. That sounds like it would be wonderful right? Well not so much. I have been working on my diet a lot lately. I eat a lot of vegetables, fruit, lean proteins, healthy fats, and things of that nature. He believes that I need to cut out my vegetables, and switch to three meal replacement shakes a day with one actual meal at night. I think that is just crazy. So we butt heads a lot on the best way to go about this. As much as I would love to lose all my weight over night I know that isn't realistic. I understand that I will have to work hard and I think that having a well balanced diet is part of that. I mean I can't realistically live on meal replacement shakes for the rest of my life, right? 

[Alicat2104]

I would say, forget running and just find something active that you can do and enjoy doing - that's the key to making it something you'll stick with.

The idea of eliminating dairy is a good one, even if just for a month to see if you feel benefit from it, as quite often asthma is a symptom of a dairy intolerance.  Mine isn't, mine is a cat allergy but my babies are going nowhere so I just put up with it 

[Rybaby]

Yeah, I'm not too big into dairy anymore. I had asthma at birth so I've just always lived with it. It is worse now because I am a smoker, and because I am carrying a ton of extra weight. But I do really enjoy running. I've stuck with it for the past couple weeks except for the days that there were thunderstorms or my daughter was sick. I'm big into cardio, and I would much rather do that than strength training. Haha. 

[justmeshell]

Walk in a mall. Many do this, and it works out very good.

[A_Lurker]

At 100 pounds overweight you might want to focus on walking with jogging stretches.  You mentioned you enjoyed walking so getting into hiking around local areas is a good idea.  On the hot humid days I second the mall walking as well.  For the food, make small manageable changes.  Using fresh whole foods, eliminating processed products is a good idea.  You mentioned your family member into bodybuilding. They're definitely going to push a higher protein diet.  I always suggest that you change your diet to one that you can maintain the rest of your life (not just to lose the weight).  If you can get into strength training (without fighting about the food) it can be a good addition to your exercise routine.