Newbie

[Pidhirney]

Hi everyone. I am so newnto the diet & Exercise thing. I am very over wieght. Fairly active. Wemm ibwalk alot and ride a bike frequently. Never really tried to lose weight before. Definatley serious about it now.

I have alot of lower back issues and knee. If im new to this and have mobility issues what pace is good to start at and what other exercises coukd i do to tone up

[Rich_Laue · Accepted solution]

Hello @Pidhirney I've moved your question about weight to the weight management board. 

[Dominique]

When you’re asking "what pace is good to start at", what exactly are you referring to? The pace of your weight loss (e.g. what amount of weight per week)? Or the pace of your physical activity (e.g. walking, biking etc.)?

You’re talking a lot about exercising. However, weight loss is primarily about eating. Exercising can help (by increasing your energy expenditure and therefore allowing to eat more while having the same deficit), but its benefits are more related to things like health, fitness, well-being.

As to the type of exercises you could do, it’s a good idea to include both cardio training and resistance training (e.g. weight lifting). For cardio, pick up activities that are gentle for your joints (e.g. swimming or anything else that has you moving in water). "Toning up" is the combination of building muscle and losing fat.

[Pidhirney]

Sorry i wasnt very clear. I need to exercise as well as eat right. However i have many mobility issues and am concerned alot of things i cant or wont be able to do. 

[Dominique]

Pick up exercises you can perform safely and you enjoy doing. Being physically active is always better than being sedentary, as long as the activities you select can be performed safely. But again, your focus for weight loss should be on the eating side of the equation.

Regarding "pace": things like the various heart zones you’re in when exercising don’t really matter much for weight loss (don’t be distracted by things like the "fat burning" zone vs. cardio or peak). You will burn more calories per unit of time performing high-intensity activities, but won’t be able to do them for very long. Conversely, you will burn less calories per unit of time doing low-intensity activities, but will be able to do it for longer, and therefore burn more calories in total. In the end, fat loss is determined by the cumulated caloric deficit you can sustain over time.