Weight loss

[Bigmamma27]

Hi I need to lose weight but not too sure of what excercises are best. I have Ehlers Danilo’s Syndrome and Osteoarthritis. I have a great treadmill, various weights and bands and a cardiac rowing machine at home. We got them for my son after his open heart surgery. They sit idle in the conservatory so thought since I am conscious of people staring maybe I should lead by example and use them. Anyone any advice

[stevejb1810]

You will likely need to talk to your GP about exercise and EDS but the general advice on losing weight and getting fitter is to start by eating less and eating the right things, and then doing more (eat less, do more!). So, for the various bits of kit you have lying around, start easy and build up slowly - a little bit every day is better than doing everything all in one go and then doing nothing for days. The important thing is to be active (as active as your health conditions allow). But do talk to your GP - I have no knowledge of EDS and what that might mean for any exercise plan.

[Chappychap]

Over 70% of all the calories that you burn aren't related to what most people would consider "exercise", they get burnt fuelling your brain, or regulating your temperature, or maintaining your immune system. The net result is you have to do a huge amount of additional physical exercise to burn up even a small number of calories.

I'm not dismissing exercise, it's a vital part of staying fit and healthy. But as a weight loss tool exercise is a bit overrated. Try eating less but also eating better, for example try to progressively remove processed food, sugar and salt from your diet.

Good luck!

[Hidden]

I’m coming at this from two angles, the first as someone that’s dropped 8.5 stone and successfully maintained that weight loss for a while. When I tell people how I did it, they go ‘no, really, how?’ but the answer is honest and simple: eat less, move more. For me, my diet is lower carbs (by which I mean bread and spuds etc.), higher protein as that’s what’s going to help you feel full. As a general rule of thumb, in my experience, if you’re on a diet that’s leaving you hungry then you’re on the wrong diet and it’s unlikely to work long term.

The second angle is that of a parent to a child we’re 99.9% certain has hypermobility type EDS. I’m hoping to get the formal diagnosis for her in the next few months, but suffice to say she is ridiculously bendy with a penchant for clicking things in and out without trying, structural anomalies within collagen heavy anatomy like her airways, a touch of scoliosis, and it was only by the grace of whoever’s up there that she didn’t end up with callipers as a littleun. Physio are involved with her for a few reasons, and the gold standard exercise from their advice is swimming due to the lack of resistance and the reduction in weight-bearing, thus taking some of the strain off the joints. The exercise issue would therefore be why I would suggest talking to your gp (or other involved health professional) about what exactly would be best (and safe) for you; weights and the equipment might be absolutely fine, and the physios routinely chuck my daughter on the treadmill and cross-trainer during her admissions, but it’s not something I would advise without taking some advice.