New to this posting thing, but just thought this might help anyone considering this but worried they are too overweight. I am 50 years old and, 5 foot 4inches tall and weighed in at 18 stone 4lb when I started. I have always been fat. I have always done classes like Zumba and swum over the years, so I have a residual level of fitness under the blubber. After an operation in January, a very slow recovery, a certain amount of depression which led to eating all the wrong foods for a diet controlled diabetic, I have been put on metformin. This provided the spring board for me to kick myself up the bum and get my act together.
I started the C25K 6 weeks ago and also began calorie counting - my doctor pointed out that although exercise was good, if I was still putting way too much into my mouth the weight would not shift and the knock-on effects on my health would continue to drag me down.
I have found the program works really well for me. The first 3 weeks run 1 was hard, run 2 was better and run 3 left me feeling I could do a bit more. Week 4 was much harder and I did this one twice. I was worried about week 5, but firmly adopted the attitude that I would run very slowly and just keep going as long as I could. I refused to think about the fear that I couldn't run that far, and as a result I finished the 20 minute run, and after the cooldown walk my body (used now to a run-walk-run pattern) was expecting to run again.
I have lost about half a stone in weight. I no longer have nights where I prop myself up on pillows to aid my breathing. I feel more in control of myself and my life than I have for a couple of years. I am enjoying having a challenge, and the important thing is that the only person I have to prove myself to is me; no-one else will care if I stop running or go off my diet or fail to complete the C25K, but at the same time if I feel I need more time, to repeat weeks or simply to miss a run because I'm not feeling up to it, I don't have to explain myself to anyone.
Sometimes larger people are scared to start exercise programs because they fear people will laugh at them, point and stare. My experience has been that people who exercise are aware of the effort it costs and are generally encouraging. I run round Rother Valley Country Park lake, a place of dog walkers, runners and cyclists. Most dog walkers smile and say hello, some commenting that the running looks like hard work. Most runners and cyclists exchange smiles and hellos as we pass one another, others are focussing hard on what they are doing and don't take their eyes off the goal. The attitude I have met is friendly and encouraging.
An additional benefit of this regular excercise is the structure it imposes on me. 3 days a week I need to be up at 7 so I can have my breakfast over an hour before I run. I also have a friend who is extremely unfit who comes with me to the park and goes for a walk - it is a short walk, but it is getting longer and faster, and she now feels out of sorts on the days we don't go out. One day she might begin the C25K, but I think this is a long way off yet.
If you are thinking of doing this program, your should stop thinking about it and give it a go. It really works. And well done to everyone who is currently working through it or has graduated.
If I can do it, anyone can!
Why do I run?
Graduation - If I Can Do This, Anyone Can
If i can do it - we all can!!
I did it too W5R3!
