Need a buddy to start running for the first time in my life

[BathOnion]

After a long time of inactivity and doing the bare minimum of exercise it is now telling on me. I am a couple of stones heavier than what I should be and my lung function is poor because I find I get out of breath quite easily when walking up a hill.

What I would like to do is find buddies on here who I can start to relate to who knows exactly what it is like and to offer me the inspiration to get motivated, off the couch and offer me tips on how to start because I haven't the faintest idea on how to get going.

I have already decided that this time next year I want to be leaner, fitter and much healthier. I want to have the feeling of going into any clothes shop in town, picking something off the rail knowing that a smaller size will fit me.

Apart from losing weight, the main motivation I have is to improve my heart and lung function, as well as making new buddies on this site so we can all support each other when times are tough.

Looking forward to reaching out to new goals, buddies and much brighter future.

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

Hey there... I didn’t need a hill to be out of breath and sweating... I could do that picking laundry up off the floor. On an earlier mission I went from 22 stones to 12.5... and I’m hovering around 12-13 constantly now, not that I have scales in the house.

Running will not drop your weight, but it will make you smaller and much fitter. If you couple this with a good healthy eating regime and are prepared to lose the weight very slowly (so that it stays off) you’ll get to where you want to be. I see you have set yourself a year, so there’s no need to go crazy. If you haven’t already found them, go here healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh... as they have so much knowledge on that side of things. Make sure you eat enough calories daily by using this nhs.uk/tools/pages/healthyw... and eat towards the upper end of the calorie range it gives.

As for the running, go slow and steady, hydrate well (sip water all day every day) and trust the programme. Running will give you some muscle development and as muscle weighs more that fat you may lose inches even though the scales say zero loss or one pound gain... use a tape measure and log progress in size and don’t just listen to the scales.

Good luck.

[BathOnion in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Hello UnfitNoMore, thank you for your post, it was great to read and will go on the links you suggest. It would be good to improve my muscle mass as muscle in turn burns fat so I understand.

Keep in touch and take care of yourself.

[davelinks Graduate]

Well done!

You'll only lose a little weight if any on c25k, some do some don't, it will start to tone your muscles though, which I found noticeable. Weight loss with running happens more when running constantly for 30 mins 3 times a week, see the link below for essential information for new starters..

healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

[ancientrunner Graduate]

You are in the right place. You will find lots of support and others may well already be asking the questions you want answered Take it slow and good luck.

[ArtAndInfo]

I agree with those above. I managed to lose about 3 stone on the 5:2 diet - decided to stop there even though I'm still overweight and move to 6:1 which I've been managing for about 2 years now. Started with c25K three weeks ago and it is much easier than when I was trying to run at 15 stone a few years ago. Much less damage to my knees this time round.