So you have a few (or a lot) extra pounds and you are wondering: ‘Can I be fit and fat at the same time?’. The short answer is YES.
Always remember that a healthy body could be in all shapes and sizes. Some people were born bigger and continued to be bigger as grown-ups.
I have a friend’s child who was born with more fat cells and you could see the baby had extra fat as a newborn, and continued to have this body shape as she was growing up.
Talking from a personal experience…
From childhood, I was always exercising. It was something that made me happy and I was feeling strong and healthy.
In both of my pregnancies, I was exercising until the day before delivering, and one week after delivering I was back into exercise (of course I started carefully, it was my job so I knew how to).
Despite this fact however, I was left with extra pounds from both pregnancies. And I admit I was never fan of strict diets. This never stopped me from keep exercising. And although I still have that extra pregnancy weight, I feel strong and healthy.
Sometimes I see my cousins that are younger than me and with less weight, complaining that they have various pains in their bodies (waist, knees, neck etc.), and I keep repeating to them that it is because they are not exercising.
Or I find myself during housework lifting very easily heavy weights that others think is too much for them to lift and they would be injured if they tried to lift. So again, can I be ‘Fit and Fat’? Absolutely YES.
How to start exercise when you are overweight
If you are overweight and you never exercised before, but you want to start, the first thing you need to keep in mind is to start easy. Your body needs time to adjust to the changes.
So I wouldn’t recommend to start running or jumping for example, because you will find yourself being out of breath very soon, your heartbeat will become too fast too soon which is dangerous for your health, and of course you will not want to continue something that is not pleasant to you.
The right type of exercise for overweight
As I said before you need to start easy at first. No running or jumping, you can do this later as your body adapts to exercise.
The easiest way to start is walking. What I did last year during quarantine when we were not allowed to be out, I was walking around my neighborhood. So you can either start walking near your house, or you can go to your nearest park, whichever is more comfortable for you.
If you are completely new to exercise you can start with 15 minutes at first, and every time increase your time by 5 minutes, until you do at least 30 minutes. You can go up to one hour. I wouldn’t recommend more than an hour, as it is more than enough time for the body to get all the benefits of exercise.
The other type of exercise you should do is strengthening exercises. To help your muscles become strong and lean, walking is not enough. So take a small weight (1-3 kg) in each hand, or two small bottles of water if you don’t have weights, and do some simple but effective exercises to tone your muscles. You can find lots of exercises in my other posts.
The type of exercise that never goes out of fashion is floor exercise. The best way to work your muscles without getting injured (of course you need to perform them correctly). Do some sit-ups, lower back exercises, a few push-ups (on the knees or on your kitchen bench is the easier version), and some leg exercises, and you are good to go! On my other posts you will find lots of exercises in which I explain the right technique so you perform them correctly.
What I would suggest if you don’t want to include your aerobic (walking) and strengthening workout on the same day (you can do it if you want to), then you can do walking on one day, and strengthening on the next day, and you can alternate like that. Try to do some form of exercise at least 3 times a week, or more if you can.
You must like what you do
I always emphasize that because if you don’t like the type of exercise you do, you will not keep doing it for long enough. This goes in all areas in our lives of course. So try a few things and keep the ones you like. Another thing that helps a lot is to put your favorite music while exercising. It gives you energy and good mood so you keep going.
So Fit and Fat?
Why not? Just start easy at first and work your way up from there. You will notice the positive changes of exercise from day one. You will feel happier and with more energy. Your mood will change immediately. You will not only get stronger muscles and more endurance, but you will also see some positive psychological changes.
So who cares if you have some extra pounds? And you never know: in the end, you might be an influencer to a friend or family member so they also start exercising!
If you are looking for some motivation in your weight loss and exercise program, then check out this review I have made for a weight loss program that I found very interesting, and I did some research about it. As always you can give me your questions or comments below.