6ft 285 lbs/asthma...where to start?

Preparation, Preparedness & Prevention Fitness and Nutrition
1

The title pretty much says it all. I’m 27, the only formal exercise I’ve ever done was one semester of weight training in high school. I did a lot of manual labor through college (Delivering windows, doors, lumber) so that kept me in decent muscle mass. Here are my current measurements: 6’ 0.5"; 285lb; 40-42in waist; 17-1/2" bicep, 16-1/7" forearm. Basically, I’m big. I do have a large frame (i.e. my wrists and ankles are large skeletally) However, I’ve got too much fat. I’ve had asthma pretty bad ever since I was a kid, so running and I don’t get along. I have tried an inhaler prior to running with limited success. My diet currently consists of

Breakfast: Banana Nut or Blueberry Muffin, Black Coffee
Lunch: Turkey Sandwich with Provelone on Honey Wheat Bread, Wheat Thins or Sunchips, 2 Oreos.
Dinner: Either a repeat of lunch or meat, starch, veggie for dinner.

I have a nice Eliptical (Sole E-35) and some Bowflex Select-tec Dumbells. The problem is, just like buying a nice gun won’t make you a good shooter, buying equipment doesn’t get you in shape. The problem is, I don’t know how to use it.

I’m not really interested in becoming a fitness nut, but I’d like to shave some (about 40) pounds and be in better shape. Can you guys make a few, simple suggestions that I can do to get to my goal? I’m not all into joining a gym (don’t have the money/time, and I already have some equipment at home) I’d like to know some things I can do with what I have to get better. Also, pushups, and sit-ups are good. The thing I have the hardest time with is how many to do and what to do (and how much weight for the dumbells?)

Thanks in advance!

2

Swim. It’s the best cardiovascular exercise for someone with severe activity-induced asthma, which includes me. It’s relatively low impact as the water supports your weight and it forces you to regulate your breathing. I was recommended swimming by my asthma and allergy doctor when I was young and joined the swim team for a couple of years. While I wasn’t the best swimmer, it definitely helped get my heart and lungs up to task without having to lean heavily on my inhaler. Lately I’ve been using Advair as maintenance medication and have had a fraction of the asthma attacks I did when I was younger, so can work out almost normally–I just can’t totally exhaust myself.

The downsides are obvious–not everyone has a pool, and even if you do you can’t swim in it all year most areas. Public pools are a definite option if you have an indoor one nearby, and most gyms have them though I know you don’t want to join one. But, if you transition into a low impact exercise, cutting time off your swimming to compensate, in a few months you should be able to drop the swimming in favor of your elliptical machine at low resistance.

3

Do you take a daily medicine for you asthma?

If at anytime you need to use a rescue inhaler, such as albuterol then you asthma is not under control.

I have asthma that is induced by allergies and exercise. I take advair 100/50 daily and have not had breathing problems since i started taking it years ago. I do occasionally have problems when i dont take it as recommended. I take it once a day instead of twice if i dont have any physical activity planned, that stuff gets expensive.

4

A body mass index of 38 in a 27 year old is worrisome for development of those medical issues and a subsequently shortened lifespan.

Do you have other medical problems ie blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea, high cholesterol/lipids?

5

I take mine once a day as well, after talking to my doctor about not feeling like I need it twice a day. I still have the occasional attack, though it’s usually brought on by allergies or doing something strenuous in cold weather. I agree with you for the most part though–if you’re having more than a couple asthma attacks per week then you should probably talk to your doctor about it. There are a number of maintenance medications which can keep your asthma largely under control. I’ve stopped carrying my Proventil with me except in the winter, even.

6

No other issues at all. Not even in the warning dept. for blood pressure or cholesterol.

7

That’s good news. You have a lot at stake then relative to getting the extra weight off, because those things are coming if you don’t. Good luck. I hope you can find a lifestyle that can get you down where you need to be.

8

The issue I have here is that water and I don’t get along. I have bad sinus issues that water aggrivates (in the nose or ears) I’m one of those guys that if I sneeze once, it turns into a sinus infection, which heightens the asthma.

I’m not trying to shut down suggestions, but I need something I can sustain, and swimming just wouldn’t be one of those things.

Let’s say this: 30 min/Mon-Fri on the Eliptical “hill” program.
50 Push-ups
50 sit-ups
15 25lb curls
15 25lb tricep press

Would this gain me anything? I guess what I’m really missing is efficiency of time in working out.

FWIW, Here’s a pic of me in College delivering stuff. I’m the same size now. Not exactly a “lard ass” (I don’t think) but could use some slimming up.

9

If you want to determine whether your BMI of 38 means you actually are obese, go see a nutritionist and have them measure your skin fold thickness so you can estimate your body fat percentage.

10

I’m going to understand having to limit what you can and can’t do, especially when it comes to exercise, more than most on this site. Swimming worked great for me and that’s why I suggested it–I thankfully don’t have sinus problems on top of everything else wrong with my respiratory system.

Any amount of exercise gains you something–extra calories burnt, at the very least. For me, what works best is a 5 minute or so warm-up followed by getting as close as I can to out of breath and maintaining it as long as I can. It’s a balancing act to be sure, but I’ve had asthma for 23 years and know my lungs quite well.

Longer, low impact workouts are more beneficial to cardiovascular fitness and will help you lose weight faster. They’ll also benefit your asthma more. Intensive workouts benefit your non-cardio muscles more, and will convert fat into muscle so you could easily gain weight. Body mass indexes are basically worthless, especially for people with large frames or who are built, as they only take into account your sex, age, height, and weight.

11

A big guy like you typically responds very well to the Adkins diet. It’s very simple, and I will write it below:

  1. LIMIT YOUR DAILY CARB INTAKE TO 10 CARBS ONLY!

  2. Eat anything you want in as much quantity as you want as long as you obey rule #1. Your body will self-regulate your appetite. Briefly, you can eat meat, fish, poultry, green vegetables. No grains, fruit, sugar.

  3. Read the label on everything you eat for carb content. If there is no label (celery), look it up on the internet for carb content.

  4. Drink at least 1 gallon of water daily to flush out the toxins stored in the fat that you are burning.

  5. Exercise at least half an hour TWICE DAILY. This keeps your metabolism up all day and night to burn more fat. As mentioned above, do not exercise at maximum output. You should exercise at a “fat burning level”, which is basically half to 2/3 of what you are capable of.

  6. Incorporate weight training into your exercise routine. Pure cardio work will not burn as many calories as you will burn if you add some weight lifting.

That is all.

Good luck!!

12

Try walking for an hour a day. I lost a huge amount of conditioning after switching to a sedentary occupation. As my conditioning decreased and my work demands increased, I found it harder and harder to keep up with any exercise program and also increasingly frustrating. Over the course of about eight years, I gained 50 pounds. I finally resolved to get up one hour earlier each day, weather immaterial, and walk briskly. By focusing on diet (portion control, limited alcohol, no fried food) and walking, I have lost about 30 pounds in six months, mostly off my mid-section and thighs. I am guessing you would see quicker results walking than with the elliptical. I am now at the point where I am running more than walking. The weight loss has slowed. The keys for me and, IMHO you, is to focus on regular (daily) cardio at an intensity that does not tax you to the point that you cannot repeat it the next day.

I would also echo what others have said about your asthma. Do nothing until you and your doctor are satisfied you will be able to safely exercise.

13

Ive seen adkins work with a guy i work with. he lost like 40 lbs, but his heart rate was over 130 for the whole time.

It works great for some people just pay attention to whats goin on with your body.

I dont do great with diets so i always just followed the in and out rule, less in than whats going out.

PEANUT BUTTER is magic food if you get the all natural kind. Sure its high in calories but its got lots of protein and it absolutely kills your appetite which is the most important part.

14

It’s important to distinguish between a diet and a lifestyle change. Diets alone are successful in permanent weight loss about 2% of the time. Sustaining the lifestyle change…that’s what it takes.

15

FWIW and in my humble experience…

I was not happy with many of the daily steroid asthma treatments when I was on them. The ones from 10 years ago seemed to cause me a lot of muscle pain. It was almost like my muscles became “brittle”. Newer treatments may be better.

Honestly, the most success I had controlling asthma came from controlling allergies. When I got the sneezy, itchy-throat, sinus-filling misery under control, my lungs did much better.

Once the allergies and asthma were under control, cardiovascular conditioning became much less miserable. The benefits spiral up from there: easier breathing allows for more strenuous conditioning which allows for easier breathing and so on.

16

+1000 on walking. Most underrated exercise, ever. When I lost my 80 pounds in 2007, I attribute most of it to walking an hour a day, 6 days a week.

17

Swimming and biking is extremely effective, but if you’re not having your asthma triggered in an area you’re able to walk, then that’s the exercise of choice. A pretty modest reduction in calories and slight improvement in the quality of food will go a long way.

18

Do you have heartburn or other signs/symptoms of esophageal reflux? Even a tiny amount is a very common trigger or cause of asthma. And that is exacerbated by obesity. Asthma is a co-morbidity commonly accepted by insurance companies for approving weight-loss surgery. Not saying’ you need that yet, just saying’…

19

Dont take this wrong, this is all meant in a friendly tone to help you out…

This diet sucks. Oreos, muffins and chips? Yea sunchips beat potatoe chips but their still chips. Eat a diet with complex carbs along with good fats and protein. Adkins sucks, avoid it. Your body needs carbs for brain function and energy production amongst other things. Not only are you not eating much, but you still have junk food in there. Eag a super clean diet with lots of grilled/baked chicken, lean beef and good carbs such as swee potatoe, rice, oatmeal and whole grain pasta. Eat tons of veggies. Spinach is awesome.

Crash diets like the one you posted that lack calories and nutrients will shed weight real fast but you’re also likely to gain a lot of it back, they’re also horrible for you.

Dont do curls or any other isolation exercise for that matter… they’re gay, and they do virtually nothing for you other than make you looks like a tool. Look into crossfit or olympic lifting. Compound exercises are whats going to build the most muscle and as a result burn the most fat. Instead of doing curls, do pullups, rows, power cleans, hang cleans etc.

Good lifts that will shed fat and build muscle?

Dead lifts, Squats, Power Cleans, Snatches, Dumb Bell snatches, bench press, over head presses, pushups, pullups, dumb bell presses, kettle bell swings.

There is no “set” number of reps that you should do. Push your self. Your a big boy, so naturally your not going to be the best at endurance exercises with high rep ranges (like pushups/pullups/dips), you should be beast at powerlifting/olympic lifting style exercises though. If you want a pushups goal to get to… Get to where you can do 20 sets of 20 (Total 400) or maybe a max set of 100.

I’m not a trainer and I’m no where near your weight (I’m 6’ 186lbs at about 10% BF) but I do lots of functional lifting (ie crossfit) and I’m in pretty damn good shape.

Heres an example work out I might do

Max rounds in 30min of

Deadlifts (225x8)
Back Squats(135x12)
Pushups (x25)
Pullups (x10)
Knees to Elbows (x10)

Hope some of this helps. PM me if you got any questions :slight_smile:

20

Mr. Goodtimes:
No offense taken, I actually got a good laugh out of that. It’s funny what you can talk yourself into thinking is healthy. The workout stuff is much appreciated; something I can use as a guide. What constitutes complex carbs? I don’t really like sweet stuff for breakfast (was choking down the muffins 'cause I thought they were better than a sausage/egg/cheese buscuit, but maybe not) What about an egg mc muffin instead?