Exercise question?!?!?

I am currently down 145-150 lbs and I am one year out. I recently had a back injury (slipped disk with a pinched nerve) bad back pain and pains that shoot down both legs... SUCKS big time. The pain seems to be going away now but I'm afraid to do too much exercise in fear of hurting my back again. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to strengthen my back and overcome this fear?

Also, I have lost the biggest majority of my weight on my upper half and I still have ass for weeks, forget days. I really need to start focusing on my hips, thighs and butt.... Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Another thing... sorry! I am still pretty embarassed by my size and I refuse to workout in front of others at home. Did anyone else go through this and how did you overcome it?

Thanks again,
Katie

If your PCP doesn't prescribe water therapy then sign up for water aerobics. You will not be forced to do anything that is painful and the warm water does wonders for your body. It allows you to exercise without the shock to your joints. It helped me with sciatia.

Re: embarrassment, Everyone else there is overweight too. No one is looking at your body. I had one person in my class that was 400 lb. She wore a t-shirt over her swim suit.

I would really reccomend going to see a physical therapist or trainer. I had back issues pre-op. A physical therapist taught me exercises to build my core muscles so that my spine could withstand my body's weight. Pelvic tilts really helped ease the pain.

I'm curious of other's input with this question too because I, too, have a large bottom have. I'm currently a 22 on bottom and 18 on top. It makes it very awkward for dresses. lol.

 1. See what your Doctor says

2. Planet Fitness is $10 a month no contract if they have one in your area.

 Katie, when I first started working out I did Wii fit. It's very low impact but gets you up and moving. The Zumba for wii is fun too. If anything, just go walking. I would avoid weights with your back issues.

 Physical therapist.  Seriously.

Once I was ok'd to move on to whatever I wanted to do I started with walking, then an elliptical machine and eventually moved on to running and Jillian Michaels.  Target workouts don't work but an all over workout does.  I still have a backside and I learned to embrace it, it works great to balance out my workouts even!  Squats are much easier when you use that backside to your advantage!

As far as working out in front of others?   I did it early in the morning or when everyone was out of the house.  Now I don't really care but it took me several years to get to that point.

I've evened out at this point but I have to admit, I love to see people of every size and shape when I go run/walk/bike.  I'm just so happy to see people moving and what I have found is that most of the other people who are out there are concentrating on their own workouts and really they are no****ching me.

I never went to a gym, not so much from embarrassment but because I hated getting ready to go out to exercise and then go back home to shower again to accomplish the rest of my day. I have short hair that sticks out in every direction in the morning, so there is no leaving the house THAT way!!

I spent the money instead on a recumbent bike. I went to Sears and bought a floor model to save money. I also have a bad knee and lower back pain and this was good for both. I "biked" 7 miles a day at least 5 days a week. It is awesome for lower body and gets the heart rate going. I watched weight loss shows that I saved on the DVR while I was biking for even more inspiration.

As for where you have lost....you pretty much lose evenly all over your body. Because you were probably heavier on the lower half it looks like you haven't lost there. Now that the upper weight is gone, the loss will be more on the lower half. Keep going, you are doing GREAT!!!

I feel the same way about working out in front of other people at home! No thanks to trying to exercise while my nephews laugh and my sister tries to talk to me through the entire thing. I would so prefer to go to the gym, where everyone is there working out.

I'm always the fattest person in the gym, but I've found over the years that no one actually cares. I choose gyms where people are serious about working out, so there are fewer "gym bunnies" in full regalia and more people just looking to get a good workout in. If anyone does look at or talk to me, it's always a smile or an encouraging word - after all, I'm there for the same reason that they are, more or less, and typically, people who are into fitness are excited to see other people who are working to get healthy themselves. I go in, get my 30 minutes on the treadmill in (right now I'm only three weeks post-op and not cleared for anything else yet), and leave. If you have a Gold's Gym in your area, that might be a good place for you, or perhaps a women-only gym, if you're more comfortable with that.

I'm really sorry you're hurting! I second (third, fourth) finding a Physical Therapist.

xoMelanie

Hi Katie,
I'm with everyone else...you need to get a referal (if needed) for a physical therapist. I do 2 days of strengthening and 1 day of massage. I have degenerative disc disease and my other option is a  fusion! Yeah not gonna happen unless I have NO other options. One thing that I can do is walk on the treadmill which I find boring or I use the eliptical bike. I have been out of the gym for almost a month due to getting pneumonia but I am hiking up my skirt and getting back to it tomorrow. Another good thing for low impact exercise is anything to do with water...hopefully this helps you