Is This Enough?

eirwyn

I have a lot of weight to lose. I weigh 344 pounds (down from 356). I lost the first 12 pounds walking around my neighborhood and keeping track of my calories on MyFitnessPal.

Walking is getting boring, though, so I decided to do one of my old Firm workouts from the 90s. I lost a lot of weight (230 - 160) back then because they are so effective.

Obviously, being 344 pounds means I have a lot of stress on my knees and feet. As such, I was able to do all of the upper body dumbell work and most of the squats and aerobics, but I had to go verrrry slowly with the lunges (did 25% of them because I was going at a snail's pace) and skipped the step aerobics (did marching in place instead).

My heart rate stayed in the fat burning zone the entire time. Sometimes it went up higher, but it never went lower.

Even though I'm babying my lower body, is this still okay? I know that sounds silly, since ANY movement is better than none, but does it matter HOW you get your heart rate into the fat burning zone? I can vary my routine with walking if I need to work my lower body as well, but I'm so afraid I'm going to blow out a knee if I start doing the lunges and step aerobics too soon.

CN: I'm very heavy and don't want to blow my knees out. Does it matter which exercises I do as long as my heart rate is in the fat burning zone? Should I vary it, or is it okay to focus on just my upper body for now?

Lobsters25

As long as you're still walking, I think it is okay to start with upper body.  When I was really overweight, I couldn't do the squats or lunges without hurting my knee, so I alternated between walking (including a bit of incline some days), the elliptical, adductor/abductor exercises, and the leg press.  As I lost the weight, I gradually began upping the intensity, and really didn't add many new leg exercises until I was a good bit down on the scale.

Certainly vary the exercises, so that your body doesn't adjust back into a comfort zone.

As for dairy, do you mean full-fat dairy is the problem? 

eirwyn

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_getting-shape_is-this-enough?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:238Discussion:a3e2ec1b-f478-47f0-9f05-7a12712ff1d0Post:5a9ed9a0-6bdb-4c06-8125-2d792c02ecb1">Re: Is This Enough?</a>:
[QUOTE]As for dairy, do you mean full-fat dairy is the problem? 
Posted by Lobsters25[/QUOTE]

Yes. When I cook with cheese now, I try to use the lower-fat options. I don't use fat-free cheese because the cheese doesn't melt properly. I'd rather use a tiny bit of cheese made with 2% milk than a full portion of fat-free cheese.

I switched to skim milk (I used to drink 2%), frozen yogurt for the occasional "I want ice cream" day, and I stopped eating sour cream because I don't like the low-fat version.

Thanks for all of the feedback. I'm always open to suggestions/criticism because I want to make sure I'm doing this right. :)