Four and a half years ago I weighed 409 pounds (185 kg). I started a commercial Australian diet and lost about 45 pounds (20 kg) in the first six months with zero exercise.

As I was still too big physically to exercise safely, I started doing star jumps in the pool so the water would support my bulk and keep me cool. It was the perfect intro to exercise.

When it got too cold a few months later, I started daily walks. Slow, gentle and short at the start as I didn't want to injure myself.

I was steadily losing around 2 pound a week (one kg a week) so it got easier as I progressed. To push myself, I bought a weight vest from eBay and added 1 kg weights to the vest. I ultimately walked (and still walk daily) with the vest and weights totaling 20 pounds (9 kg).

I gradually built up the speed and intensity and duration to ultimately complete a daily one hour walk at 3.8 miles per hours for a full hour.

Two years after starting, I lost 220 pounds (100 kg), and have now kept it off for two and a half years after reaching goal.

It really doesn't matter if you use an elliptical, a walking machine, a gym, or just walking the streets around where you live. The key for me was to do it daily and make it SUSTAINABLE !!!

If I pushed myself too much, it wouldn't have been sustainable and I would have gone back to my old habits of junk food and no exercise.

https://preview.redd.it/har9a48myvea1.jpeg?width=1608&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=6c1298eadb14e9f06e0567ffa094ca63c076496b