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So my Name is Cody, I'm 21 years old, about 270-300 pounds. I get off work every weekday around 4-6 pm and find myself bored because I don't have much money to go do things (including a gym membership). So I'm reaching out to you guys for advise and guidance. I'm eating healthier, and I only drink loose tea leaves (green, black, oolong, pu-erh, etc.). So does anyone have any advise on pretty much anything, recommended advise which hikes should I do, at what time, for being a beginner, and what will I need to have to have a successful hike. Also if there are any dog hike trails I'd appreciate if that was mentioned as well. I've been looking up hikes for a couple days now on here finally made the commitment to make a profile and get active legitly. I'm thinking the first trail I'll do is Saturday October 26th, 2013 - Pinnacle Peak Park trail.

I don't live in your area, but I'm sure others will be of help. Sounds like you need to start with something sort of moderate, then keep building on that. Don't beat yourself up, figure out what distance and pace will be a reasonable challenge without being like a miserable forced march. Later on, you'll be able to hike further, steeper and faster.

Also:

Thank you. I do appreciate your advise, this is just what I was looking for. I need to do some changing that's for sure. Hopefully, when and if I stay super committed to this I will be able to do more challenging trails with more expierenced people like yourself. So if you could add me on here so I can keep in contact with you for support and guidance?

In what area do you live? Whatever is close to home is what I'd suggest so that it's something quick and easy to get to, whether it's biking or hiking or both. 3 days out of the week (typically) I take a bike ride on the greenbelt, then go home and do an upper body workout. The other couple of days during the week I usually bike to Camelback Mountain and hike that thing because it's close by, or occasionally I bike to Papago Park and climb/scramble the steep rocky areas. Then for the weekends I cross my fingers that I'll have some cool hikes lined up. That's just my normal activity schedule anyway.

Wow I'd definately say your a more expierenced hiker than I am. I live in North Phoenix around the I-17. Yeah I'll probably buy some small workout equipment nothing too expensive or big. If you could add me as well and if you think I can handle the hike knowing that I'm a super beginner maybe you can give me a shout out and I'll join you.

Csholy wrote:small workout equipment nothing too expensive or big

My workout equipment consists of an ab roller and 2 dumbbells, and it's all I need. I keep it simple and do ab rolls, curls, and pushups along with another chest workout similar to bench pressing. You could probably find what you need at a Goodwill store.
You're probably close to North Mountain Park? You should be able to find good hikes there to begin with, and you might be able to find meetup groups that do beginner type hikes. I do my stuff early in the day, and you probably don't want to try to keep up with me anyway.

@Csholy
I 'd start with flat areas like a canal or neighborhood loops. Then you can slowly increase your distance, which is always good mentally to go farther each time. Also your body will be getting up to speed. Then start attacking areas like North Mtn. which has mild to medium grades. With the cooler weather coming Spur Cross is a great place to hike and that extra bonus.....great nature!
Have fun but push yourself just a little each time. Remember all Tour De France bike racers started on tricycles.

Thank you for your advise, it's in the brain now. That sound like a great plan, tomorrow I'm going to try to hike the Pinnacle Peak Park trail and see how I do. I'll come back on here after and let you all know how it was. Again if you could add me so in the future if I need any other advise or want to hook up for a hike I'd greatly appreciate it, thank you again.

Welcome. Hiking is a great and easy way to work your way into shape. I agree with Alston Neal that you should start with flat areas and neighborhood loops.

Get acquainted with Traildex. http://hikearizona.com/traildex.php?ID= ... 1&SHOW=YESYou can find interesting hikes in your area rated by Difficulty, popularity and seasonality.

I just lost a great deal of weight on this healthy eating plan http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/healthy ... -challenge. BMI is down 5.3; I'm still working on it. It is a life style change and you have to relearn how to cook, but for some reason this was not so difficult. Getting off the salt and sugar was a big part of it I believe.

Sredfield wrote:I just lost a great deal of weight on this healthy eating plan http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/healthy ... -challenge. BMI is down 5.3; I'm still working on it. It is a life style change and you have to relearn how to cook, but for some reason this was not so difficult. Getting off the salt and sugar was a big part of it I believe.

I do thank you for the wise words, I pretty much got the diet down something my doctors and I formed a couple years ago, stay away from fats and carbs. Grains are my enemy, my doctor made me say. I'm losing weight but I'm at that point in my progession to move to that next stage which is excercising so (A) I'm healthier, (B) I'm not just sitting at home doing nothing except cleaning and watching primetime television shows, and (C) that extra push to lose even more weight. In October two years ago I was bad tapping out at 340 pounds and only being 19 years old, so my doctor said "work with me, if you work with me and it doesn't work I'll write up a letter for your insurance company so they can cover any surgery that suits you, but only if I see that you worked hard and it didn't work", obviously she knew what she was talking about because by March of last year I had lost 60-70 pounds and she was inmpressed. Most of it was the diet and quitting my job at Barro's Pizza lol, but I saw results I wasn't as thin as I'd like to be but I was healthy, and although I've had periods of time where I wasn't healthy I always knew what to do to get healthy once again. So I went out in search of something that would work with me and still pay off in results which is when I turned to Souvia and their teas. So the point of all this is I've had three things that both helped me lose weight but also made me healthier: First one being from my football days and good old working out, during highschool I lost close to 50 pounds and I was eating and drinking horrible things for me, second being the diet my doctors formed, and lastly my own plan of replacing all liquids with water and tea with no sugar added. Not once have I done all of them, and that's my goal to do all of them. I'm drinking my delicious teas, eating mainly chicken, veggies, and some protein typically cottage cheese with pineapple or any other fruit with the same characterisitics of pineapple per the portion size. So all that I need to do now is get an excersice plan that is low cost and enjoyable so I can stick with it for the long run.

Gosh, you really have put in some effort. That is a great story! You are "added" on to here, don't worry, you can post on here any time. But a couple things other guys said probably would be helpful. One is what Alston said, starting out easy, canal trails, and moderate slopes, but adding a bit of challenge. There might be a meetup group in your area, also, as Rockadudle said.

Csholy wrote:So my Name is Cody, I'm 21 years old, about 270-300 pounds. I get off work every weekday around 4-6 pm and find myself bored because I don't have much money to go do things (including a gym membership). So I'm reaching out to you guys for advise and guidance. I'm eating healthier, and I only drink loose tea leaves (green, black, oolong, pu-erh, etc.). So does anyone have any advise on pretty much anything, recommended advise which hikes should I do, at what time, for being a beginner, and what will I need to have to have a successful hike. Also if there are any dog hike trails I'd appreciate if that was mentioned as well. I've been looking up hikes for a couple days now on here finally made the commitment to make a profile and get active legitly. I'm thinking the first trail I'll do is Saturday October 26th, 2013 - Pinnacle Peak Park trail.

Besides suggesting the obvious of landing a sugar mama in Sun City or running a Ponzi scheme at a Nursing Home for solve your money issues and to get a gym membership, I would suggest starting out doing flat dog-friendly trail, with you dog of course. The trails may get boring after a while, but your dog won't think so. Also, there are many (too many actually) hiking meetup groups that you can join.

Good luck on your getting your goals met.

I am not a doctor, but ... One key is to extend yourself, but not push yourself, if that makes sense? In other words, you need to put some stress on your body, but no so much that you risk heart attack. (And that applies to all folks, not just ones who are overweight.) Stress would apply not only to your feet, but your joints, your breathing, your heart rate HR), and blood pressure (BP). Listen to your body as you hike; don't be afraid or embarassed to take breaks, or even turn back.

If you have not been to a doctor yet, visit and get at least baseline EKG and BP. At your weight, you probably have high BP, and possibly diabetes, and may need to treat that with medication (as I do). I'd also recommend getting a home blood pressure cuff: Walgreen sells them for not too much money (everything in Walgreen is cheap ;) ). Take your BP/HR five minutes after every hike. Track that. Also, take your BP/HR at a non-stressful part of the day, like before you go to work, to get a true reading. Track that as well. You will find that with exercise and medication, your BP/HR will gradually stabilize at a much better level.

hey, i'll tell you what.. when other hikers see an overweight guy on a hiking trail, you're gonna get more encouragement that you would expect. hikers are cool like that.
p.s. try North Mountain a few times.

@Csholy
I was in the exact same boat about 5 years ago. My doctor told me to stop drinking and loose weight or I would have to find a new liver in 5-10 years. It SCARED me!! I stopped drinking that day but the weight loss has been a killer. One thing I can tell you is this web site has been a huge help. Being able to track your AEG, mileage and just seeing others trips/pic logs is a great motivator.

I'm still overweight and out of shape. On many of the trails I hike, I stand out I'm slow, I breath heavy and I'm covered in sweat but like someone else said above, other hikers don't care ;)

I try to get on a city trail at least three times a week. I like Lookout mountain. The spider web of trails lets me shorten or lengthen my hike to fit how I feel that day.

Hope this helps and good luck

Cody... the funnest part about hiking is the exploring. Just go check out every trail you can get to. If you succeed-- then awesome! If not-- then you'll feel awesome later down the road when you do conquer it. I might keep a beer gut still-- but after I started seriously hiking, I dropped 50 lbs. easy and that opened big doors for me. I could do bigger hikes, get into cycling, and actually find enjoyment in running (which is something I never thought I'd do). The trick is to enjoy it-- if you don't then you won't stick with it. Once you get regular with the exercise and your metabolism kicks in-- you're gonna be amazed.

Fat is beautiful...

gummo: I was lost in Youtube hell last night, and happened upon a Patti Smith interview, where she met Jim Morrison. She said he said to try the hamburgers ...

I like South Mountain - the east end - E Pima Canyon Road. There are lots of easy trails, lots of medium trails, and a couple of heart-pounders! Mix and match at your pleasure. Dogs are welcome, too! (As long as you clean up after him!) Like everyone else has said, take it easy, don't over-exert, but do push yourself, take a friend or three, take - and drink - lots of water, and above all, have fun!

This is a great sport, and you have lots of friends here that can and will help. Let us know how you're doing!