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I find that exercising in water basically nullifies all those joint stresses you mention. Swim or water gymnastics. The main issue with swimming that comes to mind is with shoulders because it uses a lot of rotations.

> Eat clean. Walk. Be consistent.

That is basically it, wellness must be approached on many different angles. I'd also add sleep better, drink the required amount of water, refrain from using screens past a couple of hours before going to bed. But also, if anyone is clinically overweight, in which case is it a medical issue, to rely on professionals for help. Psychologist/psychiatrist to manage anxiety, doctors to help identify and treat hormonal related imbalances, instructors to help you execute physical activities without injuring yourself, a down to earth nutritionist (not some random influencer on the web with over 20k followers) to help you eat consistently.

I do realise that it is a lot to take in at once, but the thing is you can't do it at once. Start at some place, I'd recommend talking to a psychologist to come up with a plan that is tailored to your specific needs and habits. And then lean on the routine consistently and try to find comfort in the fact that you are in the process of getting better, effectively changing your relationship with everything you interact that gives you that dopamine boost.

> I do realise that it is a lot to take in at once,

Job #1: Shed the cognitive load. Feeling overwhelmed is why people despair and never get started.

You don't strictly need a psychologist or a psychiatrist (goodness gracious!) or a team of professionals for help. Not even a nutritionist. Stop reading about hormonal imbalances.

You don't need a complicated plan to start. Go. For. A. Long. Walk. Everyday. For. A. Year. It. Works.

That's the easiest most minimal change a person can make. No equipment, no plan, no procrastinating. That and switching to only drinking water and black coffee with no sugar.

Those two things are guaranteed to be enough to start the weight trending in the right direction and yet most people can't adhere to them consistently so anything more complicated is irrelevant.

You can always add more stuff on top later. To increase the likelihood of permanent adherence it is best to find the smallest most minimal actionable change and make it automatic so it doesn't cost you willpower.

As for exercising in water vs walking vs running vs anything - humans move incredibly efficiently in water and proper running technique is economical. You can walk for 2 hours or sprint for 10 minutes or run 5k in 30 minutes or splash around, the end result is the same.

You don't need experts or internet strangers, collect data on yourself experimentally:

Eat the exact same portioned meals every day and switch up these activities every two weeks to compare how many calories per minute you burn doing that particular thing your particular way.

> You don't strictly need a psychologist or a psychiatrist (goodness gracious!) or a team of professionals for help. Not even a nutritionist.

Maybe. Only a competent professional can tell you that. How could you otherwise tell if you need it or not? Yeah maybe someone healthy that wants to get a little healthier, but my entire argument was centered around people that are clinically obese. And even if you are apparently healthy, you would be surprised how bad the average American eat without realising it.

And an ethical psychiatrist can help alleviate the inevitable anxiety that comes from changing diet. Maybe people can hold a strict diet for a couple of months, but without getting their anxiety in check they can very easily slip back into old habits.

I mean, if I was talking about people with severe drug addiction I bet nobody would bat an eye about recommending specialists, so why do we treat eating disorders differently, when it is shown they mess with the same types of reward systems in the brain?

How about we split the difference and agree that you can go in search of any type of professional help so long as you park far away and walk 10k steps from your car to their office?

Note the word strictly. You don't strictly need them to walk and they can't do the walking for you. The walking can only help. It costs nothing, requires no equipment, nor planning.

I am saying that this is the easiest and most straightforward change anybody can implement, the best bang for the buck. A no brainer. Something you already know you should do. Now. Today. The pushback is about that. Don't condition walking on finding the perfect X first. Hope that is super clear.

For other readers: disregard the FUD above regarding running and exercising. Exercising generally curbs hunger, boosts mood and helps solidify adherence to good eating habits. It won't fuck up your joints if you very gradually increase your total exercising volume. For instance, start alternatively walking and running for half an hour three times a week (never getting winded in the process, stop running and start walking every time you start breathing hard), and from there add ten minutes of exercise per week. You'll do fine.

It is my opinion not FUD, I clearly mean well, and you read a lot of non existent negativity into my post and didn't understand the points made as written - the overall guiding principle should be whatever works for a particular individual.

> It won't fuck up your joints if you very gradually increase your total exercising volume.

Congratulations on more or less paraphrasing my point.

Somebody who is a couch potato who takes Nike commercials overly seriously is not unlikely to push too hard and injure themselves - extremely common for beginners. We are saying the same thing. Ease into it.

By developing the walking habit first you've also carved out time for such things, the most important thing is consistency.

Even minimal but consistent effort is better than going for a few runs here and there and not forming a routine around it.

I don't doubt you mean well, but you still spread FUD, right off the bat. And went on to give ok advice, I'll give you that, but still. You start off with "running/exercising is inefficient and will fuck up your joints", I'm saying do a run-walk-run and know that exercise helps adherence to a good diet. What do you think is the better advice?

I find that exercise increases my hunger. I exercise quite a bit (5-8 hours per week) and it makes me eat more, not less. And I find that I need to channel this into food that meets my macros rather than junk, but if I don’t plan, I’ll end up with empty calories.

It surprises me to hear that people don’t get hungry when exercising and how energy expenditure curbs hunger for some people. I wish it worked like this for me.

I'm in the same boat in that I get hungry when I exercise, however I also seem to crave healthier foods when I do. For whatever reason, that protein + salad that wouldn't satisfy me prior to excercising perfectly hits the spot when I do. I have to guess there's a whole lot of biological signals + psychology happening there.

A 1 hour walk is exercise, especially for someone too heavy to safely run.

Great. Call it what you will. The point is to find a maintainable cadence and avoid injury, you're not competing against anybody.

Whoever is reading this: You can get started with walking immediately, right now. Step away from the computer. Or you can get caught up endlessly debating which way is best and never actually get going.

I lift weights and run and highly recommend it for people who can find joy in it. It is strictly not necessary to do any of that to get started with losing weight.

Have some basic respect. You are reading this. Maybe other people reading this are also fully developed adults that don’t need your condescending instructions. And if you don’t want to be in a debate about “which is better” then don’t come in and rant that other people are giving poor advice.

I think you misread what I wrote. No disrespect meant, good luck to you.

> if you "can't afford" to walk for 1 hour every day your life is already in shambles

This “walk an hour a day” advice risks being in the “check your privilege” category. Also risks ensuring most people simply can't or won't take that advice.

For both health and weight, metabolism and heart matter. And there are reasonably effective approaches for those besides the standard jogging / running / biking / walking endurance tips.

One way I like, annoying because it's hard, while paradoxically easier as it requires willpower instead of time, is high intensity interval training or Tabata intervals.*

Both metabolism and heart health can be revved up with high intensity interval training (“HIIT”) in as little as 8 minutes 3 times a week (about 4 mins spent in anaerobic or about 4 periods of 30 seconds in VO2 Max range), ideally coupled with a few ‘repetitions’ of lifting weights.

After about six weeks of sufficient intensity, your body seems to decide you are going to keep demanding things from it. Heart feels less taxed, breaking out in sweat takes longer, you stop being out of breath as quickly, and weight starts to shed. After you maintain this a couple quarters, your body finds a new fitness equilibrium and even if you stop exercising, it stays ready for demand for another six months to a year.

There are other approaches as well besides this one. HIIT isn't for everyone, some people feel nausea at the intensity and are unable to make themselves exert enough to push the heart rate where it needs to be.

So-called “Blue Zone” longevity studies have shown one factor in common across several zones is steep hills and walking. Hill climbing (or stairs) several times a day on a daily basis won't necessarily push to VO2 Max but does seem to encourage similar system adaptations with similar long term health benefits.

It's a lot easier to spend 10 mins three times a week than an hour every day, so accessible it's almost embarrassing to not do it.

* WARNING: If you're not already fit, do not try this without talking to your doctor. And fit or not, don't do HIIT without a real time heart monitor with chest strap, about ~$30 for a Bluetooth ANT+ strap like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3A1EODO9M3B1/ ...

A lot of interesting claims here. Any references?

More than a few, but caveat emptor as most studies aren't for a long enough period, for enough participants, or for anyone between elite Olympic athletes and the morbidly obese. "Tabata" is a good keyword to use though.

On the other hand, who needs a study. Just start weighing yourself, then try a few minutes of HIIT a few times a week for 3 months. If it works, keep going. If it doesn't, just do more minutes more times a week of some other exercise.

Other than having a heart attack, what is there to lose?

Well if you have any favorites, I'd love to see them. I'm very interested in the research in this topic, and you're making bold claims that I haven't seen well supported in literature, but I've been less on top of the field over the last decade or so.

> It's a lot easier to spend 10 mins three times a week than an hour every day, so accessible it's almost embarrassing to not do it.

Indeed you can tradeoff time for intensity if you are so inclined and in fact what you describe is more optimal. I wrote this very thing in another comment.

Whatever works. Whatever the person is willing to actually do and stick to. Whether or not it is easier depends on the individual and where they are at, first you got to get an overweight beginner to do literally anything at all.