If you’re worried about your knees, Begbert, running probably isn’t for you. Stick to what works. Be determined. Don’t take any shit. IMHO.
Recent evidence suggests that running may actually shield somewhat against arthritis.
But hey, what do all those doctors and researchers know, anyway? Everyone “just knows” that running destroys your knees. 
I don’t like running but it’s mostly because of my boobs, not my knees or feet. Yes, I struggle into a sports bra before cardio but even that does not give me the defense against gravity I desire.
Anyway, I walk uphill, very fast, on a treadmill. Increasing the incline on my treadmill by one increment increases the intensity of my workout more than increasing the speed by one increment. I have been able to increase the incline a great deal, much more than I have been able to increase my speed in the same period of time.
IMHO … it’s all about ‘ease of living’.
Medical conditions not withstanding, people are just getting plain lazy. This results in a consumer driven, vast, convenient and easy-to-access cheap food source in the form of frozen meals and or take-away (which by-the-by, didn’t exist 10 years ago in the plethora you have now), leading to no great compulsion to make any effort towards the actual shopping, preparing then cleaning that needs to happen to make a nutritious meal that you could make easily and low in calories etc. on a regular basis for themselves (or family…) which then places it smack in the frame for fatty, high salt content - tastes good - arena of the fast food giants.
The only real hurdle to weight loss (and yes… I got a book in the pipeworks :D) (also see medical disclaimer at the start of the post) IMO is 1:- the mouth., 2:- the flat out availability and affordability/ ease of crappy food, and 3:- the thing that binds these ingredients, the absolute lazyness of people who have been validated by the media that the concept of being massively obese is a normal thing.
That’s a great cite, but I can’t help thinking that studying the knees of runners will give you a pre-selected sample of people who don’t have knee problems.
I think getting some exercise would do just about anyone good, whether or not they’re overweight. But I strongly disagree with all the shaming that goes on against people who are overweight/don’t exercise. I think it is unwarranted- especially in people who aren’t making it an issue in the first place.
It isn’t so much a statement about the already obese. It’s the simple fact that if you watch what you eat and exercise regularly, you won’t become obese and knee problems would be an accurate sample of the entire population.
If you sampled just the obese, how many runners are you going to get?
No one’s saying he has to run. I, for one, loathe running. Just that that begbert shouldn’t knock exercise. Biking sounds pretty cool. (Even if it’s just an exercise bike.) I miss my bike. Of course, most of the time I was THAT close to getting hit by a car. 
Yes, I for one would like to apologize for being the one who basically derailed us onto this weird running hijack. Sorry!
I have a couple of friends who are scarily in shape and pretty much all they do is walk. (Although, very very briskly.)
Well, my thoughts are along the line that Begbert believes his knee trouble is hereditary and pre-dates his weight gain. So, while running might be good for one’s knees if they are square to begin with, I can see how running could be precluded altogether if they are a problem to begin with.
That said, you’d be surprised how many obese people show up for some of these races! They’re not all a bunch of beanpoles, not even close. Yah, the Olympics is a bunch of Olympic athletes, but that’s not where I’ve been.
Considering the diabetes and hoping Begbert doesn’t mind an unsolicited suggestion- have you tried yoga? Going back to my ex-girlfriend, she has bad knees. And her father is beyond obese really. She complains of a slow metabolism and so is probably predisposed to being big, but instead she’s a brick house. She does a lot of yoga.
I’d start with a beginner’s video. All you need is one of those rubber mat thingys and some shorts. It’ll seem pretty corny at first (and like you’re horrible at it- don’t worry, just be at your level), but if you just follow along you’ll soon discover how it can work. If you’re like most people it’ll make you sweat like you’re melting- apparently that is half the point. Worst case scenario is you watch some sporty women doing yoga and then give it up. But speaking of sporty women, the goal would be to get comfortable with attending some yoga classes- it is way better ‘live’. You’ve mentioned that you don’t appreciate people looking at you and thinking negative things. Well! The yoga classes seem to be about 2/3 women, and they aren’t going there to be looked at. Everyone will understand about being watched. If anything you’ll be admired for taking action. The activity pretty much rules out checking anyone out anyway- you’re supposed to be concentrating. And no matter what your body is like or what it can or can’t do, the instructors absolutely will not be surprised. It is very easy to tailor to your own pace- they’ll tell you how- it is supportive, it’ll mellow you out, it encompasses the whole body rather than this or that area- it is wildly clever. Not a religion or a cult, just a workout, kind of like a philosophy of exercise actually. And they will probably offer nutrition classes and be bursting with advice on dealing with diabetes, or whatever other physical issues you might have. Just ask 'em, they’re trained!
Don’t want to? Ok.
Bad knees shouldn’t stop anyone from exercising. Instead of running, try:
- Biking
- Swimming
- Rock climbing
- Self defense training (karate, krav maga, etc)
- Yoga
- Water aerobics
- Recumbant bicycle
- Elliptical machine
- Gym classes that use weights
- Boxing
- Weightlifting
Any of those activities will give you a great workout and won’t put undue stress on your knees.
raises hand, and it’s helped with making my knees less painful after I destroyed them with years in a high-step-standard marching band.
My dad’s had arthritis in both knees for as long as I can remember, and like I said, he goes out with the dog for a two mile walk everyday (as long as it’s not raining). He also tries to go out to another park and do five miles and alternate between walking and running. He’s been doing this since I was a kid.
(Although I don’t know if arthritis would be the same thing)
But you know, no pain, no gain!
For anybody who doesn’t want to do the whole yoga thing - this is a great book on stretching written by a doctor and a chiropractor: Stretching for Fitness, Health and Performance.
All the stretches are very safe and the book recommends stretches for common injuries, etc.
The only issue I have with the book is that they suggest you stretch while in the shower. PLEASE don’t do that. Stretching in a wet, slippery, confined space covered with hard surfaces seems very dangerous to me but then again… I’m not a doctor. Jesus.
That website actually provides inspiration for me to diet. Just looking at most of the meals there makes me lose my appetite.
Having not tried yoga, I’m quite dubious that I would be flexible enough (never have been able to touch my toes), and my usual approach to ‘mellow’ stuff is skepticism salted with mockery, but all that aside the real deal-breaker would be being seen in public wearing shorts. You can tell me people won’t be looking at me all you like, but I don’t buy it, and I don’t care in the slightest if they’re non-judgemental. It’s a personal presentation issue; my issue isn’t what they’re thinking, it’s what I’m feeling to be seen that way. So yeah. Ain’t gonna happen. Thanks for the consideration of suggesting it though!
With regard to the my criticism of exercise, I’m approaching it from the context of this thread - is it a good way for an obese person to lose weight? In my opinion, which is unswayed by anything in this thread, the answer is somewhere between “no” and “hell no”. Exercise is apparently a fine way to get toned and increase your wind and all that, if you work your ass off at it anyway. But for an obsese person to literally work their ass off, as in to burn off pounds through exercise alone without additionally changing their diet, they’d have to engage in an exercise regimen so extreme that it would defy execution.
Clearly, the way to lose weight is to stop stuffing your face. Can you exercise too? Sure. Will it help you lose weight? Maybe in the same way Daniel “helped” push that giant crossbow at the start of the animated Transformer movie. There are more calories in a single walmart-sized bag of potato chips than you could ever burn in a day’s exercise, so not eating the chips will make the lion’s share of the difference in the results.
On it’s own, is exercise a good thing? One supposes, depending what you want from it. For a heavy person trying to lose weight, it could be part of a ‘total lifestyle change’; anything you can do to cement that you are a different person than the one that would eat those chips is a good thing. Assuming you don’t convince yourself that by exercising a little you have “earned” those chips, anyway.
As for knees and arthritis, well, I don’t know what problem if any my knees have but I’m pretty sure it’s not arthritis, so aren’t you offering a drowning man a parachute here?
And as for non-running exercise, I’m a recumbant bicycle man myself. Though people will doubtless tell you that I’m not doing it strenuously enough, because it didn’t on its own make me thin.
I like how that site puts things like triple fried chocolate infused donuts wrapped in bacon next to things like eggs five ways, which is practically health food if you remove the hollandaise sauce. http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/page/6 - Note, in time the page will probably change, making that link worthless after awhile.
I dunno, eating 11 eggs at one sitting does seem a bit excessive to me, and that’s coming from someone who loves eggs and eats them daily.
begbert, there’s this thing called “yoga pants” that you might want to look into. (Just kidding, I know you’re not going to.)
Actually those aren’t bad. I’d still look like a twit attempting to do yoga, mind you…
…not that the world will ever get the chance to find out.
ETA: Just looked at a few yoga pictures on the internet. Yoga looks like pain. And not for the non-toe-touching type of guy…
11 eggs is about 770 calories. A bit big if you’re doing the 5-6 small meals per day that seems to be recommended these days, but it fits in pretty well with the 3 meals per day paradigm that most people are probably on.