Weight gain can be a vicious cycle. You might start out in reasonably good shape, but lead a largely sedentary lifestyle. If you work out once a week, it becomes easy to give in to the notion that you can eat anything you want (and in any amount) just because you exercise “regularly.” Soon, you’re working out less but eating more; the more you eat, the more weight you gain, leading to comfort eating and even more weight gain. Eventually, you wind up at square one and face a Sisyphean climb back to fitness and health.

Sometimes, a major hindrance to weight loss efforts is the weight itself. Even though eating less is certainly a good start, movements that are ordinarily routine and easy become encumbered by excess weight, and a person might feel that this difficulty means that there is no point to changing their routine; however, it is important to remember that the human body was built to move, and that as overweight as a person is, some degree of physical activity remains achievable.

Certainly, those who are considered obese must consult their doctor before embarking on a cardio routine. Whether you’re grossly overweight or “just” really out of shape, sudden, intense, and frequent exertion can lead to weight-bearing joints (knees, hips), that have grown unaccustomed to such activity, being injured.

In such instances, look to other forms of aerobic exercise that don’t exert much pressure on the joints. One example would be to exercise in a swimming pool, or start out slowly with short slow walks once daily.

At the very least, a short walk should be 5 minutes long, and the person can gradually increase the duration by 1 to 2 minutes. Again, if being “down to earth” stresses your knees too much, the same activity can be carried out in a pool until you lose enough weight and/or gain enough strength to work out on land again. Whatever your approach to the return to fitness, aim for consistency, eat healthfully, exercise regularly, and gradually increase your amount of exertion.