Surfing Waves

Hi, I posted on here 10 - 8 years ago about being overweight and wanting to learn to surf, and you all were encouraging. The sad truth is that I and my wife never started to learn. We have lovely kids now, but I just turned 29 on the 15th, and I want to learn to surf for my own sake. I weigh 22 stone, so I know the board isn't in reach just yet, but I'm going to the gym and getting fit now. I live in the south of England.


PS I hope all is well

Well, seems that your dream is twofold. One day would like to surf, and you want to lose weight/get in shape. While I applaud both, it saddens me that you’ve been sitting on the dream for a decade and haven’t gotten any closer to it.. first things first is losing weight and getting in shape; the challenges associated with surfing are difficult enough for adult beginners with a degree of physical fitness. Your weight and fitness level should be your first focus in pursuing this dream.

Losing weight and getting in shape is an easy. Piggy you are the harder it is. If you were fit when you were younger, and then got bigger, is one thing; if you’ve always been Vegas, something different again. I don’t know you or your story., but I can speak on generalities of losing weight, and getting in shape as I have gone through periods of my life, where I bloomed up, and I managed to lose the weight again. I managed to swell up to 124kg at one point from my usual 90-92kg as a result of injury. To complicate things I had to have a surgery and then struggle through the rehab while carrying that weight. It took about a year to gain the weight and a little more than a year to lose it again. That is the kind of timeframe that you need to be looking at.

Is it 10 information on the Internet that relates to weight loss and getting in shape. I think you should focus on the weight loss part first and then build into the getting in shape part. Is it to do go hand-in-hand. Weight loss, pretty much begins and ends in the kitchen.. your body burns a certain amount of calories every day, regardless of what you do, although a guideline of at least 10,000 steps, a day is a good one for breaking the seal on physical activity. But what it all comes down to is taking in less calories than what you burn every day, what is now commonly referred to as being in a calorie deficit . What works well for me and say I’ve seen work for other people is intermittent fasting, high protein, keto type diet, and most importantly, the total elimination of processed foods, sugar in and near complete elimination of rice, bread, potatoes and anything that touches a deep fryer. Last thing, soft drinks and alcohol bith have to go forever and completely.

Lose weight, you really have to want it to the point that it becomes an obsession. I would guesstimate for your size, a realistic timeframe would be a year to achieve targeted weight. The changes in your diet need to be integrated and become a lifestyle for you if you intend to keep the weight off after losing it.

Good luck to you on this journey, and I hope it comes true for you that is not gonna happen without a lot of blood, sweat and tears, but I do hope your knuckle down and go for it as your life will dramatically change with the increased mobility and vitality. Did the weight loss and fitness improvements will bring.

Feel free to ask me any questions and I’ll try to help in anyway I can

twenty two stones is about 308 pounds? I keep surfing in mind for my personal fitness. If I am surfing regularly which I am not right now then fitness is not so much of a concern unless there are no waves. But for now I work on keeping my weight down and getting and staying fit so that when the opportunity arises I can go surfing. I am now 71 years old and there are many things that happen in the life of an old man such as myself. Recently broke my foot and then after that my wife has had a series of medical problems requiring my close attention. But for now things are looking better and I am back on a higher exercise level. Hey it's tough but stick to it, surfing is fun and worth it. I have recently chosen to have salad only for lunch on most days to help me stay at a lower weight. It's tough to eat less but that is needed, less calories in then comes out.

My suggestion is to find a fitness trainer - a good one who understands "no pain, no gain" is complete BS. I had ankle surgery and was off my foot for 10 months. I wanted to go to surf camp and needed to get back in shape, so I called my trainer. At 2 weeks I said I felt like I wasn’t doing enough. At 3vweeks I said I was noticing improvements. At 6 weeks I surfed 2-3 sessions a day for 7 days straight.

Maybe you can find a really big board and just go out for an easy paddle. Don’t put pressure on yourself, just do something and be proud of yourself for taking a step.

One thing you might wanna consider is starting out on a bodyboard if you haven't done that yet. They can be really good for learning wave selection and navigating the ocean with less to deal with at first. They have some good options for XL riders nowadays like the CBC 48" Big Bubba Bodyboard.
There's nothing like being in the surf regardless of what type of wave craft it is for me. And bodyboards can be a more forgiving entry point if that is your goal. Plus bodyboarding can be great exercise in its own right, so its working towards the same goal. Hope you have the best of luck with it and keep us posted with how things go!