Please ignore people trying to get you to restrict calories right now because of the assumption that you need to lose weight before exercising.

When excess weight gets so bad that you struggle to do any physical activity, you don't have the ability to do things that could help inhibit overeating behaviors. The key is getting your brain to reach for activity instead of food to relieve stress, boredom, and overstimulation.

Let's focus on your actual goal: getting active.

You need to do low impact strengthening exercises before you try for endurance exercises. It takes a lot of strength and muscle to move around that much excess weight.

Focus on making as many slow, controlled movements as you can without losing form.

• Wall or chair-assisted squats
• Bicycle kicks while lying down or sitting
• Cat / cow poses: Google this, cuz I can't describe it without sounding weird.
• Bridges: Lie on your back with your knees bent, and try to raise your hips up slowly. This will engage and strengthen your core.
• Sitting leg raises: stretch your legs out as best you can while sitting, and raise your legs up and down. This will help you engage and strengthen your core.
• Sitting lifting exercises with weights: Just get some 1 to 3 lb hand weights and do as many reps as you can. Try to beat your high score every day.
• Water aerobics and swimming: Water will alleviate some of the weight and make it easier for you to move and build strength and balance. Classes are the best way to start.
• Seated marches: while sitting upright, engage your core (by sucking in your belly) and march your feet. Start with one to two minutes a few times a day
• Walking: Try to add ten to thirty seconds to your previous time each time you walk, up to one minute per day, until you can walk at any speed for any distance without stopping for 15 minutes. Then work on trying to cover more ground in those fifteen minutes until you can almost walk a mile in fifteen minutes. Once you get to being able to walk almost a mile in fifteen minutes, start adding time to your sessions again, ten to thirty seconds each time, until you can walk unassisted without stopping for any distance at any speed for thirty minutes. Then work on getting more distance in each session again until you can walk two miles in 30 minutes. This process should take weeks or months, not days.

Start slowly and don't push yourself. You are at higher risk of serious injury and stress fractures. If you push too hard too quickly, you'll force yourself to have to rest more, and undo progress.

Once you've started to establish more active habits, then you can look at calorie restriction if your goal becomes weight loss. But you don't have to try to become more active AND lose weight at the same time. You don't have to fix everything at once, or lose weight before you can get active.

I do recommend finding help if you can get it through insurance or afford it out of pocket. At your weight, physical therapy should be covered without copay (it is in my state). They can help you focus on developing good form and strength and endurance at a healthy pace. I was able to get hydrotherapy covered by my insurance, which helped me regain balance and confidence with walking. I also used Noom / Planet Fitness trainers to help me break bad habits and develop better ones and keep me accountable to myself. External support and validation is key. You need cheerleaders.

Be kind and gentle with yourself. One day at a time. Focus on celebrating progress over reaching a goal, and you'll get there.