u/ShevanelWozzeck

I made a post a few days ago about the universe conspiring to get me back into DDR. I received my soft pad yesterday, and wow do I hurt. For context, I am 250 pounds (I know) and haven't played in 18 years. My crowning achievement went I was younger was getting passing Paranoia Survivor Max. Now? On Outfox, I am kind of struggling with standard level 5 tracks, and I love it! Jumping/double notes is/are really rough on me (again, 250 pounds), so I have been trying to find more flowy tracks. The point is, I am moving again and actually enjoying it.

In the same time frame, I also found my state's (Alabama) rhythm music Discord and learned that I live 15 minutes from an A3 machine. Missed a group hang today since I have work, but people from that group are apparently there very frequently. I will be checking it out tomorrow with my wife and may play a round.

My big goal for now is to get my stamina up to the point where I can pass "A" on heavy, since that was always my starting track growing up. That is going to take some time, of course, so I am in no rush.

It kind of feels good to totally suck at the game again, because now I have goals that are also fitness goals. I have always been terrible at keeping up an exercise routine, but I love DDR. The only reason I stopped back then was my arcade closing. The universe has brought me back here, and I am pumped.​

Any other fellow or former fat people have any advice for getting back in? I don't want to destroy my knees, but I know I need to be moving.

Thanks for all the advice and encouragement the other day! I took it to heart and am having a blast.​

Long story short, I played DDR Extreme all the time when I was a young teen and went from a fat child to a skinny child in the process. It was great! I loved it to death, but the arcade shut down and that was that. ​I didn't think about DDR again until earlier this week, where 3 things happened in short succession:

1. A video randomly popped up on YouTube about the current state of DDR, where I learned that they are still making machines (limited to Dave & Busters and Round1)

2. On the Bombcast yesterday, Jeff Grubb happened to start talking about his LTek mat that he just got out of the blue

3. A video from 5 years ago popped up on YouTube today of a guy and his daughter dancing to the track "A". This one really threw me for a loop, because I would open every single session at the arcade with A, every single time. It is by far my most danced to track, and there is no way the algorithm would've known that

So I am now a 250 pound 35 year old adult who has extraordinary trouble sticking to an exercise routine. I know for a fact that DDR is something I enjoy and would stick with, but I am overwhelmed on where to start.

I have looked at the pinned posts and don't know how dated the info is. Right now, an LTek mat, which really seems like what I would want, is cost prohibitive. I could maybe do it in payments, but payments just means you can't afford something. I am wondering if I should just get a soft pad for the time being, since I am sure I won't last doing tracks on heavy (or whatever it is called now) at my weight and age. Have any other affordable options popped up since the pinned post? Are there any better soft mat options than the stay cool mat?

I also do not own a PC and only own a Mac. Are there current solutions to play DDR on Mac? Do pads have any compatibility issues?

Sorry if this all has been posted before. I did try the search function before posting.

Let me know if you need any more info from me, and I hope to rejoin the fray again and get back in shape! I miss rhythm games.

Been real dark since 2015, only getting darker as the years go by. No clue how nothing popped up when the store sold it to me, but here we are. Never taken the "means" step before, so that is new. Currently at work. Hate it here. Don't really have hope for the future. Meds haven't worked. Here we are.

I have a newer therapist and just had my 3rd visit this morning. I swear I feel worse every time I leave, and the stuff he is wanting me to do is stuff that hasn't really worked for me in the past. Like, I have anhedonia and want to die. How are "I am" statements on sticky notes supposed to help? He seems to think medication isn't the thing that will make my depression go away, but rather it is a mindset issue. My mindset isn't great, but I also have been through this same song and dance before. I am not putting on motivational speakers in the background like he suggests, because I find most all of them to be frauds. When do you know when to drop a therapist?

I have just been sitting on the couch and letting YouTube run since last fall and have not been actively engaging in anything. I know I had interests at one point, but I have a hard time remembering things that I used to be interested in. I am trying to play video games again, but I can only play for about 10 minutes before I become vegetative again. We have been switching meds to no avail, and I am also in therapy that I don't think is doing anything. Any tips to start doing stuff again?​