Spill the beans... on cheap ways to get in shape this "summer"

Former_MSE_Debs
Former_MSE_Debs Posts: 890 Forumite
edited 30 July 2012 at 4:27PM in Health & beauty MoneySaving
Spill the beans... on cheap ways to get in shape this "summer"[IMGRIGHT]http://images.moneysavingexpert.com/images/spillthebeans2.gif[/IMGRIGHT]


Granted, we've not had much cause to bear our bods on the beaches this summer yet, but plenty of people will be getting in shape for when the sun finally decides to stay. However, dieting and keeping fit can be expensive - we've had reports of juice diets costing £40+ a week - so we want to know how you stay trim without breaking the bank.


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  • Walking everywhere is surely the obvious one. I started doing this a few months ago ahead of going travelling next month - getting off the train a stop early and getting on a stop afterwards and walking to work, walking instead of getting the tube, climbing stairs instead of taking the lift etc.

    The other suggestion I have is exercise DVDs - you can normally get them quite cheaply on Amazon and the like. Davina McCall's are good as are 10 Minute Solutions, and I've heard good things about 30 Day Shred too. Also use big bottles of water or baked bean tins as weights if you don't already own any.
    "A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge." - Tyrion Lannister
    Married my best friend 1st November 2014
    Loose = the opposite of tight (eg "These trousers feel a little loose")
    Lose = the opposite of find/gain (eg "I'm going to lose weight this year")
  • Gloomendoom
    Gloomendoom Posts: 16,550
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    edited 7 August 2012 at 8:56PM
    hundredpushups.com

    Edit: What "summer"? :huh:
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  • rachhh
    rachhh Posts: 345
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
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    Find your local 'the gym' the one nearest me is only £10.99 a month for 24 hour access! I go every night and the weight's been falling off :)
    Started 30/08/2011
    Biggest Wins: GHD's, 5* Trip to London, VIP Trip to Isle of MTV Festival in Malta.
    Thanks so much to all who post :)
  • geri1965_2
    geri1965_2 Posts: 8,736 Forumite
    Eat less, it saves money and you lose weight.
  • nir_mk
    nir_mk Posts: 9 Forumite
    Join a supportive weight-loss forum (I enjoy caloriesperhour.com/forums/ - many others are available), make the investment in a good diet book, I cannot recommend "Eat To Live" by Dr Joel Fuhrman highly enough, costs some money but pays in the long run. Adopt a diet whose bulk consists mostly of vegetables, beans and fruit. Go to outdoor markets - seek out "£1 a bowl" deals and buy most of your fruit and veg that way. Beans can be from a tin or cooked from dry (and pressure-cooking is money-saving). Need more calories to supplement your bulk? Tesco and ASDA do oats from 75p a kilogram. Need snacking? Kernels for air-popping can be as little as £1 a kilogram (and a popper on eBay/Amazon for £12). Going vegetarian can be a saving - ditching junk food can be a saving.

    If you are motivated by exercising to music in a group, pay-as-you-go classes like Zumba and Body Pump can be £4.50 a time, but much cheaper to join a gym (even on a month-by-month contract). I pay £38 a month, which works out less than £9 a week and so long as I do more than 2 classes a week I'm quids in. (I manage to squeeze in 10 a week.)
  • ARobb
    ARobb Posts: 1 Newbie
    Groupon has a good offer on right now for Military Fitness classes. 10 sessions for only £24 (81% off) which = to about £100 off altogether. You better hurry though it finishes on the 9th
  • Squats, crunches, press-ups. All burn calories, cost nothing but time & (assuming you won't have an exercise mat) sore arms & legs because of the hard surface you will be training on.


    This means you are getting your pumping in three different ways.

    Type core body exercises into any search engine & you should get websites with illustrations of exercises.

    I should mention if anyone wants to lose some weight apart from the walking, the other exercises will mean you will gain weight, however this will be a combination lean muscle, bone. Very little of it should be fat if you are a healthy weight to behind with.

    To find the 'lean' divide your body fat by your weight in kg/pounds. The higher of the two numbers will be the lean figure.

    Give sit-ups a miss, or if you want do them, stop at when you have pulled yourself to chest level, beyond this for me has triggered back pain
  • lots of councils have put gym equipment in public parks

    if you google healthy heart walks together with the name of your local council or nhs trust they have them all over the country, particularly good for people who are in recovery from health issues.

    NHS now has "health trainers" that may be available to some lucky people for free I think you have to be referred by GP, but if you are a smoker or overweight it's worth an ask http://benpct.nhs.uk/your-services/health-wellbeing/health-trainers/

    Free gym passes from Martins Deals (be resistant to the hard sell)

    free swims from British Gas are somewhere on freebies board

    Don't sit still! I do bum clenches and leg lifts in front of the telly, at my desk, those airline excercises for your legs, and play with the kids at work at every opportunity. Worth getting a pedometer maybe to find out how active you are. http://www.getwalking.org/ was giving out free walking packs with a pedometer last year, may still work.

    Council run pools and gyms often have a discount card, though this tends to be available to over60s students or unwaged. Find any of the people in the above three categories, make friends and share the card. My old council card had more uses than hot dinners as it didn't have my photo on it. didn't feel guilty about the fraud as I think council prices have risen very sharply in the last ten years thanks to large companies taking over contracts for leisure facilities.

    We use Youtube to stream fitness videos etc, completely free. They also have fitness DVDs at our library. OH is very self conscious so his exercise is done indoors, added benefit is you can do it in a pair of baggy old joggers with curtains closed and there are no sweat-free expensively dressed Lycra Ladies knocking around to discourage you from your exercise mission! All my sports kit has come from sports direct on discount codes.

    Mum's old Good Housekeeping magazines suggested strange things like using your tins from the shopping as weights, and when on holiday walking in the sea shallows as its better for your calves. No idea why this information is still in my brain!
  • The easiest and cheapest way to lose any weight is to eat less and walk as much as you can daily. might just be walking to the shops or a walk around the block but it's surprising how easy it becomes to step out more and change the food intake
  • Go for a run, all you need is shorts or leggings, a t shirt and some trainers.

    I have been running for half an hour 3 times a week since February after 45 years as a couch potato. Start slowly, use one of the 'lardy couch potato to 5K' type programs (apps or look up online).

    The effects are:
    slimmer all over
    bingo wings gone (not sure why!)
    toned legs - can now be seen in public
    toned bottom (don't think the public would like to see though)
    double chin gone
    flatter stomach
    re-discovered waist
    lack of general aches and pains, none at all now
    feeling more awake and alert and full of energy

    At first the only down side was the actual running itself, which I never expected to like. For some reason I love it now, it is time for thinking, being away from all the distractions and worries of every day life, time to notice birds, seasons, weather etc.

    So give it a try, it is free. I am off for a quick run now...
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