Excercise at home

eryn_kathleen

I'm a lifelong overweight person, and I feel that my weight is now noticably affecting my daily life. I've always been fairly active and strong despite being larger than average, but since I've been working on my PhD I seem to have slowly developed a very sedentary life style over the last four years. I was amazed the other day to find that walking a kilometer left my calf muscles really sore and I felt tired, and realised that at 28 I really need to change!

I enjoy walking in the countryside, but I would prefer to to walking as my primary activity because I live near a very busy road and the fumes aggravate my asthma. I'm also looking at exercising at home because I work 3-4 days a week from home, and I'd like to be able to do exercise during the day when my brain gets tired, but not break my routine so much that I've forgotten what I was just working on. Because I live on the fourth floor (88 steps up), I think that leaving the flat is a bigger psychological break for me than when I lived on the ground floor.

So after all that, I was looking at Leslie Sansone, who does walking workouts which are simple and very lightly aerobic. Here's some of her stuff:

http://www.lesliesansone.com/store/cat-beginner.html
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=sr_pg_1/203-1754205-9157567?ie=UTF8&keywords=leslie%20sansone&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aleslie%20sansone&page=1

Has anyone here tried her DVDs?

I was also considering getting an exercise ball, but I'm less certain about that one. It just doesn't look like much fun to me, and it seems slightly silly, but I'd love to hear from people that use them! Also, there seems to be a huge range of exercise DVDs to go with the exercise ball - any recommendations?

Thanks!!

Justie

Don't go buying kit until you KNOW you'll use it. Get down to your local library and rent a few DVDs to see what suits you, you may be surprised and find that you like a dance one or one that's got loads of squats in rather than what you think you'll like.

If you can get out every day even for a short walk though the fresh air (ok not so fresh) and some sunshine will help your mood and your over all wellbeing as well as getting you active.

eryn_kathleen

I use yoga and tai chi DVDs at the moment, so I know that DVDs in general do work for me. I just need something that's the right intensity for me - between being overweight and living on the top floor, high impact aerobics aren't going to do it! The yoga and tai chi isn't intense enough, and I need something a bit different.

I'm also trying to prep myself for winter. I'm getting out and about a bit more now that the weather's nice, but I want to make sure that I have something to do on rainy days and depressing winter weather. A kilometer's nothing to me now, provided I have the right shoes, but it was a shock for me to find out how little I did over the past winter.

Plus I'm in the last six months of my PhD, so I really want something that I can just jump up and do for a bit and then get back to my work!

belfastgirl23

Just to add a different opinion, as someone who has done research at home myself, I think you actually need to get out. You need to be in a different space and do different things. I found it very very hard to be in the house all day. I know htis now looking back, I didn't realise at the time that it was contributing to my weight problem in a lot of different ways - it was leaving me with no energy and depressed and anxious, until the point where I was finding going out at all hard. I also found when I added a bit more structure to my life by getting a PT job it was much easier to do the research since rather than having to work at it all day I could break it up a bit. maybe this isn't you but just thought I'd share my own experience!

Justie

I'd agree with belfastgirl too getting out will give you many benefits, it doesn't need to be instead of exercise though but if you can just pop out and go to the post office or something every day it will help.

If you want a more challenging DVD but not high impact then what about Davina's Power of 3 - it's got a dillion squats and things but is quite static - you can do the level you need to work at so not go so low in the squats etc and you work less hard, go lower and you work harder. If you want to lose weight and tone up then you need to work hard rather than just move about so while yoga and tai chi will help keep you supple they won't give you any aerobic benefits.

alternatively carry things up and down your 88 stairs! That'll soon build stamina.

and I hate to say it, while fitness will improve with exercise most weight loss is because of what you eat not what you do...

eryn_kathleen

Thanks for the suggestions! I definitely agree that getting out improves my mood no end.

The carrying things up the stairs made me laugh, just because I hate carrying groceries up to the flat. Maybe I need to put a more positive spin on it and think of it as exercise!

I'm thinking about clearing out some unused stuff on ebay, so daily trips to the PO will definitely help. And I work at an office two-three days a week and I'm trying to take different bus routes each day so I have a short walk part of the way to and from work. Eventually, I'd like to walk either all the way to or from work, but it's four miles so I'm not quite there yet.

On the diet front, all I fancy eating at the moment is salad which is lucky! Won't last long, though, so I'm trawling the OS boards and getting my menu planning in order. I figure if I take the bull by the horns while I'm feeling enthusiastic then I'll have a system in place for when I feel a bit less so.

Thanks again for the suggestions! I'm going to check out the DVD recommendations at the library, but I think I'll give the exercise ball a miss unless someone comes on here and tells me that it's really really fun.

queensway_boy

Fattitude dvd click

Justie

eryn_kathleen wrote: »

Thanks again for the suggestions! I'm going to check out the DVD recommendations at the library, but I think I'll give the exercise ball a miss unless someone comes on here and tells me that it's really really fun.

exercise balls can be very useful but you need to have good technique to get the most out of them and use them in combination with weights and things to get max benefit. The position you're in now I think you'd be far better not bothering paying money for something that you're unlikely to use and that will just sit and take up space.

Vashti

I cannot recommend highly enough Lorraine Kelly's videos, with Jenni Rivetts. Figure it Out, and Figure Happy.

Although quite dated now, they are absolutely brilliant for newbies, and once you master the routine you love it, makes you pant slightly and I lost a half a stone in a month eating properly and following the routines every day.
Bonus - they are cheap as chips on eBay if you still have a video - they have DVD's too.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Figure-It-Out-With-Lorraine-Kelly_W0QQitemZ200099439542QQihZ010QQcategoryZ1508QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I also invested in a folding treadmill which I love. It was again off eBay, I got a four hundred pound machine for a hundred quid, I stick on my headphones or Coronation Street and walk for an hour. Then it goes back under the bed.

I don't live in an area that is nice to walk around at night (only time I get to do it) so the treadmill was a brilliant find.

Good luck

Fen_2

As someone who was clinically obese and chronically unwell, I'll just write what I went through. Plus I was a grad student, stressed beyond belief (full blown depression). I hope this helps.

Do you have a local gym or council-run sports centre? Going to a class or into the gym may seem psychologically overwhelming, but it is a good way to start off. Don't go into the gym yet - way too scary, plus you might injure yourself with bad technique. Start off with a couple of easy, fun-sounding classes. Most places offer taster classes i.e. free, to see if you like them. Not all classes are full of lycra-clad gym bunnies! Most classes are actually aimed at 'normal' people - overweight, unco-ordinated, with daggy t-shirts.

If you do want to get a bit fitter, consider hiring a fitness instructor through the gym once a month. If money is tight, consider doubling up with a friend. Having a trainer really motivates, and shows you how to do things properly. I cannot stress enough the value of proper technique: you get the most efficient muscle-workers (do you really want to spend time doing exercises that don't work?), and you save yourself from injury.

Look carefully at your diet. ARe you relying on a lot of carbs/ dairy/ fizzy drinks/ caffeine etc. during your day? Your diet can have a huge impact both on your physical and mental wellbeing.

One day I decided I was just too fat and in constant pain. I had suspected that I was sensitive to a particular food-group for a long time, so decided enough was enough. Complete overhaul of my eating, and got out of my flat everyday to go to a variety of exercise classes.

It's taken me a few years, but I am now slim and super fit. And that is the way to do it: slowly but surely to give yourself time for your mind and body to adjust and move on to the next step. You are not alone, so many of us are, or have been, in your situation. Look out of your window, see the sunshine, and go for it, one stage at a time.


Bu**er, I sound like a Californian. Shoot me now........

belfastgirl23

Fen, are you me??

Except I'm not slim and superfit yet. But I'm getting to the fit bit.

I do agree that gyms are not nearly as scary as I'd thought and would heartily recommend going along if you can. You do work harder in a class than you do on your own. And it's nice to see everyone else sweating and panting as well.

If you can't afford a fitness insturctor, many gyms will do you up a training programme and will take you through it showing you how to do exercises correctly. You can also ask for clarification if you forget stuff since the staff will be around. In my gym it costs £20-£25 and runs for six weeks, though with minor adjustments to weights etc it can last up to 12.

This is the other thing, it is worth doing weights as well as crdio. It makes a big difference to body shape etc.