Not go a lot of time

Hello There

I am new here and looking for some advise.

I started to seriously look at my diet on Sunday 8th November. I am aiming at 1500 calories and I want to loose between 10 and 20 lbs by the end of January for a Ball I am going to. Thats between 1 and 2 lbs a week which I think is attainable.

My problem starts with my exercise though. I cant afford to go to the gym as we are out in the sticks and the local gym knows they are the only ones here and charge accordingly. Our roads round about are not safe to run on either and although there are lots of walks in the area, I dont make use of them.

I have a Nintendo Wii and Wii Fit. I have the Wii Fit games and also My Fitness Coach cardio workout. I really enjoy working out when i do it. I set to last night, i did 21 minutes of shape boxing, 16 minuntes of yoga, 50 sit up/leg up and 3 minutes hoola hoop which was fun.

However, I probably wont have time now, to do anything else until next wednesday. I have an office job and am up at 7.30 and out the house from 8.30 until half 5 and then normally each evening has activities that have to be done above all else. so my exercise falls by the way side. I dont really take lunch breaks and tend to spend my breaks at my computer desk working whilst eating. I am up and down to deal with clients that visit in our counter but that is about it. I also clean a 4 bed holiday cottage on a weekend which gives me some very good exercise i suppose, 4 double beds, 2 bathrooms and 4 other rooms!

I dont know what to do in this regard. Or whether i am eating the right calories for doing that level of exercise on the odd day that i do it.? I am 5 foot 3.5, 198lbs, age 25.

Any advice would be muchly appreciated.

Well, your activity during the day and on weekends does count as being active, but if you are looking for extra exercise time, you could wake up earlier. I know 7:30 seems early, but waking up at 6:30 is perfectly doable (your body gets used to it), and you could get in a good 45min workout before you have to get ready for work.

Granted, I hate working out in the morning (not a morning person), but then again I'm already waking up at 6 or quarter of, so I have a good excuse :)

Just remember that there are always people with less time than you who still manage to fit in exercise (people work longer hours and have kids).

As to how much you are eating, try using www.phord.com/cc to figure it out - sometimes CC's recommendations come out a bit too low, and off the top of my head, at 200 lbs, you should probably be eating more than 1500.

You don't have much to lose compared to some here on the site, but it still comes down to commitment.  Since we can't hear your voice, I have to say that your post here comes across as a bit whiny.

99% of people are busy and don't have enough time or money...but it terms of your health, those are just excuses to fall back on when people fail to get healthier.

I'd say put down the video games and dive in to some bodyweight exercises.

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/07/17/no -gym-no-problem-bodyweight-exercises-and-the- nerd-fitness-challenge/

http://consumerist.com/5402036/researchers-co nclude-wii-fit-produces-underwhelming-results

Your goals are attainable, but you'll need to put some time and effort in.

Good luck.

I should have added a few links, for those who don't have access to a gym:

No weights, no problem.

The basics of a home gym.

Exercise is as important to your health as eating, sleeping, and breathing.  Everyone is busy and there are plenty of excuses not to exercise but it is a choice you have to make.  If your health is important to you then make exercise a priority.

Apologies to all who think I'm whinging or moaning and not being serious about weight loss. I am. It seems that my words are not as good for explaining as i though i had been! I'm not complaining about it or putting it last and I certainly value my health.

My long term goal is actually about 44lbs but short term I would like 10lbs minimum by January.

I should have asked for advice on WHAT exercise to do that is effective at home compared to just Wii and the gym.

I have been doing this for, what 4 days now, so commitment is there, I just havent had time to prove it yet! Again the same with Time and Effort, I am starting by trying to sort out in my head that I am now changing my life style, So i started with sorting out my food, and i still have a long way to go. So i realise that i need to build in an exercise routine too, I just dont know WHAT other then what I have already!?

Thanks Amethystgirl, i will check out those links. I did used to swim at 6.30 in the morning once a week which i did enjoy, and i used to love going to the gym when i lived in a city, loved running and cycling and then a swim after. I really enjoy the exercise when I can get myhead in gear to do it right.

Original Post by gypsyemz:

My problem starts with my exercise though. I cant afford to go to the gym as we are out in the sticks and the local gym knows they are the only ones here and charge accordingly. Our roads round about are not safe to run on either and although there are lots of walks in the area, I dont make use of them.

I have a Nintendo Wii and Wii Fit. I have the Wii Fit games and also My Fitness Coach cardio workout. I really enjoy working out when i do it. I set to last night, i did 21 minutes of shape boxing, 16 minuntes of yoga, 50 sit up/leg up and 3 minutes hoola hoop which was fun.

However, I probably wont have time now, to do anything else until next wednesday. I have an office job and am up at 7.30 and out the house from 8.30 until half 5 and then normally each evening has activities that have to be done above all else. so my exercise falls by the way side. I dont really take lunch breaks and tend to spend my breaks at my computer desk working whilst eating. I am up and down to deal with clients that visit in our counter but that is about it.

The first thing to change is how you look at fitness.  Weight loss, healthy maintenance and fitness are not temporary solutions, but a lifestyle.  Don't think that you only have to get in shape for this event in January.  Do it for the rest of your life.  That's really the only way.  It requires changing the way you look at food, activity and mostly yourself, or else you risk sabotaging all of your hard work between now and January.

The portion I highlighted above is (and I don't mean this to be harsh, but I know it's going to come across that way) is the common excuse for not getting in a workout.  Make it part of your day.  Are those evening activities more important than your well-being?  Include the daily workout as part of your required routine, right after coming home from work and taking precedence over everything else.

Even if it's just 20 or 30 minutes, by changing your priorities, you can fit it in.  You don't specify what these evening activities are, so that responsibility is yours to determine.

Thanks.

I have been trying to view this as a lifestyle change. I know that down to my family genetics, i will always have to watch what I eat and do etc because i know the minute i stop, i will put it all back on again, so it is a life style change and i will get there. I am only on day 4 of life style change and I am looking for what kind of exercise to build into a routine as i dont know what exercise is good for weight loss and toneing up.

I use the wii, which i have been told quite bluntly to drop, however as some say, 30 minutes on the wii, albeit not a very good work out, it is better compared to nothing that i have always done?! I have been ill for quite some time too so my energy levels are at zero so i need something steady that i can build on to get that back because i do want to exercise and i want to loose weight!

anything will help, any pointers.

Thanks

The best exercise you can do is the one that you will stick to.

The Wii might not be the best form of exercise, but it's better than nothing, and as time goes on, you might find other ways to increase your activity that you enjoy just as much.

You are on your fourth day - don't beat yourself up about this - trying to change everything at once can be difficult - baby steps.

It's free, requires no special clothing or equipment, can be done anywhere, anytime. Some of it's benefits are cardio, toning, stamina. Got a minute? do a few.  Got an hour? do a bunch.

Warming Up: Jumping Jacks | LIVESTRONG.COM

or

http://www.livestrong.com/video/4505-warming- up-jumping-jacks/

The first thing I started doing when I changed my lifestyle was taking a walk when I finished work, and before I started preparing dinner.  It clears my mind of the work day, and makes me appreciate dinner once I get to it.  It helps that I can walk in a beautiful vineyard, but even a walk around the block can be helpful if you do it regularly.  I believe that it is far more important to do something small consistently, than something big sporadically.

The next thing I started doing was going to Curves which may not be a possibility for you if there isn't one close.

The next thing I started was a calisthenics program that John Walker outlines here: The Hacker's Diet.

Now I do all 3, walk everyday, the calisthenics every morning, and Curves when I can fit it in.  I may start a belly dancing class in a few weeks as a break from Curves.

Find something you tolerate doing.  Schedule time to do it.   Then just do it as regularly as possible.  Small, consistent changes make big differences.

Check out Joel Harper:

http://www.fitpackdvd.com/

He specializes in fast, at home, low-equipment workouts. And, to get into the swing of things, you can start with the You on a Diet Workout:

http://video.barnesandnoble.com/search/result s.asp?quicksearchtype=TTL&quicksearchtext =you+on+a+diet+workout&box=you%20on%20a%2 0diet%20workout&pos=-1

20 minutes and it's amazing. It's hard to integrate a steady workout routine into your life if all you hear is "45 minutes a day at least", it's hard to imagine how to do that. However, you can start with 20-30 minutes a day in your own home, with no special equipment other than a mat. Once that is integrated into your routine, you can build on those 20 minutes or even just stay with that. What I love about Harper is he listened to those of us who were struggling, and rather than wagging his finger at us, he figured out ways of helping us integrate daily exercise into our routines. (Note: I personally find the "You Docs" annoying, but they did bring Harper to the world. Just ff through their intro, and get right to the exercises. You'll love it.)

Thank you! I will look at that this evening when I get home :)

Wonderful, thanks to all for advice etc.

Em

Original Post by gypsyemz:

Thanks.

I have been trying to view this as a lifestyle change. I know that down to my family genetics, i will always have to watch what I eat and do etc because i know the minute i stop, i will put it all back on again, so it is a life style change and i will get there. I am only on day 4 of life style change and I am looking for what kind of exercise to build into a routine as i dont know what exercise is good for weight loss and toneing up.

I use the wii, which i have been told quite bluntly to drop, however as some say, 30 minutes on the wii, albeit not a very good work out, it is better compared to nothing that i have always done?! I have been ill for quite some time too so my energy levels are at zero so i need something steady that i can build on to get that back because i do want to exercise and i want to loose weight!

anything will help, any pointers.

Thanks

 

Using the Wii is absolutely better than not doing anything.  Sure, it's not perfect and many may see it as juvenile, but really... if it gets your heart rate up and you break a sweat, that means it's doing something.

The short answer for weight loss is good, clean, balanced nutrition at a calorie deficit (taking in less than you're expending).  Low fat, good carbohydrates, weaning oneself off of processed/boxed/instant and fast foods.  Don't starve yourself, of course, because that's counter-productive and the body knows it.

Toning up requires weights.  Lift heavy, because it's a misplaced fear that women will bulk up into bodybuilder types if they do that.  In the absence of a bunch of equipment, push-ups are an effective exercise that only requires a floor and you. :)

Burpees are fantastically dense exercises. Do 10, and you'll go "so what?" Do 20, and you'll feel it. Do 50, and you'll barf. (This link goes right to the video, but it might not work right.) For that matter, crossfit has a lot of stuff that can be done without any equipment at all (e.g. complete 3 circuits of 10 burpees, 10 box jumps, sprint a quarter mile).

But nothing anyone tells you is going to supersede this:

"although there are lots of walks in the area, I dont make use of them"

"I dont really take lunch breaks and tend to spend my breaks at my computer desk working whilst eating."

Your fitness won't change until you change it. Start taking your breaks away from your computer. Start making your exercise a priority. Start eating lunch someplace other than your desk. When you do eat, don't do anything else but eat: no internet, no phone, no book, maybe some conversation with somebody else. Set a timer for a few times during the day, and get up from your desk. I have appointments set in Outlook at 9:30 AM and 2:00 PM to stretch for 5 minutes every day.

Cleaning is a good way to stay active, as is the Wii. Just start making yourself as much of a priority as you make other people's needs. You recognize that there are things that take precedence ("activities that have to be done above all else"); the only thing left to do is put yourself on that list.

Good luck, and don't give up!