Exercise questions...

hi everyone, well, i've been reading about how some of you are walking everyday and then some (greg?) and some of you are excited to be joining a gym - wow! i am impressed. however, i have been the proverbial couch potato during most of my adult life (i'm 49). not moving around too much. i know that has to change to really optimize my weight loss. i am finally below 300 (295) and realize i am scared to exercise. never been in a gym. i feel intimidated. those of you who are older, may not have done the gym, former couch potatoes - what are you doing? what do you think of curves? i thought i would try and join for a few months and see what it's like. i used to love water aerobics, so i will look for that, too. thanks for your advise! i may post this to the main board, too. susan

Hello Susan Just thought I would let you know that I am a couch potatoe also. I have very bad knees and I have been doing alot of walking and drinking alot of water. I live in an apartment and I just walk around my apartment sometimes I get in maybe 30 min. of walk time a day. Not all at once. As far as the gym goes I do not have the nerves to go there yet. But just what I have been doing I have went from 266 to 238 in one month. I am going to try and do some other exercises that my Dr. recommended some scissors laying on my side and also holding up my legs while laying on my back. very hard to do but good exercise. Good luck and please keep you chin up Peggy

Couch Potato, here. I tried using the treadmill, but it was hard on my ankles and knees. I'm not secure enough to walk around the block yet, mostly because I'm a bit of a hermit lately. So now I use the Gazelle, and it's great~! five - ten minutes doing the Gazelle gets my heart pumping like I walked for thirty minutes on the treadmill, and it's fun and it doesn't hurt my joints. I don't even think about it anymore, I just get on it and do 20 cycles in each position on the Gazelle (my hands on the back bar, hands on the outside bar, hands on the inside bar, then hands on the bottom of the handle, hands on the top of the handle), then I do it in reverse - same cycle of 20. After that, I give myself one rep of ten from back bar to top of the handle and back again. That takes ten minutes, and by the time I'm doing the 20 in reverse, I'm sprinting on the Gazelle! I just added another cycle of 10 this morning, so tomorrow I'll be doing 20-20-20. Next week, I'll add another 10, and so on, and so on.... I highly recommend the Gazelle. It's a no-brainer and a great motivator! Johanna

I am 55 and I decided that the time period after my surgery was the beginning of my new life and that we have a window of time to put new habits in place. Learning from past mistakes I know I need to follow the diet plan and exercise almost fanatically to throw out the old habits and put new healthy ones in place. We risked our lives going through this surgery and I think we owe it to ourselves to do whatever it takes now. I started walking about three blocks, now I am doing about a mile and a half. I also started doing some real light dumbell exercises with four pound of weight. You don't have to go to a gym to get started, but you have to get started. If you don't exercise you will lose more muscle and you will not lose as much weight. Good Luck You can do it!

Hi Susan, I love the responses you received for your post. I think walking is great, I've heard great things about the gazelle, and I love the idea of just lifting your own dumbells at home to start out. I did belong to curves last year and I have to tell you I did like it alot. I too was very intimidated about going to a regular gym and found curves to be the perfect transitional workout for a couch potato discovering exercise. I did have a couple of friends who had to stop because they pulled things, so don't push yourself too hard at first. Eventually, I do think you will need more than curves because I was never sore, so I don't know if I was getting any new muscles. I think I needed a bit more challenge after a few months. (but instead I gained weight and dropped out, that was the old me...) Whatever you choose to do, just do something, because exercise will not only jack up our weight loss, but we'll stay firmer, feel younger and do our hearts and metabolism so much good, vs. staying a couch potato. I've read several profiles where people regretted not starting an exercise program earlier after surgery. Good luck! I spent the morning calling some gyms, this is a big step for me, I'm scared to go to an actual health club. But my hubby gets some reimbursement from work towards membership and I really want to get into a routine with working out. It's the new me! Everybody get moving, doesn't matter how you choose to! Love, Sue

Susan, My mom is 56. She too was concerned about joining the gym scene, so she started curves and she loves it. Also, I worked at a gym (Sportsfirst)for 4 years (even as overweight as I was)--and there were tons of really big people that came in. I like to think that everyone in the health and wellness field understands that we are all different, and that we are trying to either maintain or imrpove our health. I know the gym I worked for was very positive and enthusiastic about people making lifestyle changes. Look for a Sportsfirst in your area. They are owned by the Baptist Health System. Good Luck! Katie

OK... I have to admit... I am the queen of couch potatoville... and I have a tiara to prove it. And I have literally had to make myself get up and get moving. I am only walking now and I enjoy it while I'm up and moving but man, I hate that thinking about getting up! that alone wears me out. I am just not motivated to just jump up and get those endorphins running!!! I think my endorphins are on strike anyway. My routine has been going to the mall in the mornings before they open up... they have a walking club. It is 0.7 miles for one lap and it allows me to window shop while I'm working out. I usually go after I get off work...(I work night shift). If I don't get up early enough to go to the mall then I go to a large shopping center and lap the parking lot. I will have to find an alternative to that when it gets colder. I have been looking into getting a recumbant (?sp) bike but I'm afraid I will just sit there and glare at it from my lazy boy!!! I would love to try curves but fear I will outgrow it quickly and then be stuck with a long contract. I have no intentions of going to a gym anytime soon... would love to try water aerobics but can't swim and don't know if I need to know how... hmmmm....