How much exercise?

Vickie, Are you working Wednesday? I only have one child that day and could probably come over then. Well anytime before 3 I have only 1. lol after 3 and I will have 9. I sure could use the clothes. My 24 jeans can be pulled on and off without undoing them. The 2 kids that I have temporary custody are supposed to be going with there mom on the 5th of November so hopefully after that I will be able to get to the gym. You are doing good also. I love the new picture. I also have 5 lbs ankle weights that I plan on adding to my walking and gazelle next week. And I will definitely add the crunches and maybe I could add the weights to my arms that would be cool. See I know I can depend on you for my questions. I will have to post that I have some really nice clothes some even with tags on them from size 24 to 34. A really nice black dress that I bought for a funeral and didn't wear cuz it was too small. Now it falls off from me. I can't believe I was so upset about only losing 4 lbs last month and now like over night my clothes are getting too big. You know I could even get out today if you are home. I will have a couple of kids but my big ones can go and take care of them for a minute. I am also in the process of learning how to add my own pictures to my profile. So that way I can share my monthly progress with everyone. Oh yeah and I permed my hair also so I am just changing all over the place. Rocquetta

I have to praise you on doing your gazelle for 15-20 min a day... I space mine out to about twice a wk.... I joined curves and I go 6 x a week and do the machines more on one day and light on the others... I walk about 3 x a wk... between 1.5 - 3 miles each time.... I am getting ready for strength training now... I have been a slow looser and this has help to tone me up and help with my sagging skin.... As long as you are still loosing and you are not over doing yourself I would keep up with what you are doing... Take care.... Julia

Just get as much as you can and work up to more. I am 5 months out and here is my routine: Walk 2 - 3 times a week for 1 hour Weight Training 3 times a week 1 hour Pilates 2 times a week 1 hour Sometimes instead of the treadmill I will use a arc machine, like the gazelle but I am only up to 30 to 40 minutes on that. I work out every day and sometimes I double up to get everything in. Julie

Hi, Rocquetta! I live in Toledo, too, and started an exercise program about six months ago in preparation for surgery. I go to the Southwest Y and do water aerobics twice a week for 45 minutes a session (and our instructor is brutal -- we jump for about 25 minutes straight then do other unpleasant but healthy things). I swim laps twice a week (half a mile a session) and I do seated aerobics. The seated aerobics is something you can do at home without any special equipment. I have a 45 minute routine: 5 minutes of stretching/warmup (I sit on the sofa and stetch my arms over my head, all the way over to my sides, I stretch my legs out in front of me, I lean all the way forward to stretch my back, I do head rolls, shoulder rolls, etc.). Then I do hard upper body twists for five minutes (you sit up straight, hold your arms in a C shape in front, and twist as hard as you can to the left, then to the right...repeat about 200 times in five minutes). Then I do five minutes of leg lifts (sit back, lift legs as high and as fast as you can over and over again -- do not let them touch the floor at all if possible). Then I do arm exercises (arms up, then out, repeat; arms in then out, repeat -- basically, you keep your arms up and moving for five straight minutes). While I work my arms, I do thigh crunches (knees almost together with small, fast movement of the thighs in and out). Then I repeat the body twist (5 minutes), the leg lifts (5 minutes), the arm work (five minutes) and then add a final 5 minutes of body twist. To finish, I stretch for five minutes (which feels great after all that). You can do this when the kids are asleep. I do it in front of the TV I use the cable info screen to keep time The Y's water classes are great, and not too expensive. $50 gets you two months of classes. They have low cost childcare. They also have sliding scale enrollment. A family max membership at the Toledo Area Y is $55 a month (classes for members are then $15 for 2 months, but you can take as many classes of different types in a week as you want, and the childcare is -- I think -- free). They also have a lot of really nice programs for kids and families, which might be handy with seven kids I'm pre-op, and I weigh a whole big bunch (check out the profile -- I hate typing the number). I can do this, and you can, too. I know it's hard with the kids, so good luck and keep up the good work.