Exercise ideas????

I need some exercise ideas, I can't even make it one lap around the track (walking SLOWLY) before my back and knees are hurting so bad I have to stop and my asthma makes it hard to breathe. My Knees have started hurting (just recently) so bad that I can't hardly get up from a couch without help. I used to be fairly active, and considered myself a 'healthy fat person' - HAH! Boy I was fooling myself! That was at least 50  pounds lighter, back theng I complained that I hated looking so fat in clothes and such, now I would be happy to put socks and shoes on without having to struggle and stop several times. Any ideas??? I know I need to get back to being active again, because I'm afraid of what will happen if I don't.   I have started cutting back my portions, and eliminating fats and sweets from my diet, but  no results yet. :-(   Thanks for any help/ideas!! -Heather

okay well first question is - do you have access to a wellness center or gym? in good wellness centers (not like gold's but nicer work out places) have a machine known as Nu-Step which is absolutely zero impact and very good for people with knee issues. could you use a recumbent bike? you can also use an arm ergometer - which is like a bike, but for the arm instead. legs stay stationary while you sit upright and pedal with arms. soimething else that you can do at home that's really good is chair aerobics - obviously you are sitting in a chair to do this. there are lots of videos you can order over the internet. it sounds silly but can actually work up to being quite challenging.

since you are just starting out it might also be a good idea to focus on Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) right now - this is where you incoporate more movement into the things you already do in everyday life, like parking farther away, walking out to get your mail instead of sending your kid, taking the flight of stairs rather than the escaltor - that type of thing. invest in a pedometer and use it to track your progress. you can get them for like $5 - $8 at Target. you can do what you normally do in a day to get a baseline and then try to increase your steps by like 500 steps a day, or every two days or whatever sounds reasonable to you. ,

Hi Neighbor!  i live in upper Cali!  We joke that it's really Southern Oregon!  I love love love water aerobics! Is there a community college or high school around with a pool?  Even in early march, yeah it's chilly to say the least, but you will be amazed at how wonderful you feel. Check that out til you drop some lbs. You may have noticed - i am into biking - go buy a nice one at a bike shop - they will fit you to the right bike - at least go get fitted so you know how to find the right bike for you.  The cruiser body style is back in these days - comfy, should actually help your knees get stronger around the kneecap after time.  Biking is pretty easy on the joints! Hang in there, it takes so long.

Thanks for the ideas! I don't really have access to a gym, don't have the extra money right now for a memebership, and the best quality gym we have is Golds, which i hate because I don't like to work out in front of guys...or anyone really. Too embarassing. We have a public pool that offers water aerobics, I actually took some classes when I was pregnant and really enjoyed them, but thats more expensive than the gym membership. I think I will look into the chair aerobics and start parking farther away. As far as taking the stairs, I'm not there yet. My knees hurt so bad. I actually have a bike already, but I've never ridden it. I have one of those gazelle exercise thingys, but have used it as a clothes hanger for the better part of three years, and now I am sad to say my hips are too wide-I don't fit on it. :-(  Does anyone know where I could get one of those arm bikes? It sounds almost like fun, and might help tighten up my arm flab...gross. 

Hi Heather, Well, I know you said you really don't have any extra $ around, but if you did, I would really recommend Curves.  When I first started to lose weight, everyone there was so nice.  I didn't feel threatened, emabarassed, etc.  And it was only a half hour 3x a week.  But, if not, buy yourself a pedometer like Andrea said.  They are not expensive and started taking short walks and just challenge yourself to up the count evrery week or so.   I also agree with Neecee abou****er aerobics.  So fun and easy and you really get a good work out.  Try park districts, they usually have free or extremely inexpensive rates.  And they offer other types of programs workout programs too.  You also might want to ask if any of the places you look at offer any discounts that they could apply to your membership because of your financial situation currently.  It doesn't hurt to ask. Good luck! katy