6 replies to this topic

[Jillian B.]

Hey Everyone,
I am in my 5th week and while I am sticking to the diet part, I am having issues with getting enough exercise in. On the four days that I work, I get between 7000 and 10000 steps (which is apparently equivalent to about 5 miles yay!) in, but on my days off the amount of steps I get are ridiculously low. I just order Jillian Michaels Wii Work out game, but that won't be arriving for another week or so. I would really appreciate any tips on getting in more exercise or motivating myself to do more. Thanks.

Jill

P.S. If anyone is in the Pittsburgh PA area and is looking for a buddy, let me know. I would love to expand my support network.

[emerald_green]

For us gals that start out exersizing at a the 100+ overweight level, I suggest getting into exersize SLOWLY! It can be super hard on our joints if we are not careful. Start out by doing "easy" stuff. Walking is awesome, swimming, tai chi, and bicycles are all very good to start with. Adding in weight training is not super difficult and can boost your metabolism... though it wont help you get in many "steps".

I dont know anything about Jillian Micheals Wii, but I've got some of her DVDs, and her DVD's are difficult for me to keep up with even having lost about 100 pounds. There are a lot of "static" moves, where you are jumping from one place to another. Yeah, its burns a LOT of calories to do that, but is very hard to do if you are terribly out of shape and/or have knee problems. If the Wii is like her DVD's, I'd work slowly into doing that. There are ways to adjust most of the moves, or if not I sometimes just jog in place until the next exersize comes along that I can do.

Other ways to increase activity is to just "add" to what you are already doing anyway. Like, doing laundry. When sorting laundry I often kinda walk in place, and then go put things away a few pieces at a time. My bodybugg shows that I did 22 minutes of activity and over 1500 steps yesterday as I did the laundry! If you live in a 2 story house or apartment, "forget" things and keep going up and down the stairs for them. If you watch a lot of TV, get one of those large exersize balls and sit on that while you watch, its a really great core workout and even harder the closer your knees are to each other. Try lifting one leg off the floor at a time, or even just "tightening" your butt muscles to tone your back side. A lot of people put their exersize bikes or treadmills in front of the TV, and only allow themselves to watch if they are working out at the same time.

Take care,
Angela

[jen33]

Hey there.....great advice Angela I to am not to crazy about exercise but it is a lifestyle change so the walking is for me. I really like the bike idea though might just look in the ads for a stationary bike thanks again and good luck to you both

Jen

[Jillian B.]

Thanks Angela, I used your advice last night and did a bit of walking in place while I was microwaving my dinner. I hadn't thought of using those few seconds of down time, but every step counts. I am also going to look into joining a local Club Jillian Fitness club, which has an indoor walking track and offers a discount to local JC members.
Take Care,

Jill

[SweetDreams]

Hi Jill,

I'm one of those people that gets bored easily with exercise, and can find a million reasons why I'm too busy. I've recently discovered the Fit TV channel (we have Comcast cable). Comcast also has Fitness shows in their On Demand section. I really like them because I can choose whatever kind of exercise I'm in the mood for, and they have some that are great for those that are just getting started. Also, it's easy to tailor them to how much time you want to get in, since you can fast forward or pause.

My favorites are step aerobics and yoga, though I want to try some of the dance ones. It sounds like it could be fun.

And I totally agree with getting movement in anywhere you can. I read somewhere that just fidgeting burns calories, so while I'm standing at the bus stop, I'm shiftting from foot to foot, raising up on my toes and then going back on my heals, or whatever. Heck, it's all good, right?

Keep on moving!

Denise

[Caseydog]

I've been enjoying Wii Tennis late - low impact and I like the competition against the computer. Plus it gets harder as you improve so it pushes you on. And when I really don't feel like exercising, I put in Wii Just Dance. Very entertaining but also a surprisingly good workout.

[lose4life]

Exercise has been a real challenge for me also - not so much physically but mentally. I was dragged to all kinds of exercise growing up to help me lose weight from swimming to "Elaine Powers" to gymnastics. The only thing I lost was my pride so I learned that exercise was my punishment for being fat. In an effort to overcome that, I needed to find something that I had never done before so there was no connection to those memories. I have really bad knees and can't do any one thing for too long so I came up with my own system. I joined Curves which is great because you don't do any station for more than a minute. Then after a web search, I bought three videos: chair aerobics, chair strength training, and heavy weight yoga. Much to my surprise, the chair exercises are a real workout - they just don't put stress on your knees....and I have come to love the yoga tape. The instructor looks like me and makes the moves/poses attainable - no wrapping my ankle around my neck. Find what works for you and give it a shot - you may be surprised. :-)