TDC Friends, I need your help!

[MicheleK]

Hello Fellow TDC'ers! :wave:

I need advice on where to start with exercise. I work in an office (so I sit A LOT). I'm tired when I come home but I know I need to exercise!!! Any suggestions on the best way to start off? How have some of you started off exercising? What works best?

I need energy and I know exercise will help me, I just am not sure where to begin.

Thanks all.

[TheMiss]

I never ever thought I could do this, but I did. I started getting up at 5am to exercise before I go to work. It sounded crazy to me at first, but now exercise is so important to me that I don't want to not do it.
I started off with step aerobics for beginners. There is no jumping or anything in them, so it doesn't mess with the knees too much. Now that I've been doing it since July, I moved up to an intermediate tape.
I hate the idea of going to a gym, and I'm exhausted after work, so I know I won't do it then. This was the perfect solution for me. You need to try a few things and see what you really really like to do, it's easier to stick with it that way.
Videos you can do at home in front of the tv make it pretty easy and there are thousands of them you could check out.

[j13]

My opinion:

Exercise BEFORE work. Go to sleep/get up an hour earlier. It sounds counterintuitive, but you'll have more energy for the rest of the day. Try a walk at whatever the best speed you can do for as long as you can...30 minutes, an hour - whatever.

If that's not possible, then DO NOT SIT DOWN when you get home. Don't give yourself the opportunity to skip working out. Again, walk in the door, change into workout clothes if necessary, then walk right out the door. Again, walking's the best place to start. Don't feel the need to join a gym or buy some kind of equipment, just get in the habit of making it a part of your everyday life. If weight training, etc., comes after that, great. But you'll end up as another person with a bunch of equipment they don't use if you don't get the habit first. FORCE yourself to do it EVERY DAY for at least 2 straight weeks, then re-evaluate whether you need a day or two each week to take off (you probably don't if all you're doing is walking). Do not allow yourself excuses. Make yourself do it, every day.

-j.

[Caryn1961]

If you sit all day, sit on a stability ball! You'll strenghten your core, increase balance. Sneak in bursts of walking into your day. Much as we're all busy, you need to simply make some time.

Everyone is tired when they get home, and it takes about 3 weeks to incorporate a habit, so when you get home, go for a run around the block, at first it will kill you, but our bodies are incredibly resilient, after years of abuse & all........

Before you know it you'll be running for longer periods of time and you'll love it! If you have Comcast On Demand, they have tons of exercise videos too.

I started running a week ago, I'm already up on speed and started with 5 minutes, and added a minute and will continue to do so. My goal is to be up to 30 minutes by Christmas!

Good luck :)

[MicheleK]

Thanks for the great suggestions! I'm going to TRY the walking before work, just because my evenings are usually filled with a million things to do (I take care of a disabled mother besides many other things...my hubby also works odd hours so it's tough to get time together during the week).

I gotta know HOW DO YOU MOTIVIATE YOURSELF TO GET UP AT 5AM?!?! LOL!

[John3:16]

Thanks for the great suggestions! I'm going to TRY the walking before work
I gotta know HOW DO YOU MOTIVIATE YOURSELF TO GET UP AT 5AM?!?! LOL!

Have a picture Like this blown up ( of yourself of course) and put it someplace you will see it many times a day.... http://forum.lowcarber.org/gallery/files/9/7/4/8/5/Misc.Pictures252.jpg

You will want to exercise just to prove to yourself you can do it. Not for anyone else but for you! I walk 4 times a week for 30 mins and bike for 30 mins.

[skippie]

Since you said you work in an office. How I started was to park further in the parking lot so I had to walk further. And take some stairs with the stairs I started by going down them. And worked up to going up stairs.

Even now I park at the end of the row when going to the market or any where. Just helps get a few extra steps in.

Good Luck getting started. :wave:

[PS Diva]

If before work is too hard, I'd suggest lunch time walking. Around the block, inside the mall, whatever your circumstance I am sure you can find someplace to start!

[TheMiss]

I gotta know HOW DO YOU MOTIVIATE YOURSELF TO GET UP AT 5AM?!?! LOL!

believe me, just DON'T think about it, just get up and do it! Sometimes I'm still half asleep when I start, but it feels pretty good when you're done.

[MizKitty]

I hate exercise. No amount of it has (or ever will) change my mind about that. Having said that, walking is the only exercise I have ever been able to stick to for a prolonged period. Add a walkman (ok, today it's ipod, right?) of your favorite music or even book on tape, and when the weather's beautiful, you might even start to look forward to it.
When I would get too bored with walking, or the weather was bad, I would mix it up with exercise videos. I like Richard Simmons series, especially the first "Sweatin to the Oldies". At first I could only do 15 minutes of it. What a feeling of accomplishment it was the first time I finished the whole tape. (That was years ago, the first time I lost all the weight. I'm kind of back to my starting point now). Also, Leslie Sansone's Walking in Place exercise tapes or DVD's are nice, too. They are supposed to be the equivalent to a 2 mile walk in your own living room. I couldn't do the original, so bought the over 40 version, couldn't do it either, so bought the elderly people version. Working on doing that one, little by little, now.
Since your time with hubs is limited (mine is too, I work days, he works eves), I try to make the time we're spending together an activity, like walking around in a big store (Sam's, Home Depot, he doesn't like malls) or going for a walk in a park. Or doing housework together!

[JaneDough]

Exercise and getting out of bed. I hate BOTH, or at least I did.

I increased my walking long ago, but don't have enough routine or discipline to hit 10K steps regularly. So last month I bought my first exercise vids, which have 20-40 minute workouts on them. I was excited about giving it a try, and although I'd prefer to exercise at night (which I hear is better anyway, results-wise) I do it in the morning to make sure it doesn't get crowded out. In just a few days, waking up earlier got easier, and now exercise is something I do on the way to the shower. I actually look forward to it and miss the "high" when I skip a day. It makes me want to do more, even; my walking routine has improved because I want to build on the morning accomplishment, and I'm plotting what I'd like to do next spring. Believe me, nobody is more surprised than I. :eek:

[ValerieL]

I'm not a morning person. Never have been. If committing to exercise meant I had to work out in the mornings, I'm sure I would have dropped it by now.

But if you can get up in the mornings, it's the best time for exercise for busy people. It's done, it's over with and doesn't get procrastinated on. And after a while, you will notice the energy it gives you. Exercise really does wonders. It take a while for it to build up, but truly, it will increase your energy eventually.

Good luck!

Val

[MicheleK]

Ok, I've been walking a mile at night...for the past two nights. Do you think this is an ok place to start?? When should I up my distance?

Oh, and thanks guys for all the wonderful suggestions and support...you folks are the BEST!!!!!!! :thup:

[Charran]

I'm not sure what the correct way of doing it is, but I do mine weekly. I walk on a treadmill, so one week I increase speed, the next the incline. However, I just read an article that said just increasing incline would be more beneficial, so maybe I'll try that.

[PS Diva]

I wouldn't worry about upping your intensity or your distance right now. Right now the objective is to make it a part of your schedule! Just keep doing it.

[mgw]

First advice is to do SOMETHING.
High intensity, low intensity, doesn't matter.
Just something. Anything.
Even just once a week.
Get started. Continue.

For what it's worth, I have succeeded in getting exercise
by joining the health club down the street from work
and getting a personal trainer
and doing weight training
and going in the evening.
I am so much not a morning person
that morning would not work for me.
On some nautilus machines I now do over 100 pounds.

On some days I don't have time when the club is open
I put a stationary bike in front of the TV and use that.
It also works, not as well, but better than nothing.

I now fit in typically 3 or 4 days a week. Sometimes more.

Walking is also good, and doesn't cost anything.

I started out a serious couch potato and
I started out doing a water aerobics class at the club.
The advantage of doing a class is that
someone will notice if you don't show up,
and this gives you a little willpower to borrow
if you need it. I seriously did.

Clearly, walking WITH someone will give you both
borrowed willpower and no cost.

I have, in the past also found yoga classes are good
if you are into such things.

The best form of exercise is the one that you will actually do.
Don't do to much at the beginning, and remember to stretch gently first.
If it hurts during or after, you are less likely to do it again,
so while you are getting into the habit, stick to things
that don't hurt. Maybe later, you can push, but not at the beginning.


My opinion. Other people's opinions may vary. ;)