After losing almost 60 pounds 4 years ago, I back to square one (actually past it). We're going on holidays next week and I had to buy larger clothes. Looking in the dressing room I could have just cried. I'm so disgusted and disappointed in myself.

I know this is an exercise forum and my goal was to ask an exercise related question. What would you suggest for exercise to get started again and how long / how much / how often etc.? I have tons of exercise equipment in my home including a treadmill, Bowflex Xtreme, exercise bike, Leslie Sansone's DVDs, Bob Harper DVDs and others, Wii, mini trampoline, free weights, stability ball, step, etc. etc.

Any suggestions you have would be appreciated. I haven't been able to get my LCing back on track, so thought I would try exercising and see if I can get that to stick again.

Thank you.

I suggest walking - 2 hours per day. Do not buy any more fitness equipment! Make good choices about what you eat.

1 hour in the morning immediately after waking up - do not eat anything before walking - put your exercise clothes and shoes next to your bed - get up and start walking for 1 hour. Use the treadmill if you cannot get outdoors.

1 hour in the evening after your last meal - do not eat after this walk - Use the treadmill and watch TV if necessary.

Tips and Tricks: Use an iPod with music or podcasts to get you through the boredom of walking. If you have people that depend on you (kids, etc) then you will have to set your alarm clock to an hour earlier. Prepare the night before. Wear reflective clothing - a simple vest is fine - do not let darkness discourage your 2 hours per day. A walking partner is nice but what happens if they do not show up? Develop your own commitment. Wear good athletic shoes with arch supports if needed.

Good Luck!

I know this may be contraversial, but according to Gary Taubes all cardio exercise does with regard to weight loss is make you hungry! I also read somewhere that even building up more muscle does not affect the rate at which you burn fat!

The only or at least the more significant thing you can do to loose weight is change your diet. The best way to loose fat is to eat high fat, medium protein and low carb. The good thing is that once you loose weight, you feel more like exercising as you'll have more energy. I would suggest you concentrate on your diet first and exercise second.

Ann

I totally disagree with Taubes on this one, if you have read him correctly of course

Once you go reduced carb exercise kills hunger, well certainly for me. I am on about 75g of carbs a day and get heavy ketosis when doing exercise (strong acetone breath), i exercise fasted first thing in the morning and it kills my hunger for 2-3 hours. Several other low carb exercisers have told me the same thing. People whose primarily fuel is carbs rather than fat do report that they get ravenous after exercise.

Exercise has many advantages, high intensity cardio, or heavy resistance training accelerates the metabolism for up to 48 hours as the body repairs the muscle tissue. But the main advantage is that it gets you fit and makes you feel fantastic

For me the best balance is doing a 5K since this takes about 30 mins and gives a good balance of intensity and duration.

I think there are still no definitive studies on muscle mass and its effect on calorific burn but certainly sedentary it does not have a huge effect, once you start to exert it thou I would expect it to make more impact on calorific burn.

I have had my VO2max and BMR professionally calculated and during my high intensity cardio I burn 1300 cals an hour, 1800cals an hour doing heavy bag work and 900 cals an hour heavy lifting.

Loosing weight thou is 85% about diet, unless your going to go hard core exercise like the biggest loser contestants, and i look at exercise as primarily a way of fine tuning and getting healthy, any additional cal burn is a bonus.

I would recommend doing one of the many couch to 5k programs that are on the web, mixed up with some resistance training, 30 mins a time 2-3 times a week for both, building up slowly.

Agree - Diet is most important and certainly the source of failure for many people.

Disagree - exercise is not important nor necessary.

There are many benefits to exercise - such as:

If you are walking 2 hours a day then that is 2 hours you are not eating - drink only Zero calorie drink while walking.

Exercise, particularly low intensity aerobic walking, curbs appetite in many people.

Regular exercise has be proven to boost mood, attitude and self-confidence.

Aerobic exercise improves cardiac health.

Strength training increases muscle mass which is otherwise lost in normal aging.

I recommend walking because almost anyone can do it with the least instruction and equipment. Walking rarely causes injury. Once a person can walk 2 hours a day then I recommend adding some simple strength training.

The hard part of weight loss is NOT figuring out what to do. The hardest part of weight loss is doing the right things consistently every day.

Good Luck!

I agree that exercise does have its benefits but if you do too much you do get more hungry.

As with most things, it is about getting the balance right. Last year I was running 70 miles per week (that's nearly two marathons per week!), but getting fatter. The reason being I was getting really hungry and was eating loads of carbs as I was advised to carb load! I now do loads of walking (6 miles per day), run very infrequently, do body pump, body attack, body balance and pilates and most importantly, eat low carb.

If you're clinically obese I think it is more important to get the diet right in the first instance and then concentrate on the exercise. I suppose the most obvious thing is that everyone is different, not all diets work for all people and not all exercise is appropriate for everyone.

Horses for courses.

Have fun all, Ann

If you have the physical means to jog or do higher endurance activities then I would not suggest not walking. It will take a long time to see progress if you routine consists of walking hours at a time. Cardio should be at a high intensity for less than 30 minutes. Do light lifting on alternate days. This is where you will see quick gains.

A diet and exercise regime should be something you can keep doing for the rest of your life. Not many people are still going to be able to do any form of running when they are old no matter how keen they are but most will be able to walk. You can achieve the same benefits from a walk of less than 60 minutes that you can from a run of 30 minutes and you don't look like your killing yourself when you're doing it either. You can sometimes walk in the hottest part of the day in some places but running can very easily go wrong.
People are not overweight because they don't run. They are overweight because they eat too much. The main thing really is diet. The eating has to be brought under control.

Totally agree with Warren D. Diet is the main thing. A Miller I will take your advice on board. Off on holiday to France for two weeks but back on 4th September. Then I will really get to grips with the exercise/diet balance!

Thank you for all of the feedback. Finding something that works for me that I can do long term and stick with is ideal. Just getting up off of the couch is a start. Walking the dog is good. Walking on the treadmill is good. Being consistent is key.

I know that since I stopped going to the gym due to spouse's change in work schedule, I haven't felt good - both physically and mentally.

We are about to start our family holidays and will be heading to the mountains. I will be doing lots of walking and family hikes. Breathing the fresh mountain air will be good for my soul too.

I want to start walking on the treadmill before and after work on work days and periodically throughout the days when I'm not working. Every minute adds up.

As for WOE, I think I will go back to Atkins 72 / M&E as this is what I did before. I was successful and it was easy to follow.

Thanks again for the feedback.

Lianne - you were successful before so you have that experience to encourage you. Get back into "good" habits and be consistent - your success will return. Good Luck!