P90x is typically used for cutting weight, not putting it on. There are lots of good, proven, programs out there for getting in shape. A gym (or some basic equipment) are really worth considering. It'll make a huge difference (you will be the difference). Starting Strenght and Strong Lifts are two of the most widely used. Worked great for me too.
I am bringing this back!! Okay. I am starting tomorrow morning to get on the right track for taking care of myself again. I meant to start on Friday, but it is much too hot to run, and to be honest I'm too heavy to feel comfortable running in public just yet. I have workout videos but forgot that I don't own a DVD player (I'm not much one for television or movies). I am borrowing my boyfriend's spare, so. Tomorrow morning, I'm going to have a nice breakfast --natural applesauce, toast, milk. Then I'm going to go to work, and my lunch won't be the healthiest, but I want to eat my leftovers. I'm going to be careful about portion control and include a serving of fruit and veggies. Then I'll come home and do a really intense 30 minute workout before having a healthy dinner. Depending on how I'm feeling --I'm not sure how out of shape I actually am anymore; yikes-- I might to try one more program I have that puts 30 minutes on your butt, 30 on your gut, and a proper warmup and concluding stretch. Here we go. I'm actually excited to get back to working out... my body always feels so good when I get back into shape. The only reason I stopped was overwhelming final exams in May followed by very fast-paced classes until mid June (I crammed 2 classes, one of which was a 2-semester sequence, into 6 weeks, so, yeah, it was intense). I'm just now getting back to focusing on my body. I've ballooned up 20 pounds and would like to drop at least ten before my birthday in September. I have a feeling I'll hate myself on Tuesday for working out; my body will hurt. So on Wednesday I'll get back and do another intense 30 minute workout followed by a kick box program I have, which will be a lot nicer to my muscles. And then something again on Friday. Wish me luck, yes? How is everyone else doing? I wish I had a workout buddy --mine left to study abroad and won't be back for god knows how long as she is doing research for her dissertation! The DVDs I use are by Cathe Friedrich by the way. I don't wish to "promote" anything, but I swear by her videos --she will kick your butt and I highly recommend her for the at-home exerciser! Particularly her "Butts & Guts" and her "Body Max 2" programs, as well as her HiiT series.
I got an hour long walk in with Rue without setting off my cardiac monitor. My first since they put my seventh stint in. It just feels good to be up and out!
That's wonderful, Darkkin! Who is Rue? I am re-"new" to the forums again after a bit of a hiatus and feel a little lost, lol. But I started to write again and decided to return! I love summer walks... Maybe I will conclude tomorrow with one as well after the sun starts to set. I don't know about Minnesota, but in the lower midwest when the sun sets the weather tends to feel just perfect! I will have no one to walk with tomorrow, but I'll have my iPod accompany me.
Rue is my dog, pictured left. He is my shadow, goes everywhere, does everything with me. He seems to know when something is off even before I do. I had a stint put in on Thursday and have been housebound since then. Due to cardiac complications I sleep with a monitor on, but because of the stint, I've had to keep it on continuously. Generally, I am a very active individual, but the last four days have left my stranded with only my yoga ball. I live in one of the prettiest places on earth, but I haven't been able to enjoy it. Luckily, I have follow up tomorrow and should be able to resume normal activities. - Darkkin
That's awesome, must be a good feeling. Mercurial, way to go on taking the first step. It's hard to find motivation sometimes, I know from experience. Once you start working out and seeing results though, that's motivation all it own. When I was pregnant the last time I was on bed rest for most of it and gained a ton of weight. My husband isn't exactly a chef we'll just say, so it was a lot pizza and meals made out of boxes/quick crap like that. After I had her and was able to start working out, I joined a gym and hired a personal trainer. I never realized how important weight training was to weight loss, when you gain muscle it burns calories all the time. Long story short to date I've dropped 60 of the 80 pounds I gained while pregnant over the past year. The last 20 are being stubborn, but I admit since school let out (I have a 6 year old as well) I haven't been as diligent as I was over the winter. I am hitting the gym this morning though, I still go 3 times a week and my kids love the daycare there, so it's a win-win situation. Just need to get back on track with eating and not having snacks at night.
What a sweet looking pup. I am in college, a senior, and I miss my dogs at my parents' home terribly. I know what you mean about your dog knowing something is off before you do... My pup and I are in sync like none other; we even get ear infections at the same time. (TMI?) I had seen you mention stuff about your stint and heart issues, but I wasn't sure what to say so I thought I'd read and learn as I get back to the forums; it sucks that you are housebound. But I do hope you get going again very soon! Thanks for the motivation, Steph! I definitely know what you mean about the last few pounds being the hardest. I am hoping to drop about twenty as well, and I hope the first few fall off easily... once I hit 125, every pound is like a ton. I find that I generally like weight training more than cardio... too bad I still need to do some cardio, lol! With cardio I find I always push myself too hard, as was the case today. I am WIPED. OUT!!!!!! So many exclamation marks. I did a 30 minute HiiT program (high intensity interval training), and I did the one on the series that was supposed to be the easiest, 30/30, in which you do 30 seconds of very strenuous exercise followed by a 30 second rest. (There are also 40/20 and a double wave pyramid in my set --in the pyramid, you have as many seconds to rest as you spend working on the exercise beforehand.) I feel... defeated, a little bit, and embarrassed for myself. I've never been the slim supermodel, but my weight is usually always in the healthy range for my height and weight, and I've always been able to do things fit people could do. Like, I could run a mile in 8.5 minutes; it's no record breaker, but it's faster than many, especially considering I do take more strides per minute than a "normal" person because I am under 5 feet tall and legally considered a "little person" --although no one would ever look at me and assume that. I've always been able to lift relatively heavy things... etc. But since acquiring a rather serious boyfriend, a second job, and balancing classes... well, nutrition took a back burner (lolpun) and currently I am just outside the healthy range. I haven't been so heavy since I was in 7th or 8th grade and I was going through puberty. I did that program and I actually thought I was going to throw up. Not just sick... I stood by my sink for a while and waited. Yikes. I haven't been this out of shape in a while, I guess. I don't know how to ease back into this; I thought that was going to be a challenging but doable program. In all fairness, I suppose it was, but I thought I wouldn't be this exhausted. Bah. I am going to try to do a little strength training later tonight... abs or something. Maybe it'll be funny to see my stomach pudge. :/
If you felt like you were going to be ill, listen to your body. Obviously you pushed yourself way too hard for that sort of reaction. Since you're so out of shape right now, start off slow. It sounds like you just dove headfirst in....to the shallow end lol. Trust me, I know that feeling, I was the same way. Plus I had this mindset that I needed to bust major ass or I'd get nowhere. Also, don't push yourself so hard you injure yourself. I did that over the holidays and somehow hurt the main tendon in my foot and ended up in physical therapy. I couldn't work out for over a month!
Injured my back a while ago so I've reduced my exercise. I stick to the punching bag and upper body stuff now.
I can do 25 pushups, and can lift fifteen pound dumbbells. It's a struggle to do fifteen reps each, though, especially when you're trying to push the weights above your head. :[
I really need to get fit! I miss being sporty (and I need to lose weight. Corr, never thought I'd say that but although I've not weighed myself, I think I've put on weight). I can't do the sporty things I want to for various reasons which rules out running and stuff. So I'm looking at ways of gradually improving my strength at home until I can do the outdoor things to get fit. Thinking along the lines of press ups and sit ups, what do you guys reckon? Any advice? Anything else I can do at home with no equipment?
Since most things in my life are arbitrary, why buck the trend? I'm giving myself six weeks to drop from 240lbs to 225lbs. Cardio has been a pain with the screws in my leg. The plan is to increase the cardio to 1/2 hour stationary bike daily. Two-a-days twice a week. Continue to tone the body with 40lbs curls, 100lbs shrugs, push ups, sit ups, squats. Combined with a shift in diet, I have little doubt this will work. If I end up above 225, but carry the weight well, I'll be happy.
I had a knee injury and had to get surgery. The recovery ended only a few months ago, which means it's time to get back into shape. I practice Kung-fu but unfortunately, the injury cost me the whole season and right now, things are not looking good in terms of physical shape. My regime as of a week ago is twenty push-ups, twenty abs and twenty squats every day (I am really out of shape). I'd appreciate any advice you can give me on exercise regimes to get back on the saddle.
Though I'd have a look in here for a change. Fitness doesn't normally bother me as my matabolism does a lot of the work . Although I see there's another Kung-fu practitioner. What style do you practive Areadrill?
They are threatening to take away my yoga ball... It has served as my desk chair for more than five years now, but my recent cardiac reads have been above normal even on my meds...When asked what I have been doing differently, I mentioned I've been on my ball at the computer more than usual. (It has been way too hot and humid to go rambling with the Rue Dog, which normally negates a large portion of my pent up energy.) Apparently all that bouncing and balancing adds up. In my case to a continuously elevated heart rate. On the plus side, I have regained my ridiculously high endurance level. I have been struggling to get that back since my last angioplasty. The deal, more walking and less time on both the computer and my ball.
After over a year of vegetating indoors - practically taking root in my desk chair - I have finally run out of excuses and started Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred which seems to be working in that my legs are killing me. But it's good to feel fitter. I've even splashed out on a new mountain bike.
20,441 steps in 2 hours and 15 minutes with the Rue Dog and no alarms triggered on my monitor. We don't go fast, but we go far.
Now that the hockey (field, not ice) season in coming to an end here in Australia, I've decided that I shouldn't slack off and sit around all summer, but keep and hopefully dramatically increase my fitness over the course of the next 4-5 months. Cricket is starting back up too, but that's not as taxing as running for 70 minutes so I think doing some other training on the side should help greatly. I started doing daily runs on Friday, and I did a mix between walking, jogging and short sprints, to try and emulate the type of running I'd do in a game. I would jog for 1.5 minutes, with a ten second sprint at the end of that, then walk for 30 seconds. Repeat 8 times. Yesterday was the same. Today I decided I would skip the run, because I had a game today anyway. Tomorrow I'm still going to go the run even though I have training, and then tuesday as well despite having another game. Is that a good or bad idea though? Would it be smarter to not do extra runs on days that I have games/training?
I usually spend around one hour to one and a half at the gym and I try to do that 3 times a week. I do cardio for 30 minutes and after that I do stuff like push-ups and sit ups with a yoga ball. A bunch of pull ups after that and some other random stuff. Most of the time I train with my own weight, I don't like machines and weights. I'm pretty old school. I usually end with doing jump rope till I pretty much vomit from exhaustion. I think I look good, but I used to be bigger when I did boxing training two times a week. Nothing ridiculous though, but well cut. I might get into boxing again if I feel like committing to it again, because that shit is intense as hell and probably the best workout anyone can get. One thing I don't understand though, and I notice this especially on guys who're in shape. Why is pretty every dude shaving his body hair these days? It looks weird and gay.
I'm not reading through 57 pages...buuut this thread is going to be great for motivation, hints tips and ideas! My favourite fitness thing these days is actually pole fitness. Anyone can do it and it doesn't matter how much strength you have, you build it up so quickly! Plus, pole dancing burns the best part of 400calories per hour. I've been doing it since the back of February this year and I have tons of upper body strength and ab strength now. I still carry extra, but in the first 2 months I lost one full dress size. And I have almost lost a second! This time last year I was a UK size 14, I am now this far away from an 8. I've been getting band tshirts in small (girly ones in medium) rather than in medium (girly ones large). It feels great. I have so much more energy now. I go to the gym as well, and horse riding but honestly...I'm loving the pole fitness and would recommend it to anyone. Everyone should try it at some point, although if you do invest in some arnica cream (or similar) because the bruises can be awful! I still get them XD
I desperately need to join the "get fit" bandwagon. I lost about 2 stone in the past year or so from just being more active with full time work. Now that I'm a lazy student again I should probably make more effort to get some exercise (rather than sitting at a desk or computer or staring at a tv screen all day!). I also need to cut out sugary drinks and sweets. I think I could easily manage sweets/snacks but giving up the pepsi and irn-bru is going to kill me!
Switch to diet!? I switched to diet irn bru, not because of the dieting and exercise thing but because the full fat/sugar bru made me so hyper I scared people. I have a tendency to laugh at nothing and often end up curled in a ball on the floor somewhere crying all my dark 'gothy' make up off because I'm laughing so hard. So I quit the full sugar version and the frequency of these events lessened. I still have massive giggle fits though. It's all fun and my muscles ache afterwards so...laughing is a good way to get fit! =) I haven't been to the gym in a week =( I have a sore spot on my back, I think it's muscular but it appears to now be spreading. I am seeing a doctor about it, don't worry, it just hurts and I couldn't even walk on my horse without excruciating pain! The only thing that makes a dent in it is deep heat and even that is starting to not work. How can I lift weights and run if I hurt so much!? Or do anything with my horse!? =(
