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Is using a Legsersiser a workout?
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ByeByeToDiabetes
Posts: 50 Member
in Debate Club
I am heavy and haven't been walking much for years. I weigh now 342 lbs and I am 59 years old. I am very close to be immobile. I just got diagnosed with diabetes (10 days ago) and I am fighting it like H*E*DOUBLE L*.
I have lost six pounds already and I am eating very healthy, which I enjoy. My blood sugar in the morning is now in normal range (100 less).
However, I know I have to move, but can't. My legs hurt, my body aches, I am gasping for air. I have been lazy and almost mobile for too long. It will be long and slow process to be able to walk one or two miles or to dance to a YouTube video.
I am thinking about buying a legsersiser. A small foot pedler that will do the movement for me, until I am able to. I already have a normal foot desk peddler but can't use it for long.
I thought if the machine gets me up to move my legs in form to walk for three miles, then that could be a good start. Or is it like cheating?
If I use it can I log it? I know this might sound silly to many people who are 'only' a little bit overweight but I thought I ask.
I have lost six pounds already and I am eating very healthy, which I enjoy. My blood sugar in the morning is now in normal range (100 less).
However, I know I have to move, but can't. My legs hurt, my body aches, I am gasping for air. I have been lazy and almost mobile for too long. It will be long and slow process to be able to walk one or two miles or to dance to a YouTube video.
I am thinking about buying a legsersiser. A small foot pedler that will do the movement for me, until I am able to. I already have a normal foot desk peddler but can't use it for long.
I thought if the machine gets me up to move my legs in form to walk for three miles, then that could be a good start. Or is it like cheating?
If I use it can I log it? I know this might sound silly to many people who are 'only' a little bit overweight but I thought I ask.
5
Replies
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Here is my opinion (the experts may chime in): Congratulations on your six-pound loss! I think using a leg pedal is a great idea if you are too immobile to walk much at this point. As you lose weight things will get easier and easier. I think your exercise goals (walking 1-2 miles) are reasonable ones.0
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It is more exercise than sitting still, and can potentially help improve mobility and circulation . . . as an adjunct to the more active movement (like the foot pedal device you have) that you're able to do. It won't burn a lot of calories, but that doesn't mean it's useless.
For sure, it's not cheating. Or it's not cheating, unless you start using it as a substitute for more-active movement that you're able to do without becoming over-exhausted or over-stressed.
Challenging yourself is important in order to make progress. It needn't be an extreme challenge, just a small, manageable one. You'll know you're making progress when any of the things you can do gets easier. At that point, do a little more (duration, intensity, frequency or type of activity) to keep a small, manageable challenge in the picture.
That'll work fine.2 -
Yes. And a table-top arm one too! Great place to start.
-- water walking, water exercise if you have access to a pool/classes.
-- some awesome gentle seated variety of exercise videos (check out Sherry Zak)
-- do walk as you can. Check baseline? 50 consecutive steps? 100? Do right after meal times. Add 5 or 10 steps or so every few days
-- a tip in "diabetes prevention" magazine at doctors office had a tip - 10 mins brisk walk after eating meal helps to minimize the hikes & spikes in blood glucose from the meal.
-- Idea - after you use a legercizer or arm exerciser (a form of cardio exercise), then do a few minutes strength training with maybe hand weights/canned food or bands, towel or a ball. All sorts of ideas on the net or in chair exercise programs.
-- this was from another tip from someplace that combining cardio and then strength together in one workout session is more effective with blood glucose than either cardio or strength workouts separately. Regular movement beneficial afterburn help for the body can endure 12 - 24 hours, including a lift to the spirit
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Thank you all for commenting. I just ordered the legsersicer and I am excited. It's going to be a start to get me moving again until I am able to walk outside by myself.
I will look into chair yoga and other forms of low-impact cardio for seniors and obese people. Goodness, what did I do to myself? Besides being sick and older, how could I get that big?
I am so disgusted with myself right now, I could scream. I suppose that's a good thing?6 -
Please don't be disgusted by yourself. Think of this as an exciting journey to learn about good health and habits. With every day you come closer to your goal. You're doing great!5
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ByeByeToDiabetes wrote: »Thank you all for commenting. I just ordered the legsersicer and I am excited. It's going to be a start to get me moving again until I am able to walk outside by myself.
I will look into chair yoga and other forms of low-impact cardio for seniors and obese people. Goodness, what did I do to myself? Besides being sick and older, how could I get that big?
I am so disgusted with myself right now, I could scream. I suppose that's a good thing?
IMO, no, disgust is not a good thing. I think valuing ourselves - recognizing that we're worth the investment, if you will - is a good thing. We may not be in our ideal state at any given point, but the striving for improvement is key.
I always figured, even when obese and inactive, that my body was a pretty amazing thing. Life without it would be . . . not life?
(I admit my enthusiasm - for everything - flagged a bit during the advanced-stage cancer and treatment "hobby" phase. I figured parts of my body had gone rogue, and tried to kill me.
) 4 -
Thank you all. I ordered the legsersiser and it will be delivered tomorrow. I am excited!5
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ByeByeToDiabetes wrote: »Thank you all. I ordered the legsersiser and it will be delivered tomorrow. I am excited!
Let us know what you think after you get it, if you feel up to it, and/or after you have a chance to use it for a while. 2 -
Can you get physiotherapy? A physiotherapist might help you working towards things you can do and build a training/movement programme for you.2
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Can you get physiotherapy? A physiotherapist might help you working towards things you can do and build a training/movement programme for you.
I second the physiotherapist suggestion. With one caveat: If possible ask for reviews from others who have experienced the available physiotherapy options.
Most are good. Some are great.
But there are a few stinkers out there who carry a bad attitude towards morbidly obese people.
My current physiotherapist is great.
But I have had a few in the past who would roll their eyes when I said I was trying.
One in particular actually talked about the previous days football game with another physiotherapist while he was supposed to be working with me on my balance and hip weakness. He would roll his eyes when I mentioned symptoms of peripheral neuropathy. AND he snapped at me when I was on the NuStep and talked about planning to buy one. He actually said he thought I was not serious.
Well, it’s a very expensive machine. You have to plan for it.
I refuse to ever be booked with him again.
He’s absolutely great for athletes recovering from injuries. But…. Yeah.
I’m typing this while peddling during a cool down cycle on my NuStep that I have in my living room. Because I actually was serious.
I did 4 1/4 miles in 75 minutes.
Eat my dust Brian the physiotherapist!
🤪
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I am having fun doing chair yoga and using my legsersicer. According to my doctor, who I trust, I need to lose some serious weight before I start exercising. Suggested is under 300 lbs, preferably 250 lbs.
It makes sense. I am heavy and out of shape. There is nothing else wrong with me, other than normal aging. :-)
I appreciate the suggestion, but I am not going to see a physiotherapist. Why pay money for something I don't need? I can find gentle exercises on my own.
Neither will I spend money (or waste insurance money) on a wonderdrug like Ozempic. I get weight and glucose down on my own. At least I will try.
Day 15 since I got diagnosed with diabetes. I haven't had chocolate or any other cady, even though it's laying around. I have stuck to my diet. I have lost 8 pounds and I have a machine that helps me get in shape. I feel good about myself and I am now sure I can get where I want to be.
In the end, it's all about making a choice.
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MargaretYakoda wrote: »Can you get physiotherapy? A physiotherapist might help you working towards things you can do and build a training/movement programme for you.
I second the physiotherapist suggestion. With one caveat: If possible ask for reviews from others who have experienced the available physiotherapy options.
Most are good. Some are great.
But there are a few stinkers out there who carry a bad attitude towards morbidly obese people.
My current physiotherapist is great.
But I have had a few in the past who would roll their eyes when I said I was trying.
One in particular actually talked about the previous days football game with another physiotherapist while he was supposed to be working with me on my balance and hip weakness. He would roll his eyes when I mentioned symptoms of peripheral neuropathy. AND he snapped at me when I was on the NuStep and talked about planning to buy one. He actually said he thought I was not serious.
Well, it’s a very expensive machine. You have to plan for it.
I refuse to ever be booked with him again.
He’s absolutely great for athletes recovering from injuries. But…. Yeah.
I’m typing this while peddling during a cool down cycle on my NuStep that I have in my living room. Because I actually was serious.
I did 4 1/4 miles in 75 minutes.
Eat my dust Brian the physiotherapist!
🤪
I wish you well. In my newsfeed you talk about eating the rest of the easter candy now for two or three days, here you suggest I visit a physiotherapist, and then you write about your bad experience. It's a bit confusing.
You are very nice and very kind and I assume you are full of wisdom, so it's me. I am not getting you, perhaps I am just too confused right now about my new lifestyle, which I will want to stay on for the rest of my life.
I am weak! I am vulnerable! I need motivation and gentleness. I think it's great that you can eat chocolates every day and not feel guilty. However, I can not.
I guess it's like in real life. Not all are meant to be friends. :-)
Oh boy, I hope I am writing this kind enough but get somehow my point across.
(and yes, it's all my fault)2 -
It is up to you whether you can have chocolate/ candies in the house and have small portion per day or whether it is better for you not to have any in the house at all.
I don't know what a legseriser is - but I would suggest, as well as using it, you try to increase your daily exercise/ movement.
It's great you have a goal of walking 1- 2 miles - but in the meantime walk 50 m, or 20 m or whatever you can manage- and do it twice a day then 3 times a day or increase it by 10 m a week or something like that.
Ie to get to your goal, start with what you can do now and gradually, progressively,increase it.0 -
paperpudding wrote: »It is up to you whether you can have chocolate/ candies in the house and have small portion per day or whether it is better for you not to have any in the house at all.
I don't know what a legseriser is - but I would suggest, as well as using it, you try to increase your daily exercise/ movement.
It's great you have a goal of walking 1- 2 miles - but in the meantime walk 50 m, or 20 m or whatever you can manage- and do it twice a day then 3 times a day or increase it by 10 m a week or something like that.
Ie to get to your goal, start with what you can do now and gradually, progressively, increase it.
I was just diagnosed with diabetes and am trying to reverse it, because I don't want to be on the new wonderdrug or any other kind of diabetes medication, like insulin, if I can prevent it.
So, chocolate is something I need to learn to stay away from until my blood glucose is back in normal range. Eating the small portion you suggested would mean I sabotage myself.
A legsersicer is an electric peddler, which peddles for me -at various speeds- so I can get the strength in my legs up. I have a normal manual under the desk peddler, that I now use for my arms and later on (soon I hope) for my legs.0 -
legsersicer sounds like a great thing for circulation which IS a thing while heavy and with diabetes.
So it is not useless because circulation is important
If you are not doing any of the pedaling yourself you will get more benefit from incrementally doing the things you CAN do today
You have one new job now: self improvement. How much time per day can you devote to that? 8 hours? 4 hours? 2?
As the Australian sensible first line medical practitioner suggests above, do what you can. 5 meters, 10 meters. 50 meters. Stick an alarm. And do it again in an hour. And again. And again. Increasing distance and/or time as you improve
People regularly pull amazing improvements in hospitals and it does not sound to me based on your description that you have a known physical impediment to graduating from your now to first a shuffle and then to a regular walk in the house and then around the block and then even further
In combination with losing the weight as you are doing you will start to feel stronger too.
A walking stick for balance and support or walker if needed right now might be of more use, imho, than a machine for blood circulation absent inability to get up every hour and move for 1 to 3 minutes.
So I am going to be negative on the machine but not in, I hope, a mean way.
I actually have full confidence that if you set up to religiously get up and move every hour, then every half hour, even for a few minutes, you will simply amaze yourself.
And yes that will interrupt or modify other stuff that you're used to doing
Reshuffling of priorities is something you will gradually have to do
As to eating chocolate or not ...
Losing and maintaining weight is something you do on your own and people around you can only really give you ideas, examples, and if they take the time maybe their reasons for why they do things.
Some ideas are good to incorporate now or later. Some ideas don't work for particular individuals.
But seeing the ideas should be a good thing as it may allow you to achieve the holy grail: continuous incremental improvement and continuing compliance.
It is a multi-year thing. And that's good as it gives you time to discover things. Including your own power.
Grab what you need to safely get up and incrementally do more. And make it your job to do so till you reach your stated walk targets and proceed to exceed them.
As to others take what you think will work for you today and consider whether that you see others do may or may not work for you moving forward.
But avoid, I think, locking yourself out of considering options
Take care
ETA I see you already have and enjoy the machine. This is great to hear. Hopefully you will use it as a springboard to walking more.
While many people do not consider waking to be exercise I, personally, totally disagree that it cannot be a low to moderate activity exercise.
While not everyone in their 300s can walk... many can. And the more you do it the easier it gets! Watch the knees. And where you step!!!!1 -
Re the chocolate - you could buy diabetic chocolate and have small portion daily if you want to. Or even tiny portion of regular chocolate
Or have none at all.
Whichever approach is right for you.
1 -
legsersicer sounds like a great thing for circulation which IS a thing while heavy and with diabetes.
So it is not useless because circulation is important
ETA I see you already have and enjoy the machine. This is great to hear. Hopefully you will use it as a springboard to walking more.
While many people do not consider waking to be exercise I, personally, totally disagree that it cannot be a low to moderate activity exercise.
While not everyone in their 300s can walk... many can. And the more you do it the easier it gets! Watch the knees. And where you step!!!!
I cannot believe a stranger took the time to answer in such lengths. You heard me and I read what you wrote. I agree with almost everything you wrote. The legsersiser is a start and I will use it in the evenings when we watch TV as well as during the day when I work at home on my desk.
I bought a fitness watch, one of the cheaper ones and it's set to remind me to move every 90 min. It's an annoying little thing :-)
I take the diagnosis of diabetes very seriously and will do what I can to get myself in shape to walk outside (after allergy season). I will start a new chair yoga session tomorrow, which is fun.
I don't have an answer why I let myself go and I know it's not going to be easy at my age to turn back the clock a bit. There are other health issues, but nothing that I can't handle. Eating too much was my crutch for everything to the point that I almost needed a crutch to move. Why do obese people do that to themself? I don't know but it's never too late. So I will fight and I will not try to compete with 30, 40 or 50-year-olds but will do what I can. I want to dance again (silly).
My husband is supporting me, which is wonderful. So I am (we are) all in :-) Thanks again.2 -
paperpudding wrote: »Re the chocolate - you could buy diabetic chocolate and have small portion daily if you want to. Or even tiny portion of regular chocolate
Or have none at all.
Whichever approach is right for you.
I ate a mountain of chocolate in my lifetime. I enjoy the fruits with yogurt. I am with chocolate like other people are with chips. I cannot control myself, I eat it all and I don't give it a rest before it's all gone -if I start eating it. So not starting might be a good thing. Funny and a bit puzzling. right now I don't want any. The Easter candy doesn't bother me, it's like I weaned myself off. Is that even possible?2 -
ByeByeToDiabetes wrote: »legsersicer sounds like a great thing for circulation which IS a thing while heavy and with diabetes.
So it is not useless because circulation is important
ETA I see you already have and enjoy the machine. This is great to hear. Hopefully you will use it as a springboard to walking more.
While many people do not consider waking to be exercise I, personally, totally disagree that it cannot be a low to moderate activity exercise.
While not everyone in their 300s can walk... many can. And the more you do it the easier it gets! Watch the knees. And where you step!!!!
I cannot believe a stranger took the time to answer in such lengths. You heard me and I read what you wrote. I agree with almost everything you wrote. The legsersiser is a start and I will use it in the evenings when we watch TV as well as during the day when I work at home on my desk.
I bought a fitness watch, one of the cheaper ones and it's set to remind me to move every 90 min. It's an annoying little thing :-)
I take the diagnosis of diabetes very seriously and will do what I can to get myself in shape to walk outside (after allergy season). I will start a new chair yoga session tomorrow, which is fun.
I don't have an answer why I let myself go and I know it's not going to be easy at my age to turn back the clock a bit. There are other health issues, but nothing that I can't handle. Eating too much was my crutch for everything to the point that I almost needed a crutch to move. Why do obese people do that to themself? I don't know but it's never too late. So I will fight and I will not try to compete with 30, 40 or 50-year-olds but will do what I can. I want to dance again (silly).
My husband is supporting me, which is wonderful. So I am (we are) all in :-) Thanks again.
Of course it won't be easy every second: It isn't easy for anyone of any age to profoundly change habits. But with determination and commitment on your side, I'm betting you can surprise yourself with how much progress you make in the next weeks and months, let alone years.
Too much in our culture paints aging as a complete synonym for disability. That isn't inherently true. Yes, certain physical issues become more statistically common with age. But if we let those cultural and personal low expectations influence us too much, we actually accelerate our own rate of decline. You are working on improving eating habits, nutrition, and movement. Those are things we can control; and when we do so, we create our own story rather than buying into those cultural myths.
I didn't become routinely active until my late 40s, after a mostly sedentary life, when cancer treatment (among other bumps in my personal road) had left me very physically depleted. I increased activity gradually, starting with just manageably challenging things, and progress was gradual, too. Still, some time in the first half of my 50s, I was competing as an athlete, even earning some age-group medals. As someone who'd been one of those "chosen last in gym class" kids, this was a huge surprise . . . to me, and to people who knew me.
I was not at as high a weight as you are now, but was class 1 obese. I stayed overweight for another dozen years while active, but slowly got much fitter and even a little smaller (muscle is more compact than fat, as well as being more useful), but I stayed obese. (Yes, obese people can achieve reasonable fitness.) I was your current age, 59, when I committed to weight loss, after decades of overweight/obesity. That worked, too, when I committed to it. I reached a healthy weight and have stayed there for around 8 years since, now 68.
I'm not a special unicorn. You, too, can accomplish a lot, with a realistic (but manageably challenging) plan . . . the kind of plan it sounds like you have. Expect a lot of yourself long term, because that's realistic IMO.
There have been women here who started in a place similar to where you are now. I think this first one isn't active around here as much anymore, but she started at 59, just over 300 pounds, unable to walk up her own steep driveway without resting, and borderline diabetic:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10672121/4-year-milestone
This 2nd woman is still around sometimes. She started a little younger (56) and mid-200s but still obese. From relatively inactive, she gradually became very fit, active, and added muscle mass to be smaller (and more fit) at goal weight than she'd been when young at similar weight. She's really good at writing how this really can work:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10763291/my-turn-to-overshare-my-adventure/p1
There are many success stories here about people who were heavier than you are now, various combinations of aging, diabetic, inactive and mobility limited (even permanent wheelchair users), you name it. These are real people posting their own stories and photos, not presentations by skeezy marketers. Some are still active here, and you can ask them questions.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300359/most-helpful-posts-success-stories-must-reads#latest
Repeating myself: You're working on a good plan. You're committed. If you believe in yourself more than you believe the myths about aging and bodyweight, and stick with that good plan long term, you'll amaze yourself with what you achieve. When you do, come back and tell others about it.
Best wishes!
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I have now used the Legserciser faithfully every day. Sometimes only five minutes, then later on ten minutes, later on again. The machine moves the pedals, my feet are forced to move. How crazy is that? I can feel it in my calves, they are aching as they should.
The legserciser is beside my chair and when I use it it has me huffing and puffing after a while. I am not interested in the calories burned. I added 1 calorie to my food log once, then I let it go.
My big belly is in my way when I use the machine, but I make it work. What first felt like an embarrassment, is no part of my reality. A daily wake-up call.
I am out of shape and this THING will help me to walk again. It's a daily reminder of how big I am and it gives me the motivation to continue.
Is it a workout? Now I know it is just what I needed. Next week I will use our stairs to step up and down on the first step, to regain my balance. Gosh, I am off in so many ways. Sad but fixable. I need to forgive myself and keep on going.4
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