Home workouts - Wasting my time?

dym123

Check out my ticker...all done through home workouts. Started with various Jillian Michaels DVDs (Ripped in 30, Burn Fat Boost Metabolism, Extreme Shed and Shred, Shred with Weights), during warmer weather I added walking the dogs (which is a good warm up) and now I'm about start week 5 of Turbo Fire. The key is variety, if you are doing the same thing everyday you will get bored.

My motto is "resolve to hit play everyday"

edited to add: of course diet is important too, when I first started at the beginning of last year, my goal was just to eat healthier and watch my portions and my weight loss was pretty steady at 5lbs per month, frustrating yes, but still steady. A few months ago I decided to start eating "cleaner" and really paying attention to my calories and my weight loss has accelerated to about 2lbs per week.

BrotherBill913

I know what you mean!! I think sometimes we need to remember how long it took to put the weight on. It can take up to FOUR week for results to show, how long have you been doing these videos? Do you feel like your challenged? Are you eating the right foods? There are other factors to getting result you want! Hang in there!! Be patience!!

I believe Cardio and Diet are the big main factors in losing weight, oh course, willingness!!

Anything is possible if you put your mind to it!

this^^^

FitBeto

If you are hitting a plateau doing gentle exercise (walking etc), then try and increase the intensity of your workout - basically, you have mastered the 20 mins walk (for example) - it is now time to try and do 20 minutes intervals.

I like this set - you can use whatever cardio you like - I do the quicker ones on a static bike and the longer ones on a rower, but you could do it all running or all on your bike or do sit ups, star jumps, skipping whatever. The thing to remember is that apart from the 1min sets they are all sprints and you should sprint.

1) 30 secs effort, 30 secs rest x 5
2) 20 secs effort, 10 secs rest x 10
3) 1min effort, 1min rest x 5
4) 20 secs effort, 10 secs rest x 10

I could do these when I was 17st - and I still do them now, I just sprint harder.

My interval:

900 min video games
15 sec walk to fridge
1 min rummage
120 sec sandwich making
15 sec walk
900 min video games

rinse and repeat

WhoIsAmber

It's certainly possible to lose weight at home.

I don't think it's stressed enough that what you eat is the biggest hurdle to get over when you're trying to lose weight. Creating a deficit is a nice thing to say, but many people consume more calories than they think they do, which is why I invested in a food scale; seeing the difference between what I would usually eat as a "serving" (which I either used measuring cups or eyeballed it) compared to what an actual serving is, really opened my eyes to how much extra food (and calories) I was consuming.

As far as exercise, I think a good mix of both strength training and cardio are essential for shaping your body into what you want it to be. I'm very very very far from the body of my dreams (I too have 100lbs to lose) and I'm still trying to figure out exactly what to do and what works for me, but I know I'll need both strength training and cardio to get there.

dorianaldyn

I've achieved my initial weight loss goal (I'm down 25 lbs) and I've never set foot in a gym. I like what I heard on here that weight loss happens in the kitchen and fitness happens at the gym. I think the calorie deficit was the primary factor in losing the weight. I do workout daily (usually try for at least an hour a day, usually higher intensity, but sometimes I take it easy too), so I believe in both exercise and diet - but once I learned the number of calories I should be eating and stuck to it, the weight started coming off (albeit in chunks/spurts as others have mentioned... it wasn't steady, there would be weeks where I wouldn't loose at all and then suddenly I'd drop 2.5 lbs).

All in all - if something isn't working for you, change it! Change your diet up, push yourself harder when you work out.

Christinesyear

Admittedly, I only read a few of the posts, so perhaps this was already addressed :
What is it you ate wanting to see but aren't getting?
If it's weight loss, have you considered the possibility that your fat is being replaced by muscle? Muscle weighs more so you may not see that scale budge for a bit.
Take your measurements once a week and if you're sticking to a good diet and workouts, you'll be able to measure the difference!

ladyrider55

I found doing both home workouts plus daily walks outside excels one's self to push more. Case in point: My 1st walk outside was to the end of the block, huffing & puffing by the time I returned home, but since that time I speed walk 3 miles daily at a local Park w/walking trails! Talk about a change, huh?! I can't wait to get over this broken arm to get walking again!! :happy:

sPaRkLiNgLYFE

working out at home and watching my calories seem to be working for me, i've been losing a pound a week

BiggJim38

I think any kind of exercise is better than not doing anything at all.

SJackson50

Check out my ticker...all done through home workouts. Started with various Jillian Michaels DVDs (Ripped in 30, Burn Fat Boost Metabolism, Extreme Shed and Shred, Shred with Weights), during warmer weather I added walking the dogs (which is a good warm up) and now I'm about start week 5 of Turbo Fire. The key is variety, if you are doing the same thing everyday you will get bored.

My motto is "resolve to hit play everyday"

edited to add: of course diet is important too, when I first started at the beginning of last year, my goal was just to eat healthier and watch my portions and my weight loss was pretty steady at 5lbs per month, frustrating yes, but still steady. A few months ago I decided to start eating "cleaner" and really paying attention to my calories and my weight loss has accelerated to about 2lbs per week.

^^^This for sure...all of my results are from pushing play and pushing the plate away! Good luck!