Can't Afford It...

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  • Riemersma4
    Riemersma4 Posts: 400 Member
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    Can you afford not to join the gym? I couldn't, I have diabetes and live in a cold climate and was not getting it done without the gym. My gym membership is $17 a month, Planet fitness is $10 but even if it was $50 a month I could not continue without it. I have cable in my house that could go before gym membership, I have a cell phone, eat out at least twice a month, internet, all kinds of other expenses that are not as important as the gym membership. I have TVs and other garbage in my house I could sell if I have to. Hell I have a nicer car than I have to drive I would sell and downgrade if I had to. All that being said if you can't or don't want a gym membership lots of good ideas posted here by others.

    Big Bump!
  • tismyhardbody
    tismyhardbody Posts: 100 Member
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    Don't get me wrong, I'm all for this thread, working out on a budget because I've never belonged to a gym. Only ran on a treadmill once in my life! I dress warmly and run outside. I have free weights at home. I do Jillian's DVDs ($9 apiece). Total investment in all of my equipment: probably $50.

    But, I want to caution OP that the gym (or any workout for that matter) won't be a fix long-term. There are lot's of people who go to gyms with no results because they haven't gotten the eating part down. There is no other way: for long-term success you need to get this part right. Eat between your BMR and TDEE. This shouldn't feel like a chore and you shouldn't feel deprived. Leave room for fun or take a cheat meal if you need to.

    Yes, my friends know me as a runner but what they don't know is I've always been a pretty clean eater. I try and make good choices when I go out. Limit snacks at home. Drink water. Eat veggies. Look at the Success Stories, it can be done.

    Abraham Lincoln said, "if I had 8 hrs to cut down a tree, I'd spend 6 sharpening my axe". Don't spend all of your time at the gym only to undo your efforts with eating poorly. Lot's of people do that. Focus your efforts on eating right and the rest is easy. Some say 80% is diet, 20% exercise. I would go so far to say it's 95% diet, 5% exercise.

    What makes you think that her diet is NOT spot on???
    No indication what so ever in this thread that she doesn't eat clean, or isn't trying to. And since you can't see what she eats, im guessing you have no idea what so ever.
    Amazing.
    Guess you missed the part where she has POCS too huh? Yea, that makes things a whole lot harder.
  • lilRicki
    lilRicki Posts: 4,555 Member
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    or bodyrock.tv
  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
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    Don't get me wrong, I'm all for this thread, working out on a budget because I've never belonged to a gym. Only ran on a treadmill once in my life! I dress warmly and run outside. I have free weights at home. I do Jillian's DVDs ($9 apiece). Total investment in all of my equipment: probably $50.

    But, I want to caution OP that the gym (or any workout for that matter) won't be a fix long-term. There are lot's of people who go to gyms with no results because they haven't gotten the eating part down. There is no other way: for long-term success you need to get this part right. Eat between your BMR and TDEE. This shouldn't feel like a chore and you shouldn't feel deprived. Leave room for fun or take a cheat meal if you need to.

    Yes, my friends know me as a runner but what they don't know is I've always been a pretty clean eater. I try and make good choices when I go out. Limit snacks at home. Drink water. Eat veggies. Look at the Success Stories, it can be done.

    Abraham Lincoln said, "if I had 8 hrs to cut down a tree, I'd spend 6 sharpening my axe". Don't spend all of your time at the gym only to undo your efforts with eating poorly. Lot's of people do that. Focus your efforts on eating right and the rest is easy. Some say 80% is diet, 20% exercise. I would go so far to say it's 95% diet, 5% exercise.

    What makes you think that her diet is NOT spot on???
    No indication what so ever in this thread that she doesn't eat clean, or isn't trying to. And since you can't see what she eats, im guessing you have no idea what so ever.
    Amazing.
    Guess you missed the part where she has POCS too huh? Yea, that makes things a whole lot harder.

    Something of an over-reaction, I feel. There's nothing in the post that says her diet IS spot on. There's almost nothing in the post about her diet at all. What this poster, myself, and a few others are simply saying is to check diet first. For most people, a proper caloric deficit will cause weight loss with or without exercise. If the OP isn't seeing weight loss, it's worth checking over the diet before introducing exercise.

    I don't think anyone is saying OP shouldn't exercise. Just that it's worth first 'troubleshooting' the steps she's already taken.
  • scottysmith42
    scottysmith42 Posts: 2
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    I went to a gym before I had kids. No chance now. I went to Wal-Mart and got some cheap resistance bands. Some of them come with DVDs and all of them come with charts. There are some really good resistance band exercises that are easy to do. You can also get Yoga DVDs or Pilates. I wasn't into yoga until all the people doing P90X talked about how much the yoga helped.
  • cenahome
    cenahome Posts: 11
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    You don't need a gym! Get up and get moving... go for a walk or run; some public parks have tennis courts - find a friend and play tennis...or do what I do...take turns hitting the tennis ball and chasing the one that you couldn't send back across the net. I think I get more exercise chasing the ball. Go to the library and check out fitness DVD's. Fill empty milk jugs with water and use them as weights. There is so much to do...be creative, but most importantly....have fun!
  • FabFran33
    FabFran33 Posts: 36
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    Look for body weight exercises.

    Use things around your house: I use an ottoman for step aerobics while listening to music or watching tv.

    Blast some music. See how many times you can walk/jog/run from the front to the back of your house before a song ends. Stop and do jumping jack/squats/push ups or some other move during the chorus. Have fun with it! Kids would enjoy this too.

    In other words, get creative.

    OR>>>> Try Goodwill. My husband picked up a rebounder (mini trampoline) for $15. My mom got a stationary bike for $20.
  • kappyblu
    kappyblu Posts: 654 Member
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    Leslie Sansone walk at home dvds. She works it hard, you sweat like crazy!
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
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    What do you guys do if you can't afford to get a membership at the gym and you have no gym equipment at your house? On top of that it's freezing outside. Just wondering what you all do for fitness and exercise when you mainly can't afford to go to the gym and you have no gym equipment at home.

    I need to do some exercise because just counting calories doesn't seem to be working for me.

    Define Freezing.
  • rm7161
    rm7161 Posts: 505
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    What do you guys do if you can't afford to get a membership at the gym and you have no gym equipment at your house? On top of that it's freezing outside. Just wondering what you all do for fitness and exercise when you mainly can't afford to go to the gym and you have no gym equipment at home.

    I need to do some exercise because just counting calories doesn't seem to be working for me.

    Resistance band. It's cheap, light and effective. Do walking or bicycling on top of that and you're set. A friend of mine also suggests jumping rope for the same effect as running.
  • toots0411
    toots0411 Posts: 2
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    walking at a brisk pace....just bundle up for the cold weather....
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
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    What do you guys do if you can't afford to get a membership at the gym and you have no gym equipment at your house? On top of that it's freezing outside. Just wondering what you all do for fitness and exercise when you mainly can't afford to go to the gym and you have no gym equipment at home.

    I need to do some exercise because just counting calories doesn't seem to be working for me.

    Define Freezing.

    Anything below 60deg F to my reptilian desert blood
  • michellelemorgan
    michellelemorgan Posts: 184 Member
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    I can't afford to go to the gym. I run five miles a day... yes... out in the freezing cold weather. At home without weights you can still do push ups, lunges... tons of things. Use gallon jugs or paint cans as weights... whatever you have lying around.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    See if any of your nearby high schools offer "community nights" where their pool and weight room is open to the public.
  • babeinthemoon
    babeinthemoon Posts: 471 Member
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    I happen to be really lucky... the Jazzercise center near my house offers babysitting during certain classes. I am one of the babysitters. I "work" during one class every week, usually for less than 1.5 hours (I try to show up 15 min early, and class usually runs a little late). In exchange I get my jazzercise classes for the entire month for free! It is an awesome deal.

    Other things I've done on the cheap:

    borrow exercise videos from the library.. using filled water bottles as weights.
    C25k
    borrowed games for the wii fit from my friends
    Go for a walk... bundle up and enjoy the fresh air.
  • rm7161
    rm7161 Posts: 505
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    I can't afford the gym either, but my apartment complex has a free one so I use that. Check out what free resources are available to you, sometimes its surprising.
  • christa96
    christa96 Posts: 153 Member
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    Leslie Sansone walking dvds are great if you are just beginning to exercise. I feel I need a higher intensity workout now but it's how I got started a few years ago.
  • Hearts_2015
    Hearts_2015 Posts: 12,031 Member
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    What do you guys do if you can't afford to get a membership at the gym and you have no gym equipment at your house? On top of that it's freezing outside. Just wondering what you all do for fitness and exercise when you mainly can't afford to go to the gym and you have no gym equipment at home.

    I need to do some exercise because just counting calories doesn't seem to be working for me.

    In-Home Cardio Workouts
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI8u58hPam4

    So many youtube ones that are great series, so many suggestions on the boards this thread and many past threads. Sooo much you can do with your own body weight. Not being able to have a gym near you or have money for one is never a good excuse for freaking out and saying you're unable to workout. :wink: You can find many many ways that will help you get fit!:drinker:
  • mdcjmom
    mdcjmom Posts: 597 Member
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    Workout DVDs are cheap at walmart about 10 dollars apice and I am having awesome results with them!
  • petstorekitty
    petstorekitty Posts: 592 Member
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    before I had a gym membership, I did workout videos at home. I downloaded them so they were free and there is loads of stuff on YouTube. I used Jillian Michael's videos and P90X videos (not all of them). They were so hard at first! but I got better at them and lost weight!

    I liked working out like this because there was no one to look at me. (I hate working out around other people). The fact that I couln't keep up with the videos at first wasn't embarassing b/c I was alone :)

    Also, if the videos confused me, i could pause and rewind and try the steps again.

    Anything that required weights I'd use like cans of peas or whatever.

    I found out that running in place is actually a great workout.

    The down side was my cats circling me and sitting on my yoga mat while I was trying to do stuff!

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