am i doing enough

2»

Replies

  • erinsueburns
    erinsueburns Posts: 865 Member
    Add some push ups, planks/ abs too. Walking up the stairs is just the same or better than the stair climber at the gym and skipping is great too....you really don't need a gym! I try to do 30 extra flights of stairs a day...very hard and can tell the difference...

    Some extra calories to increase are...

    peanut butter ( dip with apples)
    hard boiled eggs
    almonds
    greek yogurt

    This will help with protein too.

    Good luck to you...find friends who support you.

    There is a few issues on MFP as you can see...people will citizen you for eating too little then do the same for eating too much!

    I was going to make a similar suggestion. Walking is great, but you'll want to retain your lean body mass so there is something pretty to look at once the weight is gone. No doubt getting to a gym would be difficult when you have children. Plank exercises are great for your stomach. Squats and lunges are great for your rump and legs. No equipment needed. Proper form can be found on YouTube. Eat adequate servings of healthy foods, lots of protein. When you are ready to do other stuff, a balance ball and resistance bands are inexpensive and easily done at home.

    Very proud of you for making an effort. Children can be exhausting. Good luck to you.

    Here is a good beginner body weight routine.

    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/09/beginner-body-weight-workout-burn-fat-build-muscle/
  • Boogage
    Boogage Posts: 739 Member
    I have 5 kids between 1 and 9 so I completely understand how difficult it can be to find the time to exercise.

    Walking is great but you could probably do with switching things up a bit. I found Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred on YouTube and I feel like its really improved my strength. I've lost weight and inches also.

    Its just 30 minutes a day so when the older ones are at school, little ones occupied watching the telly and the babys gone for a nap I open the video on my computer and before I know it I've finished sets of planks, burpees, and situps. I've finally found I have do have some muscles in there!

    I would also advise you not to under eat as I did this for a while and yes, I did lose weight but as everyone else says, your weight loss will slow and you'll plateau.

    However before this happened to me I got sick. I felt terrible all the time, had headaches and constantly felt like I was going to faint. It was really hard to increase my calorie intake after being used to not eating a lot but I got there in the end and the weight loss continued.
  • juliemouse83
    juliemouse83 Posts: 6,663 Member
    Can I throw out the suggestion of ankle weights when walking? I know when my kids were little, and I needed to get out into the fresh air I wasn't motivated enough to run, but either walked with ankle weights or put on roller skates, and pushed the stroller/pram (I love that word, too, btw) that way.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Can I throw out the suggestion of ankle weights when walking? I know when my kids were little, and I needed to get out into the fresh air I wasn't motivated enough to run, but either walked with ankle weights or put on roller skates, and pushed the stroller/pram (I love that word, too, btw) that way.

    you can, but I'd rather you didn't. they make things tough on your joints and only add marginal fitness value to your walk.
  • AlleyDwyer
    AlleyDwyer Posts: 6
    wow thanks everyone for your insights I have started to jog abit then walk. hopefully before long I can jog.i love everyones advice theres lots of things I can do to help me at home too. I would not where anything on my ankles lol that's just not for me ta
  • mazdauk
    mazdauk Posts: 1,380 Member
    I got my wii Zumba 2 yesterday and did a workout last night - a medium routine was 50 mins and burned 539 calories! And it was great fun, I was just as tired as after a "real" class.
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
    Look into You Are Your Own Gym or Convict Conditioning for some home bodyweight exercise routines to add in to your walks.
  • SRH7
    SRH7 Posts: 2,037 Member
    Can I throw out the suggestion of ankle weights when walking? I know when my kids were little, and I needed to get out into the fresh air I wasn't motivated enough to run, but either walked with ankle weights or put on roller skates, and pushed the stroller/pram (I love that word, too, btw) that way.

    you can, but I'd rather you didn't. they make things tough on your joints and only add marginal fitness value to your walk.

    Agreed. Ankle weights put too much strain on your knees.
  • Ben_1960
    Ben_1960 Posts: 97 Member
    Speed walking every day has certainly been working for me. As an exercise walking for 30 -60 mins is often overlooked and underrated. If you can find a good woodland or park trail or path there is nothing better imo.
  • AlleyDwyer
    AlleyDwyer Posts: 6
    thanks bed I do walk alomg a forrest area and its up and down all around and have started to jog then brisk walk.

Categories