New to exercise - HELP!!!

chantabelle
chantabelle Posts: 31 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi Guys,

I am looking for a bit of help and advice on exercising to compliment my weight loss.

I had a starting weight of 238lbs and I am now down to 194lbs, my offical goal is 140lbs. I have lost the weight tracking my food and plenty of walking, especially evenings and weekends with my little one in his pushchair but I have not been doing any other exercise at the moment. I know my weight loss has been fairly fast but I was large, however I am also aware it will slow down soon and I need to start exercising to push my metabolism and keep up the weight loss I want which is around 2lbs per week.

I am not sure which form of exercise would be most effective for me. I am still quite overweight and my tummy is a particurlarly problem area since the birth of my little one! However I am worried about toning too much when I do not want to tone what I have I just want to lose more weight first and tone as I near my goal weight which should be Febuary 2013.

Any help would be much appreciated, most of my exercise needs to be done at home as I work from 8am - 6pm and in the evenings my partner works and my little one is in bed so I am stuck in the house. I keep seeing posts about Insanity and 30 day shred but I am not sure if these are for me as Im worried about toning the flab rather than losing it first!

Thanks

Replies

  • MarinaPacheco
    MarinaPacheco Posts: 95 Member
    Walking is good so you're doing the right thing there. If you have a pool somewhere near you then fitting in a swim or two a week helps to tone and is low impact which is often helpful. You can try out all the exercise videos by taking a look on You Tube and trying them out before deciding you want to shell out the money for the DVDs. Most people suggest you tone as you loose, rather than loosing and then trying to tone - the advantage is also that you also tend to burn more calories if you're exercising. If you start doing weights you'll fine you tone up even more quickly.
  • chantabelle
    chantabelle Posts: 31 Member
    Yeah I thought a swim once a week should be good if I can get one in! Also thinking about buying Rosemary Conley dvds (dont laugh!!) I know its a bit outdated but I did aerobics years ago and its old school which Im more comfortable with. Theres a triple pack on Amazon for under £6 so Im thinking of investing and trying this out as its a full body workout with toning integrated.
  • gramacanada
    gramacanada Posts: 557 Member
    Tone has nothing to do with flab. You can't tone flab. You tone muscle. Whatever order you do it in doesn't matter. If you can't get to a gym ( lots of us don't want to). Exercise bands are a good place to start. They are very easy to learn to use properly. There's lots of information available. They're cheaper and more portable than weights. And they don't hurt if you drop one in your toe.:smile: Even if you have to get a session or two with a trainer, to teach you form, it's worth a try. There is almost no muscle you can't work with bands. I would keep up the walking and add some muscle work. A pound of muscle is smaller than a pound of fat, and it burns more calories. So the more muscle you build the more calories your body will burn. I looked at those Insanity and shred videos, I'd be thinking at the weight a lot of us are, we'd be heading very quickly for injury. There is 100% no way most of us could do anything near to what those workouts require. Lots of libraries have these DVDs to borrow. Take a look. They might be for you.
  • vtachycardia
    vtachycardia Posts: 374
    Nowloss.com is brilliant for beginner exercise advice and has workout video and programs.
  • helenlp83
    helenlp83 Posts: 67
    Well done on your weight loss so far, you're doing great! I have a little one and rarely have time to do anything! I don't go to a gym because I basically can't afford it. I'm currently at 184lb am 5'7" female.

    I started Jillian Michaels 30 day shred on Tuesday which is very intense but it only lasts 20 minutes so easy to fit in with your little one. I did lots of walking to start off with and then started doing exercise on the wii fit. Have you got a wii? Maybe doing some exercise on that (the actual exercises not the games........because they're my favourite bit! hehe) You can get Zumba on the wii and Just Dance. Do a mixture of things that you enjoy and will help you to lose weight and tone. There's no point doing a grueling routine that you dread everyday beacsue you'll end up giving up. Keep up with your walking and just add a little bit in at a time. When that gets relatively easy up it to the next stage.
  • start121
    start121 Posts: 38 Member
    I would highly recommend Jillian Michael's 30 day shred (I got mine for £5 off amazon). An all encompassing exercise dvd that is only 20mins but boy does it work you... and generally work. Look up some 30ds (the shortened way of saying 30 day shred) before and after pics and you will be amazed. You will get toning but also some cardio work too.

    Well done on the huge loss so far and good luck with the training.
  • CHN_
    CHN_ Posts: 94 Member
    I would highly recommend Jillian Michael's 30 day shred (I got mine for £5 off amazon). An all encompassing exercise dvd that is only 20mins but boy does it work you... and generally work. Look up some 30ds (the shortened way of saying 30 day shred) before and after pics and you will be amazed. You will get toning but also some cardio work too.

    Well done on the huge loss so far and good luck with the training.

    I agree with this. It's a good place to start, just modify the exercises if you have to, and take extra breaks if you need to. It will be hard the first few times, but you'll be surprised how fast you get used to it and can push harder instead of taking breaks!

    And I weight about 212 and I can do most of it without modifying after having been through it once already. It's a great way to burn lots, and it'll take 30 minutes a day so you can totally do it when the little one is asleep and still have time to do other things as well :)

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