Running?

I lost about 30 pounds a few years ago by walking about an hour a day, about a 15 minute a mile pace, in a community with some pretty big hills. So that is effective.
If you do want to consider running, and I get your feelings because I was always the same way, consider the Couch to 5K program. I never ran, hated running and thought I would never run any further than to my mail box in the rain and decided to give C25K a try. Almost a year later I'm running at least 3 miles on my short runs and working toward a 1/2 marathon.
I'm not going to say "you can do it", but would say you might surprise yourself!

What about workout DVDs? If you have Netflix, they have a pretty extensive collection. Maybe you have friends who workout and you could swap videos back and forth. If you have a Wii or Xbox, you can do some of the fitness games on there. Also, if you have children, there are lots of fun games you can play with them to get your heart rate up.

Honestly, I'm not trying to change your mind about running.... I still dislike doing it. But I've found that signing up for a 5K is a great motivator toget yourself out there. Some people use the C25K program to improve their running endurance. I'm up to 30 minutes, but I really hate it.*LOL*

Shannon

I wasnt a runner either but now I am Running is one of the quickest ways to boost your metabolism and increase your stamina. If you are going to run, start out with a 1/2 mile or so and then walk/run it until you can run the whole thing. SLOWLY increase your distance. Dont kill yourself! Run slow at first and then slowly increase your time. Before long, you will be running 8 milers like they are nothing

When I first started running in February of this year, I was around 285. I weighed in at 217 the other day Thats 68 pounds lost!!!

I did a 15.45 mile run 2 weeks ago and I am going to do it again on Saturday. I am doing a full marathon on my birthday (November 13th) - the San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon!!!

I had to give up running recently because of an injury, and had to search for another activity too. I second the suggestion of walking with as many hills as possible. Really use your arms to pump your way up the inclines. If walking in your neighborhood is unsafe or it's too dark to go by yourself when you have the time to do it, I recommend a treadmill that has incline capability. You can often find good ones for cheap on craiglist, and it'll be a fraction of the price of a gym. Hope this helps!!!

Biking, power walking, rollerblading.........but seriously, don't nix running! I have never been a runner (was a sprinter in high school, ran the 400 meter mostly). I had never run more than 2 miles in my life (hate running) until May. I decided to train for a triathlon, as I needed a goal, and I wanted a challenge. So running it was! I now can run 4.5 miles at a pace of 9 1/2 minute miles (around 6.5 mph), and when I started it was pushing it to run 5 mph for 5 minutes. I am now hooked.

C25k is great but even if you find that to be to regimented and uncomfortable but like the idea of running intervals, feel free to do it at your own pace. That's what I did and it still helped me build up to running farther and faster. Walk to warm up, run as far as you can, then walk until you catch your breath, then run again.

One other tip, unless your goal is to run sprints, something a lot of us needed to learn was to pace our running. When I started out doing intervals, I thought running meant going as fast as you can but I would lose my breath really quickly that way. It made me hate running outside - treadmill running was great because I could set and adjust my speed - but without those controls it was like I was lost. My friend told me to take shorter paces and slow down and it really worked! Also, it may help to pace your breathing- I time mine with my steps- inhale two steps, exhale two steps.

Once you've tried it all and still hate running - there's really nothing wrong with walking. Just try to include hills to get your heart rate up and keep your pace as fast as you can for good calorie burn.

Ok so if I do c25k, how do you log those minutes?

Best bet is to use a heart rate monitor to keep track of your calories that way, or do a search for "run/walk" or something similar on the MFP data base, there may be something there for that.

You could go to Youtube and watch the Zumba videos and learn right along with them. I agree with most of the previous posts about walking. It gets you moving and you just might be surprised how much it inspires you to perhaps jog, I don't have time or money for the gym, so I started walking in March and found it did not get my heartrate up after the first month. I ended up doing the C2K and ran my first 5k in 2 months.

If you had told me 6 months ago I would be a runner, I would have said I had a better chance of becoming the President of the United States. I am now up to 9 miles in 90 minutes and am pushing for 10 by the end of the month,

Don't underestimate yourself!

What do you enjoy? Swimming is one of the best cardio exercises (IMO) and doesn't require any fancy/expensive equipment. Biking is good too.

Pools are pretty fancy and expensive. ;-)

But I do love swimming.

Ok so if I do c25k, how do you log those minutes?

I just add up the time jogging and log that, add up the time walking and log that.
I just started week 7 of C25k and lot 10 minutes walking (warm up and cool down) and 25 minutes jogging at 4.5mph.

Dance. It works up my heart rate just as much as running, it's way more fun and I sweat like a hog when I do it.

I try to dance for 30 minutes at least twice a week but sometimes I try for more. It's great stuff! Try it! (even if you don't know 'how' to dance, just move your body to the music - and close the blinds. If no one can see they can't care. .

My roommate lost 30+lbs using the elliptical and walking only, as an aside.