Any Ideas?

Hi, Welcome

For your feet have you tried inserts? They do make a difference
For your knees, what's the problem?

Try at home DVD's, treadmill, bike, etc. Those work for me.

:flowerforyou: I have a problem with a bad aquilles tendon, bad knee and bad hip (all the same side and related). I got a Tony Little Gazelle. It is a 0 impact workout machine that folds up for safe keeping. Similar to an eliptical. I LOVE IT! I got mine off of Craigslist.org for $30. It was a great purchase, though I didn't use it all this week.......:ohwell: I went for a 3.5 mile walk and 1.5 mile hike (5 miles) with my best friend this weekend and was SHOCKED that I made it with 2 stops to stretch.....I even climbed a very steep hill with 1 stop to get a drink of water....and I was able to hold a conversation the whole time. I know the only way I was able to do this was the month I have spent on the Gazelle. My legs are incredibly strong now......my tendon was tired when I got home but all else was good.......

Hang in there! Hope you find something that works for you.

Depending on what kind of knee problems you have... often times these things can be improved through strength training. A lot of overweight people complain of pain when they walk and so they just don't do it. But really, a lot of the pain comes from the weight. My mom constantly says she can't exercise because it hurts her hip, which I'm sure it does. But easing into things with some easy strength training slowly increasing in difficulty can really help. Another thing... I know you said you don't have access to a gym right now, but what about a pool? It's very low impact but can still be an awesome workout. It's also great from rehab in regard to your knee - again depending on what is wrong with it.

I know for me... my family has knee problems. My dad, his sister, my brother.... all have had major surgery on their knees. All in decent shape, but just bad knees. I too can feel my knees wanting to give but they are so much stronger when I'm consistently active.

You might try getting some 'MBT' shoes. These are shoes that are curved on the bottom and have a sort of shock-absorbing heel material. The shoes reduce impact to your knees by 19%, and stretch your feet while supporting your arch. (They are NOT the same as those silly shoes with the springs for heels, nor the same as the Curves shoes that Avon sells.)

I am a nurse and am on my feet all day. I managed to break a small bone in the top of my left foot and it was killing me with any other shoes. When I tried these one, I was able to be up all day without ANY pain. I even would forget to take them off when I got home at night, because they are SO comfortable.

The other benefit is that using these shoes increases the muscle contractions to the back of your legs, causing you to use about 19% more calories for the same distance of walking.

They are a bit pricey, but you can do a search and find the ones on sale, if you are more concerned with function than style. I love them so much, I actually bought a second pair.

You can find the site on the internet, just type in MBT shoes and you should find it.