Contemplating an exercise program
My doctor hollered at me the other week. Her premise: if I eat more (and eat wisely), and exercise, and take my vitamins, I’ll lose weight and feel better.
Torture.
So I’ve exercised my brain a lot thinking about it. (that counts as exercise, right?) Sure, I could walk. But that’s really boring to do alone, and right now Ken’s not able to walk with me. Or sure, I could join a gym, but right now we really can’t afford it. Besides, we were members at the YMCA before and hardly ever went.
I’ve been thinking about maybe drawing the curtains closed and exercising at home, maybe with a video. Frances did Pilates that way, with great results. I might try the Pilates, but I also need to do something energetic (so sayeth the doctor). “You need to get the heart pumping”, she says. I made strangled noises about how my heart IS pumping, but she just glared at me. I suppose she’s right.
I looked around online and found XFLOWSION with something called “Triple Training” - three workouts in one. It has moves from martial arts, yoga, and dance. I’d skip the yoga, of course. It stars Eric Paskel, who is the personal trainer to a lot of Hollywood folks. I don’t give a flip about celebrities - but have to admit, if he inspires lazy actors to work out, maybe he can inspire me to do the same.
One thing I like about XFLOWSION is that it’s geared toward breaking past plateaus in weight loss - you know how you’ll drop 10 pounds and then just stay at that weight? Since XFLOWSION’s program has so many different moves, it apparently helps you to continuously burn fat and tone muscle. Plus with all those moves, you never get bored.
The package offers 4 videos, some audio CD’s, and guidebooks. Seems pretty thorough. I might have to try it!
September 24th, 2008 at 8:45 am
“I’d skip the yoga, of course.”
Good idea; nasty, pagan stuff that yoga is…
September 24th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Pilates WILL get your heart pumping…
September 24th, 2008 at 11:29 am
I’d recommend something called ‘Walk Away The Pounds.’ Great if you haven’t exercised for a while. Brisk marching on the spot with added handweights - a whole series of DVDs. The basic premise is to march 1 mile in 15 minutes, but believe me it’s as hard as you want it to be, and I was always dripping with sweat by the end. I saw excellent results - shame I ddn’t keep it up when life got really busy. If you’re interested, I have some spare Region 1 DVDs I can post to you for you to try.
I’d also recommend strength training in general - try a book called ‘Strong Women Stay Slim.’ Small outlay for a set of dumbbells, and away you go. I went from nothing to 25kg, which doesn’t sound like much compared to what guys can do. I had to give up the gym because it didn’t open early enough for me, but I was doing a regular 30-minute workout covering all the major muscle-groups, and seeing some pretty amazing changes with the weights and regular swimming. (And of course muscle is metabolically-active so the more you have, the more calories you burn).
September 24th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Jules you got it. weights and cardio is the way to go
September 24th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
That walking DVD sounds good Jules - Ill try and find it on Ebay…I have to say its a year after I dropped 12kg (pounds?) and have successfully kept it off - walking and my ROWING machine
just 30 minutes daily and ive been pleasantly surprised by its effectiveness 
September 27th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Here’s a woman who lost 128lbs doing ‘Walk Away The Pounds’ and Weightwatchers:
http://hollyjp318.tripod.com/id19.html
They always sell lots of them on Ebay (274 when I looked just now); I’ve got quite a few of them (19), but some are better than others. I always seem to go back to a double DVD (pink cover - Get Up And Get Started, and High Calorie Burn) containing 1-mile and 2-mile workouts. It’s fun because it’s as if you’re exercising as part of her class.
I have some going up to 5 miles with a stretch band and all kinds of extra stuff split into sections, but I like these original ones best.
Just did the 1-mile with 2lb weights in each hand, and really feel the burn in my arms and shoulders because it’s been nearly a year since I did them last. At one point I was doing daily 4-8 miles with 8lb weights, and dropped a couple of dress sizes. If you don’t have hand weights, you could use long thin foodcans or water bottles, just as long as you can hold them safely.
http://www.lesliesansone.com/walk/
She does a good short Abs Workout, and I also like the Express Advanced 3-mile workout, and the 3-mile Super Fat Burning one. Muscle Mile One would be good for beginners, as would The Walk Diet (1 mile & 2 mile).
Purely for weights, I recommend a DVD by Kathy Smith called Timesaver - Lift Weights To Lose Weight.
For a good cardio + weights workout, I’d recommend Tom Holland’s ‘Total Body Workout.’ Certainly challenging but not impossible, even for someone like me.