Workout plan needed

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-18-2005
Workout plan needed
8
Thu, 01-18-2007 - 7:29pm

how long of continous exercise will it take for me to like it or feel good doing it? how do i motivate myself again?
Last year and the year before I dieted and worked out for 5-6 months each year and then quit, because I did not lose weight and my joints( knees ankles) and feet hurt so much by the end of the workout and by the end of each week, and the gym reduced the hours it was open at the same time I was working later, then I fell and hurt my knee, and got tennis elbow and, and and. I found a series of stretches that I now do before getting out of bed that seems to have releived my foot problems. My gym has a treadmill, gliders and a weight machine circuit with steppers and jog pads. I am guessing they will go out of business soon as the cannot seem to attract members, but meanwhile I have a membership that starts back next month (was on hold due to knee injury) The first year I did circuits started at 20 min a day 3x week worked up to an hour 4x week, upping weights regularly. I was always tired when I got done, and my knees hurt more and more the more I worked out. Did not lose weight after 6 months, was tracking fat and calories etc on fitday. the gym went to a new owner and closed for a while so I started back had a 5 min stress test done by dr. first. literally 5 min, because that is all it took to reach my max heart rate, because I have a very fast heart rate. so I cannot use heart rate to measure progress. after a week diagnosed with tennis elbow. told to stop arm weights, so I started treadmill & gliders. 20 minutes 3x week to 45 min. 3x week again no weight loss, no reduction in heartrate, no feeling Better, my goal had been just to not be out of breath walking the qtr mile in from the parking lot and up stairs, but even that never improved, just knee pain. stopped when I fell and hurt my knee. hated every moment at the gym and coming home after. When I posted here two years ago, everyone yelled at me because I was doing 1000 cal a day. (age 58, 110 lb overweight, 4'10") and told me to eat more, so I went up to 1200 cal a day last year gained 10 more lbs and I am trying to eat every 4 hours, which when working my hectic job is not easy, and my new location has no fridge, no kitchen, micro etc. I am lugging up a 6pk of water every other day to the second floor. (no elevator) my knees are always sore now just from the stairs twice a day. at work I have added pria bars, apple, slim fast bars, occassional string cheese. (carrots, fruit, veggis, yogurt at home in addition to healthy choice, lean cuisine diet meals,salads, soup grilled salmon with vegis once a week, and tuna salad with low fat dressing once a week )

Please do not advise pool exercizes. there are none around me. I would not go anyways and probabably could not afford it and the last thing I would want is having to walk out into freezing cold with wet hair - my hair takes a long time to dry with a hair dryer, even the hair salons give up when I get my hair cut i have to leave with wet hair moist times - bad enough I was leaving the gym with wet sweaty hair and clothes because they have no changing rooms.

Avatar for susan970002
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-16-2003
Thu, 01-18-2007 - 10:35pm
Well, when you worked out before did you like what you were doing and did you feel good doing it? It's hard for me to get motivated but what I am done is come up with a plan where I get 7-8 hours of sleep each night and go to bed at a decent time, instead of like 12 or 1am like I have been doing. And when I get up, I'm going to eat a reasonable breakfast, take my medications, and then exercise and go throughout my day, drinking water, having a reasonable lunch and dinner. For exercise, I am now doing a Leslie Sansone video called Walk Away the Pounds - A One Mile Walk and I love it. It starts out with a warm up, brisk walking, and then a cool down and not to mention leg stretches at the end. I will eat reasonable and occassionally have a sugary snack but not to over indulge myself. This is what I am going to do and it seems simple to me, but will have to have the will power to stick to it. Maybe you can come up with your own plan. Did you have a plan before? Stationary bikes are excellent too if you have one. It's hard for me to stay on mine cause the seat wobbles but I am getting used to it. These are just some suggestions and I'm sure some of the other ladies on here will help to. Good Luck! -Susan
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-18-2005
Fri, 01-19-2007 - 6:21am
the workout itself was not bad Monday thru Wed.- just sorta boring there is a tv with the treadmill - hated rushing home from work changimg into ugly loose clothes and going back out to the gym. hated coming home with wet hair and wet sports bra. hated getting out of my car and going upstairs after the workout as my knees, ankles, feet, and back all hurt and there was a cumulative effect of working out so by the end of the week knees, back ankles hurt the most. just wondering with 100 lb overweight do I push myself to try to go 9 months working out or a year? what is the magic number to feeling better after a workout? I know in my 30's when I stopped smoking and gained 25 lbs, it took me a year to lose most of it and I only felt good the last few months of working out. I never lost the last five pounds even though I increased my workout time the last months then, when I was working out 6 x wk. for 1.5-2 hrs ea. until I broke my ankle and gained it all back in 2 wks. I actually loved the aerobics class at the end, eas almost addicted to it. (of course the instructors were all nasty making fun of me) then when I went back to the gym after and was getting back in shape got a stress fracture, - After the breaks, doing the modified aerobics with 1 foot on the ground to reduce impact was not at all half as fun anymore, then the gym closed. Never really ever liked any other exercise - never felt good doing anything
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-20-2003
Fri, 01-19-2007 - 7:19am

oh my, I can completely feel your frustration and dislike of exercise in these posts. It feels like you are doing it because you HAVE to, not because you want to.

What you need is an attitude adjustment. Stop doing the things that bring you pain. If you really hate the gym, sell your gym membership. There are a million other ways to exercise.

Do you like music? Dance in your living room, trying out sexy moves that you were always embarrassed to do in public. Are they belly dancing classes nearby? Or get an instructional dvd. Try the Exercise Bean - I just got one for xmas, and I LOVE it :) It's like a stability ball but better for the back. Get one of those old Richard Simmons dancing to the oldies. Take one room in your house and work so hard and fast that in a half hour to an hour its spotless. Try yoga, you can burn as many calories in yoga as you do in walking.

My point is find something you find FUN. Find the right time of day for you to exercise. I used to think I hated it, until I started to do it on my lunch break. Now I LOVE my time to get away and exercise.

There are 501 ways for you to exercise. Finding the right one for you is the key. Let the frustration of not losing, go. Because even if you aren't losing you are doing something postive for your heart, your muscles, your lungs and your joints.

http://dftools.ivillage.com/healthtools/calc_cb.cfm

try that link - it has a bunch of different exercises and shows you how many calories you can burn doing them at your current weight. You may get some ideas from there.

Also, I am on a 1000 calorie diet. If that works for you, then do it. Just make sure you are taking vitamin supplements too.

~ Kim
314/230/135

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-18-2005
Fri, 01-19-2007 - 6:52pm

thanks for the tool - it is quite weird and hard to use there are tons that atre much more user freindly on the web.
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/calories.htm, http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist.htm, http://www.lowfatlifestyle.com/calories.htm

- although it did not tell me which activites won't hurt my back or knees. I chose reclining in bed while watching tv LOL

and you are right - I do not want too because I feel worse after doing it. I cannot think of any "exercise" that will not do that. I would much prefer to diet only and then exercise when I have lost at least half of my weight and have energy and stamina to do it.

what I originally asked was how long does one have to exercise befor you feel good doing it. 6 months was not enough, should I try to strive for 7 months?

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-16-2003
Sat, 01-20-2007 - 3:38am

Hi, Surfergal! I can also feel your frustration and dislike of that gym and your exercise routine. I am also short like you (I'm 5'0") and older so I lose weight very slowly. I also have arthritis in my knees and lower back. What I concentrate on is eating healthy, taking care of my body and feeling better. If the scale moves slowly or not at all, so be it!

I think if the exercises are making you hurt worse by the end of the week, you need to stop doing those exercises or else reduce how many you do. I'd find a new gym and new trainer. They should not be making fun of you or making you do exercises that are painful to your joints. You can also do it on your own, though it is a bit harder. There is so much info available via the internet now; or if there's any way you can talk to a professional physical therapist, they can set you up with a gentle exercise routine until you lose some of the weight. You need to look into non or low-weight-bearing exercises on the knees, that still give you an overall good workout.

Have you been checked by a doctor also? Your thyroid, for one thing. I can't imagine gaining weight on 1200 calories a day if you're 100+ pounds overweight unless something is wrong with your metabolism.

I'm not doing a "formal" exercise routine yet either, but what I do is try to walk more: park further away from places and take the stairs up (not down; knees hurt!) when I can. I also recently got a pedal exerciser for my home. This is much less stressful than an exercise bike, and in fact I'm in the recumbent bike position while I'm sitting in a chair and pedalling, which is easier on those knees. I love it! I do it in front of the tv, and I pedal "super fast" during commercials and then slower while the show is on. Sort of my own version of interval training. I can feel it in my thighs and lower abs and it does get my blood circulating. I'm at about 30 minutes at a time right now. I highly recommend the pedal exerciser for a non-impact workout.

I also have a gym membership, good until 2008, that I haven't used in a couple of years. It's an all women's gym and no one has ever made fun or been mean to me. At least not to my face; I've seen a few looks here and there, but I ignore them; I really don't care what strangers think of me, and I'm taking care of myself! I intend to go back when the weather warms up and walk the track and do some weight training. I should be a little bit lighter by then too.

Well, after all this babbling...I guess what I wanted to say is don't stick with an exercise routine that hurts you, is too boring and/or you hate it. Exercise should be at least sort of fun and be something you look forward to for your muscles' sake. What kinds of things do YOU like to do? You said no pool exercises, but I love these. How far is the closest pool? You might try it in the summer, when it feels good to have wet hair for awhile! Walk at the mall, do exercise videos (the Walk Away the Pounds series is excellent) or just dance in your living room, as someone else mentioned. Just move more and do it regularly, and you will find it gets easier. I think of my muscles doing what they were "born" to do while I exercise; I imagine them thanking me and being all excited to "work out", since moving is what they live for! It helps.

Best wishes to you and keep posting to let us know how you're doing.

Mary #3
247/219.5/135

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-06-2006
Mon, 01-22-2007 - 7:59am

>>>how long of continuous exercise will it take for me to like it or feel good doing it? <<< For me, the most continuous period of exercise I did was for about 5-6 months. I never looked forward to exercising.. but at the beginning I had to force myself to do it.. towards the end there was less forcing (but still not a habit if you KWIM)


If you have bad knees, then by all means avoid stairs (if you can, well at least at the gym don't use the step machine or anything like that). I also noticed that when I used to go to the gym and use a treadmill, my knees hurt. I think because of the impact. Although I walk really fine on normal floor (I think the treadmill is harder, so more impact, anyways that's what happened with me). I don't have bad knees though, but I would say a recumbent bike would be a good option. Also exercise videos, there is a lot of variety available and you may find something interesting.


Last, check with your doctor, you may have a medical reason for not losing with a 1000 calorie diet.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 07-20-2003
Wed, 01-24-2007 - 7:17am

It took me 11 months and 60 pounds before I actually LIKED to exercise. And I still only LIKE to do it at lunch break.

~ Kim
314/229/135

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-15-2006
Wed, 01-24-2007 - 12:17pm
I am well over 100lbs overweight. I am wondering if u have sought the help of a dietician yet? I noticed that in your post u had said u worked out for 6 months without any weight loss. Perhaps by seeking a dietican that may help a little. I seen one back in December and now that I understand portion control and such it is helping me to take off the pounds. I was lucky and my insurance covered the 4 classes and then the follow-ups that are needed. I also noticed that u had said you have knee and ankle problems. Perhaps by starting off on a recumbent bicycle that would help out ur knees and ankles until you gain some strength in them.
Good Luck

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