Aibu to think there must be some exercise I can do?

[Stressedgiraffe]

I need to lose weight. I have a terrible buddy belly. So need to find a cheap/free exercise I can do.
I have a knackered ankle so can't stand on it. Can only walk for about 30 mins without using a stick and needing to sit down.
Swimming is out as I can't see without my glasses- can only see about a ft in front of me. Would need to get prescription goggles.
I've tried yoga but don't have the balance anymore.
What can I do that is free/cheap?

I've also got my prescription goggles online. They're not the exact prescription as they sell them with various lenses but they're close enough.

You don't need to exercise to lose weight really. Obviously it's good for you and helps in all sorts of ways but weight loss will come from diet.

@Stressedgiraffe prescription goggles are really quite inexpensive! You can obviously spend a few hundred at an optician but you can get them off Amazon in standard prescriptions for about £20. I wouldn’t drive wearing them but they do the job of letting you see what’s going on around the pool just fine!

There are lots of exercises you can do whilst seated. YouTube has lots of ideas.

If your walking is restricted then find hills to walk up and down. They don’t need to be steep hills.

Shadow Boxing is fun and requires zero equipment or you can get a couple of very light weights (or tins of beans) to make it a little harder.

Is it worth investigating ankle supports so you can support the ankle whilst building strength? I agree with the pp about trying to strengthen the supporting muscles too so speak to your physio about options.

Doing all this will also help recovery when/if you do get a replacement.

Focus on what you can do, not what you can’t.

Best of luck making these changes, it’s not easy, but remember that exercise and focus on health are significant and real acts of love, not just for your family and friends, but for yourself too.

Can you not just wear your glasses for swimming? I have always had the most awful eyesight, practically blind without a very strong prescription.

I have always worn my glasses when swimming, or I don't know where I am. I just never duck my head under the water, just a gentle breast stroke and I can manage perfectly well.

Why not give it a try?

Do you do lots of the original physio exercises you were given? It's really important to keep up with them especially heel raises etc as when you start exercising your body can compensate and you end up using your good leg more than you should and you risk injury.

I'll look at swimming maybe get the kids to come with me.
I do the physio and they say there is a improvement but I can't see it.
The ankle bones are crumbling so no amount of physio will fix it.

Can you stand on the ankle for say 10 mins? You’d be surprised what you can do with a kettlebell without moving your feet much. If you can build some more muscle (not loads) then those muscles will naturally burn more calories. The bigger the muscle group the more effect this has so that’s upper legs and glutes, but you can chuck in arms and abs too. There are a lot of videos on YouTube that you can do and with a bit of practice you can adjust most exercises to low impact or to use knees vs feet etc.

If there is improvement then keep going, you need to get the muscles strong for when you do have the replacement. It's odd what you don't notice yourself.

Can you fit goggles over your glasses? You don’t really need to see that far ahead of you when swimming anyway tbh.

I’d try something low impact like yoga and Pilates. You can also lift weights sitting down, plenty of videos on YouTube.

If you haven't got one already,try a walking pole rather than a stick,they make a huge difference to how far I can walk. They're not expensive,about £20.

I agree with weight training. Although weight loss is calories in/diet, weight training uses a lot of calories. Look at the chair workouts and start with a resistance band. Keep a food diary on My fitness pal and work out your TDEE.
https://tdeecalculator.net/

Get the prescription goggles. Game changer

Exercise will overall make you feel an awful lot better but it won’t (in and of itself) shift loads of weight annoyingly.

just as an aside, if you have osteoporosis or trying to prevent it, weight bearing exercise is important so seated exercises alone aren’t great for that. Walking however is very good.

in terms of your ankle, is it that it aches or that it gives way? Just to say that there is a reason why ankle replacements aren’t offered to young patients and whilst it is relatively good at improving pain, there are significant downsides. It’s not something I would undertake lightly.

I usually run, but keep a static bike for when I am 'off my feet' due to injury. Can turn the resistance up to max and watch TV whilst getting in some miles!

Maybe look on YouTube/ online for wheelchair based exercise and use a chair sitting down- all movement is good. When your watching TV/ use a hand weight / circle your legs etc

My ankle aches all the time. It crunches when I walk and it feels like I have shards of glass around it. It dislocated/ comes out alignment on a daily basis. Permanently swollen.
I've broken it about 6 times from it giving out. I also have a metal plate holding my leg and ankle together.

Try Lucy Wyndham Read. She is a truly lovely online trainer with lots of short workouts that are excellent for beginners and the unfit. Many are floor based and/or come with easier variations for those who struggle.

I have these prescription goggles - good enough to see well at the pool with:

https://www.speedo.com/adult-hydropure-optical-goggles-black/13102117.html

But does your pool have some shallowish, waist-high-water bits? As it sounds like pool walking could be very good for you.

I follow Justin Augustin on Insta and subscrIbed to the app. The excercises are really gentle and about mobility, stability and getting moving. Some are lying down in bed!

Won't contribute much to weight loss I guess, but helpful if you feel under confident to get moving.

Oh and if you can get help with transporting it, you can often pick up very cheap/free exercise bikes on Gumtree. Might be worth a look?

There are loads of free online yoga classes, for all levels, and all durations. There are also some seated yoga ones.

If you're in a pool swimming lanes, you don’t need to see much. Also look at if your pool does aquafit/aquarobics sessions.

You don't have to focus on big exercise sessions. Look at fitting in 10 minutes here and there, be it walking or whatever rlse (there are certainly several 10 minute yoga videos online.) Do more than one 10 minute session a day, if you can, be it morning, afternoon, evening, however you split it out. But even if you only manage one, that's 10 minutes more than none.

You can walk/jog up and down the pool. The support from the water should help your ankle as it will take the weight of your body. But it also provides some resistance which means you will strengthen your muscles.

What do you mean you are 'too young for the NHS to do it'? If under 55 they would often consider other things if possible - has everything been ruled out?
I would pursue more advice on what options there are - have you seen a consultant? Apologies if every avenue exhausted.

https://www.prescription-swimming-goggles.co.uk/swimming-goggles - they are cheap (under £20), you do not need your exact prescription, just the nearest you can get will mean you can see well enough to swim and not walk into walls at the pool.

Aquarobics do not require you to put your face in the water. It is fine to do them in glasses . Also just walking up and down the pool is very good. Focus on a natural walk with naturally swinging arms and properly placed feet. It's harder than it seems as your tendency will be to walk in the way that causes least resistance, but the whole point is to use the resistance of the water to challenge your muscles, while using the support of the water to help you do things you can't do on dry land.

Don't use contacts and goggles. Yes, you can do this, but it puts you at a high risk for corneal infections.

My prescription is something like -8, plus astigmatism, plus age-related shortsightedness, plus it's unstable and I need new glasses every couple of years. Prescription goggles would be more expensive than I'm willing to fork out for.

A few years ago I got some wonderful, inexpensive, corrective goggles from Decathlon. You bought the frame and each lens separately so you could customise to your eyesight. The strongest lens they had was similar to my stronger eye but not strong enough for my weaker eye. I can't read a book using them, but they are perfectly adequate for seeing signs at the pool, other swimmers etc. More than perfectly adequate - they have transformed my swimming experience.

Prescription goggles are less than £20 at Asda, if that helps. I bought some and they're brilliant.