Totally unfit and overweight - how to get myself going?

[gruffalosmile]

Okay, well now that I am nearing the end of the Christmas mince pies and bottles of Baileys I am starting to think about the New Year. I do want to lose weight but more importantly to tone up and be fitter so less puffing and panting. I used to be a gym bunny but those days are long gone. I have asthma and big boobs so don't tend to like running. I do have an exercise bike in the garage (currently in pieces but this could be fixed). I am very skint so can't afford gym membership or fancy equipment. I work during the week and DH is away in the week so I hardly have any child free time. Any ideas oh wise ones? Ideally I want something where I can build up my fitness levels gradually and make it part of my lifestyle not something where I go hell for leather for a couple of weeks and then pack it in.

I'll give you my standard response - because it works for a lot of people

go to your nearest pawnbroker
get a wii, a wii fit board and the software - should cost about £80 all up
and get going on wii fit
the balance, yoga, step and hula hoop games are actually surprisingly good
you do them at home
the kids can join in
20 to 25 minutes a night, every night, and you will get results surprisingly fast.

Take the stairs every time

Leave the car at home and cycle or walk a few journeys a week instead, or get off the bus a few stops sooner if you use PT.

Play outside with the kids

How about increasing your walking? Low impact and you could fit in a few minutes here and there - maybe at lunchtime?

I've enjoyed using an exercise bike while watching tv.

Do you have any Christmas cash you can scrape together to get a pedometer or something?
Set yourself some goals.

And exercise DVDs. Your library might have some, or loads of stuff is on YouTube including The Shred level one in its entirety.

just noticing that you work ....
Ban yourself from using any lifts or escalators - it soon clocks up.

If you can, at lunchtimes or other breaks take a 5 minute walk in the fresh air (weather permitting) as that will improve your cardiovascular system which will help a tad with the athsma

this time of year is really hard - hence the wii suggestion

also, make a point of you and DH and the kids going out for a walk every weekend morning - even to get a pint of milk
as activity breeds activity

depending on your work, try to stand up as much as you can - you constantly tone your postural muscles when standing ...

I'm going to watch this for ideas. A couple of weeks ago I thought I'd start doing 5 minutes dancing when I come down to make tea in the morning before anyone else is up. Jesus! Bad move! I'm sure my boobs used to stay roughly in the same place without a bra when I was younger!

I know you say you don't like running, but I found couch to 5k a really good place to start. It has worked wonders for me. You can get a free download from the NHS website, and it does start you off really slowly, my very overweight, asthmatic friend was able to manage it. You would need about 30 mins 3x per week so it's not too time consuming. Are the DCs big enough to jog along with you?

Also, if you have an IPod or iPhone, you can get free pedometer apps, I found this really encouraged me to walk a bit more every day.

Dingle
Dancing is really hard on your joints when starting out and if carrying excess weight, and yes, sports bras are essential for those with more than a handful of boobs.

Go downstairs. While the kettle is boiling,
march on the spot, lifing your knees as high as you can.
Pour water over teabags.
Walk back and forth to fridge 20 times before getting milk.
While tea finishes brewing,
do step touches (step to the right, feet together, step to the left, feet together) for another three minutes.
Take the teacups back up one at a time so you do the stairs twice ...

that will start to clock up pretty fast

Start by taking a walk around the block, after a few times make the walk slightly longer, then longer again etc etc

That's how hubby and I started and it really helped make a difference. We found it far better than using the wii.

Thanks for your ideas. I do actually have a wii fit, I had forgotten about it! Ditto some exercise DVD's in a cupboard somewhere.

Walking I can do, but on days when DH is away it means I have to leave the DD's at home, they are 12 and 9 so a short walk is fine but I don't like to be out long especially on dark nights.

I guess I am going to have to start insisting on half an hour in the living room by myself to do some exercise - usually it's got the DD's in it, watching TV or just hanging out, but there's no reason they can't go to their rooms for a bit.

My job involves being on my feet a lot but no stairs anywhere nearby or escalators for that matter so I can't see I can make work any more active - I work with small children and we already do things like yoga, music and movement etc during the day.

I have thought about coach potato to 5k but really am bad at running - I seem to find it very hard to organise my breathing, does it really work for complete beginners? Would I need special running shoes? I have trainers but I think they are just generic ones.

Thanks for the ideas, all food for thought.

Do the kids have bikes?
Would they cycle while you fast walk?

Yes, C25K really works, even for those of us who never ran for anything other than a bus (big noorks here too - you NEED a decent sports bra).
generic trainers should be OK initially. If you get into it, I'd suggest a running pair. Look at wet foot test and then disappear to sports direct, who label shoes for different arches if you want cheep, but sensibly supported shoes.

I do not run - nadgered knees - so c25k is right out

rather than kicking the kids out of the room, get them to join you : wii fit is great for that or hula hoops

at work, try to sit down as little as possible and resist all snacks

if your kids are 12 and 9 they are more than capable of a mile or two in the evening - then you are setting THEM up with good health habits -
and come the summer you should all be able to manage 4 or 5 miles without batting an eyelid

My boobs aren't particularly big, they just seem to have got longer and more 'elastic' with age.

I've been reading up on how to overcome procrastination, and the main case study was a very overweight and overworked mum with a full time job. Instead of saying she should work out 30 mins 3x per week, the doc asked her to exercise (fast marching or star jumps - something to raise heart rate) for one minute during commercial breaks while watching TV. Just one minute a day.
She built up from there.

So I suggest start with something so unbelievably easy to achieve that you just can't fail: one minute marching, once a day for a week, then two minutes, or every ad break.

Decide to be a tiny bit more physical in your daily life. Put plates and glasses on higher or lowest shelves so you have to stretch and squat to reach them. Always squat down properly when you take washing out of the machine or unload the dishwasher etc. those squats add up in a day - you'll have done 20 a day easily and at the end of a single week, you notice it.

Always climb stairs in shopping centres and at work. Just one extra flight, if you get breathless, then keep adding a flight until you never use escalators or lifts.

Be the first to answer the door and reach for the phone. These sound like nothing but lots of tests reveal the really skinny people who apparently eat what they like and never get fat have that perpetual motion thing going. DS1 has. he stuffs his face and is skinny. DS2 is very static and eats the same or less but is pretty cuddly. The difference is, one curls up to watch tv and doesn't move a muscle. The other wriggles and fidgets and gets up to fetch water, answer the phone, the door, fetch snacks for others, go to the loo etc, that's a couple of hours either constant movement or no movement a few times a week, and it really adds up.

Final top tip: when you have a snack craving between meals, drink a big glass of water first then count to 50. If you still have the craving drink another glass of water. If you still have the craving, eat. But chances are, you won't.

I've lost 7lbs since October without dieting by doing this stuff. Not a lot, but given that I've chomped my weight in chocs and marzipan, not bad either.

Also, do something, anything, physical with the DC for two hours each day at weekends - walks, bike ride, swim, C25K, climb a hill, kick a ball round the park, water fights, gardening, trampolining, sledging, snowball fights, skating, pedaloes in the park. Anything - just keep it up for two hours both days.

Or if they do sport, go and watch but pace the sidelines the whole time, don't stand still.

It's very motivating to be helping your DC get fit as well as much better fun than slobbing out at home together.