Clever ways to build in exercise

[nightswim]

Am very overweight and really want this year to be the year I make a change. Never get round to finding time to exercise. Interested to hear how others exercise and how much people do - especially if fitting in round work and looking after small children on your own!

Walking is the best form of exercise for fat loss. And it's extremely easy to fit in!

I walk about 30 mins a day - could probably build that up to 60 quite easily, but does it really make that big a difference?

I’ve ordered a walking treadmill to go under my desk. My job is a lot of meetings and a lot of reading/clicking so hoping I can walk while doing those at a fairly slow pace, but still better than sitting hunched over my desk like a goblin for 9 hours a day.

If you get the bus to work then get off a stop early. On your lunch break go for a brisk walk.

I regularly hit over 10,000 steps and hit the fat burn stage on my fit bit during the 10 minute walk to nursery from the bus stop.

yesterday my son (3) rode his bike and I walked alongside him at pace.

cleaning can be great exercise if you go at a pace- polishing, sweeping, scrubbing.

Exercise won’t make as much difference as your diet and nutrition. I’d concentrate on that. Exercise is, of course, good for you for all sorts of other reasons, though.

Yes walking is going to help you get fitter and you don’t need to join a gym but it’s mostly diet for weight loss.

I never understand people saying exercise doesn't make a difference. Of course if you're not changing your diet it doesn't, but when you are also changing your diet then burning some extra calories will help.

This might not work for you as I work from home, but I try to tack exercise on to things I'm doing in the day anyway. I start work early, then get dressed in my gym stuff and add a run on to the school run - head out of the school gates for a half hour loop and back to the car (we live too rurally to walk to school). Part of my problem is motivation and I find it helps to have someone else involved, so I have a couple of school mum friends I agree to meet and we run together.

@Swearwolf i think this is in context that if you don’t change your diet then exercise is going to have little impact on your weight. Exercise makes all kinds of difference to your cardiovascular health, strength, muscles etc but on its own, you can’t out exercise a bad diet. Also don’t rely on exercise to burn calories for you in a deficit as it doesn’t use what you think it does - a lot of calories on the apps and watches aren’t correct. It will be helping and adding to your every day deficit but you still need to put that work in separately and it has a bigger impact. Many people who lose a lot of weight don’t do anything specific apart from walk more and eat less. Not everyone can run (I can’t) or afford a gym or the time

@Menora I totally get that, and that's what I was saying too! It makes sense that it doesn't work without changing your diet, but people always trot it out saying it doesn't matter regardless, which is not true.

And yes, walking is good too and I know not everyone can run. I just mentioned it as it's how I jam exercise in. Walking works too of course.

I used to get up before my DC and exercise then. Even if it was only 15 mins, it was always something rather than nothing. Take your DC to school on the bus and jog back and vv in the evening.
Run to the shops and then do the shopping and carry it back on foot (strength training!) or the bus.
Run to work and shower and get ready there if they have facilities.
If you wfh, get dressed in your exercise clothes in the morning and go for a run at lunchtime. Again, even 30 mins gives you time to shower and have lunch in an hour lunch break.

I am another one saying unless you hit the gym from zero to many hours then it isn't going to make much difference if you don't change your diet.

But exercise is good for you. And what I find is by changing your diet slowly while exercising you start to see how fitter you feel. Suddenly you realise you aren't out of breath running for the bus etc. And dropping fat from slowly eating better means you can exercise more because you aren't trying to move as much body weight about. So if you can do both things they complement each other.

As for fitting exercise in. I do 20 mins each day of low impact cardio or weights following a free you tube video in my living room. This is first thing in the morning so I can throw on old clothes, exercise then shower for the day. That is on top of my usual walking about. I can convince myself that 20 mins is doable and as it's at the start of the day then nothing can derail my brain into thinking I should skip it.

Sort your diet out first - that’s something that takes hardly any time out of your day and it’s an easy win. . I did keto. I didn’t go and do any exercise at all until the first three stone came off, I was scared of injuring myself.

Walk as much as possible. Ideally carrying shopping. Walk in your lunch break too, even if its somewhere dull like 15 mins around a business park.

Walking is amazing. People underestimate how good walking is for us.
It helps us manage our stress and anxiety, it's good exercise for our muscles, reduces risk of many illnesses including diabetes and heart disease.
It can increase our energy, improve our mood and mental alertness.

Keep walking but weight loss will mainly come from food. Reduce sugar and carbs, eat healthy meals made from unprocessed food.

Oh and I tweaked my diet a bit and started the 20 mins exercise every day just over 2 months ago and I am 3kg down.

Doesn't sound much but when I exercise I don't feel as much wobbles. My jeans fit again and when I had to run after the dog I bounced along comfortably which I can guarantee you I couldn't before starting out.

Those two small things made a difference physically and mentally.

I cycle as my main mode of transport as much as possible.

It will make a difference if you combine it with managing your diet.

But honestly, the person who said walking is the best form of exercise for fat loss is wrong. Walking is great and very beneficial for lots of reasons, it is good exercise and also benefits mental health, you get fresh air etc.

But the best exercise for fat loss is something that gets your heart beating and gets you out of breath. You might need to be moving a bit faster than walking in order to do that (depending on your fitness level).

Diet is also really important of course - if not more important - because if you are eating way too much, you will struggle to burn it off with any amount of exercise.

Move as much as possible.

I walk all the time but if I have an odd day when I'm not going to hit my 10k steps and it's too wet to walk I do silly things like taking laundry upstairs one item at a time 😂

I'll also put music on in the kitchen when I'm cooking and dance to it. Glad my neighbours can't see into my kitchen.

@circlesand no it’s not wrong but you have taken it out of the context it was intended
a leisurely walk is not going to help much. No one is advocating a leisurely walk

a fast walk where you get out of breath a little for 30-60 mins is proven to make a difference to fat loss. But here is an interesting study if you want to read it about slow walking having an impact too.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8840715/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1728869X23000266

No one needs to join a gym or buy exercise equipment or learn to run to lose weight. Walking is fine. It’s better for your knees than running is. It’s free and easy to do for anyone of any ability level. Please don’t discourage anyone from walking more. This is why people get confused and put off making changes as the info is so conflicting. I have personally lost a lot of weight just from walking and so have lots of other people. It doesn’t need to be complicated. You don’t need to buy a fitness watch and know your HR to know if you are getting a little sweaty or pushing yourself

I've recently started doing a few rounds of squats/sit ups and press ups whilst the kids are in the bath. After I wash them, I let them play for 5 minutes and add in a little rounds of squats etc.. whilst I'm still in the bathroom and watching them obviously!.
It's not much but I get a quick spike in my heart rate. You could easily add a few more moments in your day like this if only 5 minute rounds. Good luck

Walk run or cycle to work.
Pack leftovers of heathy meals for lunch
Don't eat any snacks

There was a poster here once who said that they'd lost a few lbs over the past couple of weeks or so by doing nothing else except going for a short walk after dinner.
I always remembered that and think it would be such a good habit.

Try to find active things to do with the kids - put some music on and dance with them, do running around games, lift them up, hop on the equipment with them at the playground. They'll love that you're getting involved and you can fit in a surprising amount that way. Similarly if you take them to activities, find things that you can do while they're in the classes - often there are good facilities at hand e.g. I nip to the gym for a quick 20 minute blast while my son is swimming, even if there's no space you can fit in a quick run or walk while he's at other classes (C25k app is brilliant for building up to being able to run).

As PP have said also look at how to fit movement into your daily routine by walking or cycling on daily errands, ideally carrying stuff to build up strength. If your job is sedentary, try to move at least once an hour, or failing that do seated exercises (this is really important as sitting too long is not good for your health).

Finally think about ways you can fit little bits of strength work into your day - standing on one leg or doing calf raises while brushing your teeth, doing a plank or squats while the kettle boils. I keep a resistance band in the kitchen which I can use for all sorts of different exercises during food prep. Building muscle is so important for long term health and independence and it's amazing what you can fit in.

I had a personal trainer for a while and he said to me that the key to losing weight is done 80% in the kitchen, and 20% in the gym.

Sort your diet first and then concentrate on exercise.

to those saying exercise doesn't make a difference much, it can do for certain people. e.g. if you have ADHD or low dopamine it can raise dopamine which means you will not feel the need to reach for food like you would when your dopamine was low. It can distract you from hunger. It raises energy levels and makes you feel more positive in general. As someone with ADHD I always find that I never want to eat as much when I exercise. So to write it off is not always helpful! It helps beyond the calories it burns!