Home exercising

smurfbaby

Hi all,

Read this board regularly and would appreciate some advice. I cant afford to join a gym at the moment but would like to incorporate some more excercise into my daily routine.

Info: I'm around 5'4'' and weigh 8 stone 12 lbs. I would like to lose a few pounds and tone up, most specifically my thighs and stomach.

Current diet:
Breakfast- Porridge with skimmed milk + chopped fruit
Snack-piece of fruit, sunflower seeds
Lunch-sandwich on wholemeal bread/Beans on wholemeal toast/poached egg on wholemeal toast
Snack-another piece of fruit, handful of nuts
Dinner-fish veg & brown rice/baked potato veg & chicken/beef stir fry & brown rice

Treat myself to a take away/meal out at the weekends, maybe carvery on Sundays as well. Also would have a packet of low fat crisps/small bar of chocolate 2/3 times a week.

Current exercise-walk a mile each way to train station every day, walk at lunchtime, also walk dog every evening.

I know I dont have a lot of weight to lose but i really would like to tone up and shift any excess weight without joining the gym if possible (saving for house at the moment). Not sure if running would be the best way to achieve this, or exercise dvds, home yoga etc. Also I have made a lot of changes to my diet over the last few years and have cut out a lot of junk so not sure how i can further modify this. If Im going wrong somewhere please tell me!

any advice appreciated

accensi0n

Stop eating the crisps and chocolate bars and get a bit more cardio in there.
Go for a cycle on the weekends.

Theres better things to snack on than crisps and bars, just do a search, they've all been mentioned on the forum in the past.

Reyman

Do some running! For legs and cardio.

Walking won't get you anywhere (except to the train station). You have to challenge your body if you want improvements.

g'em

Reyman wrote:

Walking won't get you anywhere (except to the train station). You have to challenge your body if you want improvements.

not necessarily. there's nothing wrong with brisk walking if its done as nice long sessions, and low intensity cardio is more likely to burn fat calories- big difference between a leisurely stroll and walking fast enough to really get you heart pumping, plus there's less risk of injury. Running isn't for everyone, and if you're not particularly fit, trying to run and getting wheezy after 5 minutes is a sure fire way to discourage someone from doing it again!! Better to find what suits your lifestyle, do it 4-6 times a week and really stick to it than do something half-heartedly and get nothing out of it.

justsomebloke

smurfbaby wrote:

Not sure if running would be the best way to achieve this, or exercise dvds, home yoga etc.

In realtion to the running how do you know it won't be the best way untill you try it, go on give it a go it's free (well maybe wait a couple of weeks till teh weather gets better). Also some weights they are generally pretty cheap and will add some variation to your routine and help build up a bit of muscle to help give you better shape and there are lots of exercises you can do with them. Also buy a mat that you can do sit up and other things like pressups etc on. It doesn't have to be a home yoga but it will help to burn off soem calories.

also with the walking make sure you are walking at a brisk pace that elevates your heart rate a bit as this will be better then a slow to medium pace that most people walk at.

Is brisk walking actually good for burning off calories then?

smurfbaby

Thanks for the replies.
Should point out that i dont 'snack' on crisps and chocolate, they are more of a treat food a couple of times a week. I generally snack on fruit, nuts, seeds, ryvita. I guess my theory is that if I eat healthily 90% of the time I can still have the odd bar of chocolate of take away.
I do walk at a brisk pace, enough to have me quite out of breath. I know its not going to get me fit or burn off loads of calories but figured it had to be better than driving everywhere
I think running/jogging is where I should start, other posts Ive read suggest that early morning is probably the best time for this? Because I havent been exercising im afraid that Ill be too unfit to run very far! Hopefully this will improve through time...

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

r3nu4l

Hi there,

Yep, increase the cardio big time, also if it's tummy you want to tone then there are plenty of ab exercises you can do, I won't post about these because someone once told me that women should do different ab exercises to men (is this true? I don't know!)

Regarding your diet, looks quite good, I would cut the take out or if you get a burger, don't get chips, bring it home and eat some salad or beans with it, Likewise if you want chips, then grill a chicken breast and have that with it. If you are going for carvery then avoid creamy or cheesy sauces on your meat and veg, maybe a little gravy but not a lot.

Nuts and seeds are great, no doubt about it but be careful you are not eating too much as they will help you pile on pounds! I used to have porridge with sunflower seed, raisins and chopped walnuts everyday, now I just have the porridge and/or one of the three.

Minor changes and increased cardio will work wonders with toning exercises thrown in.