Joining a gym

Red Corvette

I need some motivation to lose weight and thinking about joining a gym. I might try a three month membership first but does anyone get a discount on membership. I just want to know if it's worth my while asking for a discount.

Tenigate

Depends on the gym.
Students, pensioners, employees of a company who agreed a corporate discount.
The rate for 12mth membership usually works out cheaper. Many gyms do seasonal discounts.

Remouad

If you're a exercise beginner I'd recommend signing up for some classes instead of joining a gym.

That way you have someone who will have a planned exercise routine, can show you proper technique and motivate you when you need it.

monkeysnapper

I'm no professional but I do a bit of running and cycling , and I have lost no weight and need to lose about a stone, I put it down to my poor diet and feel although I'm pretty fit it isn't making any difference to my weight.

So I need to address diet this winter and go from there.

As for motivation I'd beat the streets if possible and get a route organised , even if it means fast walking, get strava on ur phone and get that time down, maybe slip a sneaky jog in .

I'd use money on a decent pair of runners .

That's my 5 cent worth anyway

Tenigate

monkeysnapper wrote: »

I'm no professional but I do a bit of running and cycling , and I have lost no weight

Given your results, i think the gym membership would be a better investment than a pair of runners.

monkeysnapper

Tenigate wrote: »

Given your results, i think the gym membership would be a better investment than a pair of runners.

Don't agree .The best investment is in runners , the rest you can do without . if the diet is all wrong that's got to be place to focas on .

Tenigate

monkeysnapper wrote: »

Don't agree .The best investment is in runners , the rest you can do without . if the diet is all wrong that's got to be place to focas on .

yea. diet's the main thing. but you don't have to pay €150 on runners. money's better spent joining the gym and using their equipment.

monkeysnapper

Op wants to lose weight and be motivated, talks about discount . maybe he or she is on a budget.


Good runners don't need to be 150 od , hell I got mine in an outlet centre for 55 euro (Pegasus Nike) I see a site in UK m&m direct sell last years runners asics for 50/60 euros.

I'm not putting down gyms but lifestyle is long term . Diet/ exercise, fitting it into lifestyle.

tevey08

Honestly I would say concentrate on your diet first. You would be surprised with the weight you would lose from just eating proper. Walking and running the roads I found to be great. Also spinning classed were good. I find the gym to boring and after a few weeks the novelty of it wares off. Set yourself a target for a 5k or 10k run and do it in a few months. I lost 3 stone over the space of a year and running and diet was key to this.

Remouad

tevey08 wrote: »

Honestly I would say concentrate on your diet first. You would be surprised with the weight you would lose from just eating proper. Walking and running the roads I found to be great. Also spinning classed were good. I find the gym to boring and after a few weeks the novelty of it wares off. Set yourself a target for a 5k or 10k run and do it in a few months. I lost 3 stone over the space of a year and running and diet was key to this.

This

To lose weight you need a proper diet.

Exercise is about getting/being healthy. Weightloss, if it happens, is a bonus.

Try a couch to 5k program.
Try some classes.

Figure out what type of exercise you enjoy doing and you'll find it much easier to keep it up.

Red Corvette

To be honest I'm hoping to go to the gym instead of reaching for a pack of biscuits in the evenings. I just need something to start my motivation.

Alf Veedersane

Just start going. Sign up. If you wait until you've found that motivation, god knows how many packets of biscuits you will have put away instead in the meantime.

So sign up, out together a timetable for going and start going. Before long you'll be subconsciously thinking "It's Xday, so gym later".

Red Corvette

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Just start going. Sign up. If you wait until you've found that motivation, god knows how many packets of biscuits you will have put away instead in the meantime.

So sign up, out together a timetable for going and start going. Before long you'll be subconsciously thinking "It's Xday, so gym later".

I know it's mostly diet when it comes to losing weight. But the evenings are the hardest for me. If I spend time in a gym, I might think twice reaching for a pack of biscuits. The weather isn't always the best here. I done it all before and joining a gym has always helped with my motivation.

Alf Veedersane

Red Corvette wrote: »

I know it's mostly diet when it comes to losing weight. But the evenings are the hardest for me. If I spend time in a gym, I might think twice reaching for a pack of biscuits. The weather isn't always the best here. I done it all before and joining a gym has always helped with my motivation.

Then stop having biscuits etc at home.

Red Corvette

Can anyone tell me how direct debits work when signing up for gym membership?

I'm looking at prices for gyms and I was going to go with a three month option but that's almost half of a 12 month membership. So it makes sense to go with 12 months. But not sure I can afford a lump sum in the one go. They have an option to pay monthly but doesn't say anything about a contract. I think I would like the option to cancel anytime. I can't find their terms and conditions online.

Mr Velo

Why not just start walking/running instead of reaching for that pack of biscuits? A lot cheaper alternative to forking out money for a gym, which in my experience gets boring (spent a full year going) and you don't actually lose as much weight as you possibly think you may.
As already alluded to earlier in the thread,diet is the key thing here, so just ditch buying the biscuits and get some more exercise.

Tzardine

My opinion, for what its worth is to save your money and avoid the gym.

Get your diet right. This is the critical part, and also the hardest unfortunately. You need to commit to it. In the past I had a shocking diet and a very sweet tooth. Cut it all out, cold turkey. First week or two is tough, then it gets a lot easier.

Buy a good pair of runners as others have said, but you dont need to break the bank.

Buy a basic weight bench and set of weights. Cost you about €100 in Argos. Lift light weights 3 days a week, build up the weight / reps gradually over time. Run 3 days a week too. Start off slow. Even if you only run for 5-10 mins.

Getting fit / losing weight is a very simple science. Eat Less (and right) - Move more. Give it 2-3 months and you will start to see and feel the benefits.

Good luck with it.

Red Corvette

Mr Velo wrote: »

Why not just start walking/running instead of reaching for that pack of biscuits? A lot cheaper alternative to forking out money for a gym, which in my experience gets boring (spent a full year going) and you don't actually lose as much weight as you possibly think you may.
As already alluded to earlier in the thread,diet is the key thing here, so just ditch buying the biscuits and get some more exercise.

I had the most motivation when losing weight by using a gym before. I lost 70 lbs but unfortunately the weight is back on again. The evenings are the toughest for me. It's so easy to sit inside munching on biscuits. By joining a gym, it might give me motivation to get outside of the house and do something instead of reaching for crap food. It's not only about the diet, it's how you think as well. I just need the initial motivation which hasn't happened in the past 10 months.

Alf Veedersane

Like I said, you need to kickstart motivation. None of us have it all the time. But you need to want to make that change now or you won't act now.

As for exercise, it's up to you. The exercise you're likely to keep up is the one you enjoy. There's good reason for doing resistance training too but you can build to that if needs be.

As for people saying "I found the gym boring", that's irrelevant because they're not you.

But get your arse in gear now or it'll be another 10 months and a lot of packs of biscuits band you'll be at the same point. And stop having packets of biscuits in the house.

Red Corvette

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Like I said, you need to kickstart motivation. None of us have it all the time. But you need to want to make that change now or you won't act now.

As for exercise, it's up to you. The exercise you're likely to keep up is the one you enjoy. There's good reason for doing resistance training too but you can build to that if needs be.

As for people saying "I found the gym boring", that's irrelevant because they're not you.

But get your arse in gear now or it'll be another 10 months and a lot of packs of biscuits band you'll be at the same point. And stop having packets of biscuits in the house.

I just need something to start the motivation. Even two or three months in a gym. This time I'm looking at prices. I think maybe a monthly option if they will allow me to cancel whenever I want.

Alf Veedersane

I'd suggest getting some sort of program for what to do in the gym so that you're not going in wondering what you'll do because it's easy to lose momentum.

I'd also think about why you put back on the 70lbs you lost previously because that's going to be key in helping you lose weight and keep it off.

Dtp1979

Red Corvette wrote: »

I just need something to start the motivation. Even two or three months in a gym. This time I'm looking at prices. I think maybe a monthly option if they will allow me to cancel whenever I want.

You’re not exactly going in with the right attitude if you’re looking for a bail out option when things get tough. A monthly gym membership is probably cheaper than a months worth of biscuits.

Cake Man

"A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week." - George Patton

tevey08

The best motivation you'll get is when you step on the scales and you see the first few pound falling off. After that'll you become addicted to losing more weight. Nothing better than seeing results.

monkeysnapper

Like I said earlier in thread , get strava on phone and start doing laps around nice areas of town . I actually bought new runners today ,

Tevey.... You put runners in my head this week and cost me 51 euros today!!!! Nike zoom span .

Anyway time your self doing this lap , somewhere between 5/10km run walk crawl, what ever it takes . chuck on some music . don't worry about rain ... If you get cold run .

Time your self 3 times a week , get that time down .

Eat real food .. Nothing processed, rice/ greens/ nuts / no white bread .

Who ever does shopping, remind them to cut out the junk.