Diet & Exercise

[dragnsfire]

So, my past attempts at exercising have not been very fruitful as my ankle keeps bothering me more and more to the point that I simply cannot keep up with the workouts.  I have acquired a couple DVDs with Yoga and Pilates in the hopes that although they are not high impact workouts, they will still help me on the course to losing weight and being

Comments

[felinaefelis]

I've dealt with similar issues due to lower back pain. Pain definitely demotivates when it comes to exercise. Yoga worked well for me to get my body moving again, but I don't think it's so useful by itself for weight loss. It's better for strength and flexibility. Aerobic exercise would help you lose weight faster. I suggest swimming, because you won't put any weight onto the ankle. I find it boring compared with other forms of exercise, but it will definitely give you a good workout.

[dragnsfire]

If I actually had a schedule where I could go to a community pool, I would so do that. Unfortunately, being on a graveyard schedule and sleeping during regular hours doesn't leave me very many options. Though I'll look into other low impact things. I think if I start losing at least a little weight it might help my ankle not be quite so bad, though I do need to see a doctor about it.

[dragnsfire]

Actually, I just thought of something. You do a lot of biking, how hard do you think that would be on my ankle? Maybe I can find an inexpensive bike to go around on for now if it isn't so bad.

[felinaefelis]

Your schedule probably makes a lot of things hard that the rest of us take for granted. :(

Biking will be less hard on your joints than running or walking is, but since the ankle will be bending and unbending over and over, you'll definitely work the ankle. But since you'd also be putting less weight on it and the motion is different from when you're walking, maybe it wouldn't be too bad. Maybe there's a shop around there where you can rent a bike and try it out a few times before buying one.

I did find that when I was biking a lot I was able to keep my weight under good control. This last year was bad because of my back, but I'm ramping up my miles again and it feels great! In the winter time, you could use a bike trainer, which is a device to which you attach your regular bike in order to convert it to a stationary bike. This is boring as h*ll, but at least it gives you a pretty cheap way to exercise when the weather is poor.

[rogue_78]

Woo! You can do it!

Some advice I learned from my Ultrafit classes I took before the wedding (lost over 10 lbs in 6 weeks)

Switch to fat free dairy, you can still have coffee just use fat free half and half or just fat free milk in your coffee. Moderately too, no more than 3/4 a cup per day. Same goes for cheese, sour cream etc. Fat free! If you like the soy versions, even better!

Splenda is your friend!

Use an olive oil spray on your cooking pans to cook food (I love Pam olive oil spray)=Less fats and calories than just normal cooking oil.

When you eat always combine a carb and a protien, if you just eat one OR the other you will get hungry faster. The stomach works harder/longer when you have both in the system ;)

Watah!!

Oh yeah and a site the nutrition instructor gave me is http://www.calorieking.com

You can find almost anything and know how many calories it has.

Lots of luck!

[dragnsfire]

Awesome! Thanks for the advice and the link. I'm gonna have to write all this down and bookmark that page! :-) I'm sure I can convince Trev to get some cooking spray, like Pam, to use instead of the oil we use now. We were actually talking about getting a water cooler as well, since our tap water -suck-. I'll see about the soy stuff too. You know how much of a cheese-aholic I am and how much I love dairy products in general...this is gonna be -hard- for me!!

[barbtheboss]

Good luck. Keeping track on the computer is great. Make sure you print out hard copy and keep it in a medical file so that it is available if you ever try to do a medical or surgical procedure for weight loss. The insurance companies insist on that sort of thing.

Meantime, check your local community pool to see if they have an early bird (or fish) open swim for adults. Some do, and then you can go in right before (or after, if he wants to join you) your husband gets off work. Swimming is by far the best overall exercise for lifetime fitness, as even old people can benefit. Most really high-impact aerobics have to be stopped after a certain age, but swimming can help all of your life. Wow! I may have just inspired myself . . .

[dragnsfire]

That's a good idea! I hadn't thought of early bird/fish kind of things. I'll check it out when I have a chance. Thanks for the suggestion! :-)