Johanne's Journal, 22 October 2010

Wow! I had no idea that it costs so much! My mom goes faithfully at 4:45 every weekday morning and I'm so glad she does. She doesn't eat as healthy as she should (loves fast food), but she does exercise and it balances things out a bit for her. Wish you could sign up! Have you ever tried Leslie Sansone's Walk Away The Pounds DVDs? They're actually fabulous. You'll be surprised at how they work you! 

I know the feeling, Jo. That was what prompted me to get my first exercise DVD, 10 minute Pilates Solutions. And it works great. I believe that it cost me $10 at Wally World and it included the resistance bands. The workouts are easy and effective. I have been trying to talk my mom into trying them. I started with them and before I knew it was moving up to Slim in 6. I found it for 10 on ebay! Good luck with what ever exercise program you can find to do.  

I haven't yet Whaea7. Steph, I was looking at the DVDs at Wally World this morning, and I think that's probably the way I'll go. I would also like to get one on Hatha Yoga, since I've never done it before. My frame is pretty fragile, so I have to work my way into all of this carefully, so hopefully I'll lose enough weight and build enough muscle to support it better. My son has a house full of equipment, but I drive an SUV and can't afford the gas to get back and forth every day. He's about 10 miles away. I was also looking at exercise equipment . . . balls, kettle bells, resistance bands, wrist weights, etc. What would you all suggest for a broke lady who's just starting out. (Yes, that "broke" stands for cash and body. LOL!)  

You don't happen to live near a Retro Fitness or Snap Fitness do you? I think Retro is mostly a local chain but they're like $20 a month in NJ and Snap is something like $35. I'm going to have to probably join something as it gets colder but I'm kind of leaning more towards somewhere I can swim which neither of the cheaper options have.  

I live in a tiny city east of Kansas City. We're lucky to have the Curves. :-) I haven't heard of Retro or Snap. I wish my son lived just a leeeetle closer. He has a Bow Flex, tread mill, exercise bike, etc. AND he has a nine foot movie screen I could watch movies on while I played. LOL! 

I would start with some exercises that don't even require equipment. Good old-fashioned situps, pushups and squats will go a long way. You can modify them as you need to, or simply do as many full ones as you can do, if you can do full ones. Concentrate on proper form, and doing the exercises properly, vs. number of reps. Here's a simple workout you can do in your living room: 10 situps 10 pushups 20 squats Repeat this as many times as you can in 20 minutes. As I said, modify where you need to. Pushups can be on your knees, or against the arm of the couch or the wall, instead of on your toes on the floor. Full situps can be modified to crunches, etc. Be mindful of what you can do now, and then as you get stronger, challenge yourself to do the full versions of the exercises if you have been modifying, etc. Good luck! :) 

Thanks runnette. I've been doing modified versions of things like that except for the squats. My 66 year old knees won't handle them. I have degenerative joint and disk disease along with arthritis, so I have to be pretty careful at this stage, carrying all this weight. That's one of the reasons I was hoping to join a club . . . so someone could evaluate and decide what I could safely do and teach me what proper form is. I think Steph and whaea7 are on the right track. I have found a beginners pilates DVD that might do the trick. I just have to wait until the third of next month (Social Security check) to order it. In the meantime I will continue to walk and do my modified "little old lady" chair exercises. Thanks for the advice. It's sound. 

I have had really good results with the Jillian Michaels exercise DVD. She has a really grating personality, but her workouts are technically very good. 

if you put in the words exercise video on You Tube... You will get 1000's of exercise videos that might be a help!! They appear to be shorter about 10-15 minutes... but a couple of those could actually be a good way to go!!!  

Thanks Runesinger and amy. I'll check them out.  

I'll be honest, I have a membership to Planet Fitness ($10 a month!), but I do some of my best exercises at home. I love to dance, so I actually make exercise routines to my favorite music, based on tempo and time. I bought an inexpensive pair of hand weights from Target and I use those as well. My favorite things to do is - stretching, dancing, bellydance, Yoga, crunches. Since I've been unable to workout at the gym, or at home for that matter, because of my leg, I have been taking it easy and making up modified routines so I can at least get in some form of exercise. It's been working thus far. My personal DVD recommendation would be the basic WATP the video. I have mine and if you want, PM your address to me and I will send it to you - no charge. (You don't have to send it back. I use her other workouts more often. *g*) It's a good workout and it's helpful to get back into the swing of things. 

@whaea7, thanks! I'll do that. 

Also, if you have a netflix membership you can get exercise DVDs sent to you (or watch streaming if you have the capability). You also might be able to borrow some kind of DVDs from your local library or rent them cheaply if you're not on netflix.  

I DO have a netflix membership. My son's gave it to me for Christmas a few years ago and keep it updated. I just called my tiny town library Friday and they said if they don't have it, they can get it for me through ILL. Thanks everyone. These are great ideas.