Having fun while excersizing! Is it possible?

Nightporter

Nightporter

New member
Hello,

I used to be on this forum a long time ago, but I sort of stopped caring about my weight about this time last year, but I am starting to care about it again now... I thought I would come back and post since there are so many nice people here!

I'm not the type of person who can handle getting on an excersize bike/elliptical/treadmill and watch TV. First of all, I don't like TV, and secondly... It's so boring I can't concentrate on anything but the pains in my muscles and how slow the clock is ticking. .... However....

...Recently, for the first time in a long time the snow melted and I was able to go on a bike-ride outside (Granted, it did snow another foot the next day, but what can you do...) But I loved it!! It was not grueling or painful like the excersize bike at all. It was prettly flat with a few hills here and there (The potholes were the worst part) I only went a mile and a half, but I tell ya, I could have gone even longer. I had a revalation--This is something I could do every day! I began to wonder what other things I could do for fun...

... I already thought of one thing, I have a basketball hoop in my backyard and I could shoot hoops... There's also a park about 10 miles away (Long haul, but the closest thing) that has a trail (Wouldn't dare walk on my own road) I could bike/walk on. But, I do have a few tiny little minor questions...

A) What other excersizes do you find fun? I'm a tad limited because when I finally move back home in a month, I won't have the nice flat sidewalks to bike on, and I will have to bike on busy roads. ... Basically, my question is where can I go to bike, or do something fun? I have to admit I hate to excersize around people so I always try to find somewhere a bit secluded.

B) The area in which I (will) live has no sidewalks, busy roads, and a lot of hills. Not good biking/walking areas. Do any of you have the same situation, and if so, what do you do about it?

C) Since I'm a major food lover, I'm going to start excersizing to see if that helps me lose weight first. I have read in other places that say I will lose NO weight if I just excersize that I have to do some kind of diet. I am thinking if just excersizing doesn't work, I will slowly incorporate some kind of 'diet' (I hate the word!) I'm thinking of trying Low Fat since I can't seem to do Low Carb (I hate plain meat) Have any of you attempted this approach? Did it work for you?

Thanks so much for reading my post! ... And just incase you're wondering... At the moment I live in Northern Minnesota, but in a month I'll be moving back home to Tennessee.

Thanks again,

-N-
 
Well IMO the fun and alone parts are going to be hard to meld. If you have a willing friend or are social enough to join a class/club I would suggest tennis. My wife and I play each other and really enjoy it. We play a kinda weird version because we don't keep score and we are so bad that we actually have to make an effort to hit it "to" each other instead of away lol. It is great fun and a good work out. If you have a local bike shop they could suggest some riding trails. Thos are the kind of thing you never see until you look for them A former co-worker started biking and he told me about a "Rails to Trails" program where they had converted some local RR tracks to a bike trail. I lived here 9 years and never heard of it but this guy who moved from Kentucky found it in like 2 months because he asked around.
 
Thanks, Edco76!

Tennis sounds like a GREAT idea. My boyfriend used to play it, and I have been meaning to ask him for a while now if he would ever like to play me sometime. I think I will mention it to him... I'm sure he'd love to.

Thanks for the tips on how to find bike trails. Because of my lack of shape I'll probably have to walk the bike up a few hills at first... But I guess we all gotta start somewhere!

Thanks again,

-N-
 
Biking in my neighborhood is tough, it is the street or nothing, and the streets are city streets and I'm too afraid. Luckily we have walking tracks behind each cluster of buildings. When I excersied outdoors I don't find it particularly 'fun'. I would listen to music or a Podcast or an audiobook to help pass the time.

I now work out mostly in a gym where there is a TV on each piece of cardio equipment. But then I like TV, so it works for me.

As far as no dieting, if you watch what you eat, and I mean by watching fat and sugar but not going military about it, and excersise, I cannot see why you would NOT lose weight.

One would have to really experiement with their lifestyle to see what works. Me, I needed to do a lifestyle change with food. I don't 'diet', I just don't each much fat or sugar and I work out. If I don't work out I get fat. I HAVE to work out.

Good luck, you'll find something you will love to do.
 
Thanks, Busy91!

I used to do everything I could to NOT exercise outside because I didn't want ANYONE to see me. ... I'm still like that, but I'm trying to figure out a time when there will be the least amount of people around in my neighborhood. I don't live in the city, but all of my streets are pretty busy with no shoulder or sidewalk. Plus they're pretty hilly for me, the beginner.

I just think I'd be able to stick to a funner program that was outdoors rather than working out inside in the same place all of the time. I really like nature and weather and I love to be outside in my own backyard (where no one sees me, hehe) I just wish and wish that I could find a nice secluded bike path that's barely used LOL

Maybe as I lose weight I won't be so afraid to go outside to exercise.

-N-
 
Likes: Food
Dislikes: Exercise

LOL...That's my eternal problem. I haven't found ANYTHING that I liked doing in terms of exercise. I have these great ideas in my head of being a 5k runner, a swimming buff and all that. I would LOVE that, but I am in the worse shape of my life and I feel terrible doing exercises.

I joined an exercise class once, and because I couldn't do all the circuit training exercises, the awful woman put me in the back on a treadmill, I felt terrible! I am glad you found something that works!!!
 
I enjoy exercise that isn't in a structured environment. I couldn't do it in a gym, or even in front of a t.v. I have to be outside moving to enjoy it, (with the exception of swimming) so that's what I do. I go outside as much as possible.
 
LowFatMilk--I agree with you 100%! I'm not much of a TV person, and I love to be outside. (Mostly with shades on in a lounge chair sippin' a mint Julep, but hey I'm outside, eh?) I just got back from another bikeride. There was quite a bit of snow on the roads/sidewalks that I was able to avoid (and at times not; at least I didn't fall over and die!) I'd say I went about 4 miles, 5 tops. I was quite out of breath at times, but it helped having my boyfriend ride with me. Even though he's quite the cyclist he helps me and encourages me so much! :)

I think I might have found something I really like, here!

-N-
 
carrie3101 said:
Likes: Food
Dislikes: Exercise

LOL...That's my eternal problem. I haven't found ANYTHING that I liked doing in terms of exercise. I have these great ideas in my head of being a 5k runner, a swimming buff and all that. I would LOVE that, but I am in the worse shape of my life and I feel terrible doing exercises.

I joined an exercise class once, and because I couldn't do all the circuit training exercises, the awful woman put me in the back on a treadmill, I felt terrible! I am glad you found something that works!!!
Click to expand...

lol @ in the back on a treadmill. Did you have to wear a dunce hat?
 
I used to be terrified of the gym. Seriously. It was horrible. I completely understand, but encourage you not to give up on the gym idea because each time you go it gets a little bit easier :).

Here's another idea that used to work for me when I had gym-phobia: I would go to a nearby track. Most high schools have tracks that are open to the public. I'd go when nobody was there, or very limited amount of people. I would take my sister with me when it was getting dark. Anyway, there are lots of good track work outs to do. You can put your music/IPOD on, and I know a GAZILLION workouts that are good on a track.

Also, there are some pretty fun workout videos. I haven't really tried out too many. I know Carmen Electra has stripaerobics lol and there are some dancer-size and biggest loser work out dvds...

Hope this helps :)
 
I love the outdoors also. I am an avid hiker. I am glad you are enjoying the bike riding I think that is a great idea. Also you could try just putting some work out equipment outside. Or hang a punching bag. I am into mixed martial arts and used to box and I can tell you, women who try combat sports training almost always love it. You don't have to spar with people or join a gym. Just get a bag and gloves and a jump rope. Punching/kicking is a great workout. If you have tried tie bo or similar, trust me. It is much more satisfying to hit something that shadow box the TV.
Added bonus: You could whoop someones ass!

On a side note. I have hear that the strippercise videos can be very dangerous if not performed correctly. If you try that you may want to post some vids so we can check your technique:reddevil:
 
Hahaha, edco, I don't even know what the strippertease is!

You are def. right about doing stuff outside... I'm going to also try jumproping when I get back home. The place I'm living at now has absolutely NO yard, and not even a place to even go outside to sit down and enjoy the sunshine, it's a condo/townhome sort of thing.

We also might put up an above ground pool... I don't know what excersizing you can do in an above ground pool, even as Mitch Hedberg said the only reasons the commercials for above ground pools were 30 seconds long was because 30 seconds is the maximum amount of time that can be depicted of having fun in an above ground pool!!! *whew* But... It will still be a nice way I can get out of the heat after a half hour bikeride in the scorching heat.

We also have a drumset back home, and have you ever looked at a drummer? Those guys are so buff! (Like... Gavin Harrison for example!) So I could always practice drumming when I feel like being active indoors.

Right now I'm trying to get dear old dad to do some investimagating for me (for when I go home) to find some cool bike trails we could take. He is trying to get into biking too, so I have a feeling he won't blow me off on this one! :D

-N-
 
Oh I forgot to add... I love photography, and I love to photograph nature... A good reason to go for a walk/hike/trail!

... Just something for anyone who likes photography to think about!

-N-
 
C) Since I'm a major food lover, I'm going to start excersizing to see if that helps me lose weight first. I have read in other places that say I will lose NO weight if I just excersize that I have to do some kind of diet. I am thinking if just excersizing doesn't work, I will slowly incorporate some kind of 'diet' (I hate the word!) I'm thinking of trying Low Fat since I can't seem to do Low Carb (I hate plain meat) Have any of you attempted this approach? Did it work for you?

Hi Nightporter. Your problems very familiar for me. I was in the same situation when I started my weigh-loss program. I hated this word Diet and Exercise, but we know that without them, there are no way we can lose a weight. To cut story short what I did, I replace the word diet to "my meal" and the word exercise "shaking my fats out" I'm a major food lover too, since I began weight-loss program I learned that I don't need abandon my favorite food, I just need to make them smaller portions and still enjoy. About the exercise, I stared from playing squash as no one can see you there are (try yourself it is really fun to get that bloody ball). Try to do exercise at home it does not need to be long sessions, and you can do as many as you want. Every time I go on the kitchen to make a drink I do 5-10 press ups on the kitchen table. One day I ended up with 150, this exercise is good for shoulders plates, chest muscles, and tummy muscles. I hope that's helps.

Alexandra
 
I've been reading some posts and everyone seems to agree with Wii. Even my grandmother seems to be excited to try that out. I just asked about exercise videos a week ago and some one suggested this site: Workouts on Demand for good exercise videos downloads. I checked it out and it really was easy to download.

Besides that, I find playing with my nephews burns calories a lot :party:. They are so active!!! But I skip before they go hungry because that means I'll eat a lot too.
 
My experience has been if you do something long enough you get to like it eventually. I put my treadmill in front of my TV so I either listen to music or watch TV while I run. In the summer I bike outside, I might run outside this summer too now that I'm at the stage where I am not worried about my appearance and people seeing a fat guy running anymore.

I even got to the point where I love oatmeal, after eating it almost every single morning for nearly a year now I am at the point where I don't want anything else for breakfast.

At this point I am really looking forward to the outdoor activities of the summer, seeing my bike in the garage every day doesn't help winter go by any quicker.

So I would have to say it can become fun for you, at least it did for me. Once you get addicted to seeing the scale drop and seeing the inches disappear in the mirror that helps as well.
 
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