I haven't been an active participant in these Exercise threads, but as a devoted exerciser, I thought I'd provide some information for any "newbies" who might visit here in hopes of getting a good start in 2006.

Here are your keys to Exercise success:
--Establish a time of day when you can ALWAYS exercise. The best time is actually first thing in the morning, when other life activities are much less likely to intervene. You don't want to "decide" every single day whether or not you have time to exercise--the decision will eventually be "no" most of the time. If you are not a morning person, you'll have to work on it. Yes, your muscles might be cold and stiff from sleep, but a warm-up period will take care of that. You'll be done in no time! It's a great feeling of accomplishment to start the day. Start with 10 or 15 minutes only, and work up over a few weeks.
--Pick a form of exercise you enjoy. NOBODY can continue an activity they totally hate. Walking is easy--and there are many indoor walking routines that are very effective. If you can include some form of sport once or twice a week, so much the better. (Good luck getting your basketball team together at 6 a.m.--but you can figure it out!)
--Don't forget the value of ordinary movement: taking the stairs, walking the length of the parking lot, jogging with the dog.

Here are some online resources I visit frequently:
-- www.videofitness.com A great information source for home workouts. Reviews, sources, and a friendly forum.
-- www.collagevideo.com Great source of home exercise videos. Excellent descriptions for all levels of experience. Good service.
-- amazon.com and ebay are both good sources of workout videos, new and used.

Here are my favorite workouts:
--Christi Taylor (step, floor aerobics)
--Kari Anderson (step, floor aerobics)
--Leslie Sansone (walking)
--Jari Love "Ripped" (total body strength workout)
--Gilad (everything)--in many places, you can record his workouts from tv
--Margaret Richard (low weight/high rep strength training)
Rebounding (I have a cheapie Wal-Mart mini-trampoline, and bounce to Motown beats)
--Ice skating (I started lessons at the age of 55)
--Walking and running outdoors in good weather

The combination of LCE and exercise guarantees you a healthier future. It isn't easy to establish these habits, but once you do, you'll never look back.

Happy and healthy 2006!

__________________
Barb L.
Atkins since Jan 2003
Maintenance as of 4/05


My Fitday Journal

Thanks for all the info, Barb. This is still hard for me, especially because I started out VERY out of shape and hate to get videos that I can't do. I've bookmarked the sites so that I can check out videos that I'm interested in.

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Katie
275/238/150
Restarted 01/08/2007
37 pounds lost!
http://justanotherfatgirl.blogspot.com

Barb, thanks for the information and pep talk.

They really need to come out with a work out video for the really, really, really out-of-shape, creaky, rickety-kneed, rotund exercisers. But, then, who would buy a video showing overweight, arthritic people exercising? Guess I'll just start walking!

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Nita

Queen Mama, do you remember Susan Powter? She was a lively and eccentric fitness guru. Don't know where she is now. But her exercise videos live on--and at least one of them features some very large people!

Powter always emphasized modification to suit every fitness level. If you can find an old Powter video, you'll be energized for sure. She's wild and fun. I'll see what I can find out for you about available titles.
Edited to add: Yes, I found her video "Lean, Strong and Healthy" (1993) for sale at Yahoo. This is the one I was referring to. This is NOT a wimpy workout, but it's one you can start at your own level, and work up. Some of the exercisers are large people.

Felonee, Leslie Sansone's walking workouts are designed for every level. You do them at your own pace. Highly recommended by me!

__________________
Barb L.
Atkins since Jan 2003
Maintenance as of 4/05


My Fitday Journal

Thanks again, Barb. I remember Susan Powter. She was annoying, but I admired her determination. I'll look into it.

__________________
Nita

Thanks, Barb. I have the 1 and 2 mile WATP DVDs and I love them. I want to mix things up a bit, because I have a very low boredom threshold.

I tried the 2nd DVD in the Carmen Electra Striptease fitness series, and it was all calisthenics/no stripping. It was really HARD, and parts of it I couldn't do at all, but it is still something good to work up to.

There used to be a video called Women At Large, and it was all larger sized women, in a workout designed for large women and it was easy enough to do, but you could still feel the after effects. I doubt it ever made it to DVD though, because it was OLD when I used to rent it.

I may go look for the Susan Powter DVDs after my DH gets paid. I used to have some of her workout videos and even though she could be a little annoying, they were very upbeat and motivational.

__________________
Katie
275/238/150
Restarted 01/08/2007
37 pounds lost!
http://justanotherfatgirl.blogspot.com

I forgot to say, you can often find fitness videos at the public library. That's a good way to test drive a workout, or a workout leader.

__________________
Barb L.
Atkins since Jan 2003
Maintenance as of 4/05


My Fitday Journal

Walking is good too QueenMama - I started with that. Bought a pedometer and discovered I was taking about 400 paces a day - instead of the medico's recommended 7,000! Nowdays I usually clock in between 15,000-20,000 and its great! Getting moving is in itself the motivator!

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The fox is wild!



5'3" Maintaining 121-125
Original weight 198 +