Do you exercise?

[Welly]

Saw a recent photo of myself yesterday and couldn't believe how kinda chubby I looked

I was 10.5 stone for years and always kinda slim and fit. Now I'm 12 stone, not 'fat' as such but it's going to head that way if I don't do something. I'm about 5' 10", 38 years (plus about 33 months) old

Trouble is I do next to f*ck all exercise, been lucky really as I should be a lot fatter given my lifestyle (mostly made up of Beer, Curry and Stress).

I've always been able to lift my own weight easily and used to own a Chinning Bar in my twenties and could pull loads of chin-ups without breaking into a sweat. I'm going to try another bar now and see if I can haul the extra 1.5 stone as easily I go for gentle walks about once a week but thinking I should up this for good circulation and stuff.

What does anyone else do to keep healthy?

[Doggy]

I could lend you some dogs........

[jasper5]

Given my medical situation (2 heart attacks and Angioplasty surgery) I have to walk 3 miles every day to keep fit and healthy....it helps having my dog Jasper.

Walking is brilliant for keeping fit and keeping the pounds off, you'll lose weight fast walking every day, especially walking at a fast pace.

I hate the gyms, you can actually put weight on going to the gym, muscle is heavier than fat.

[CountryPug]

I work in the fitness industry so I've got to stay fit, though lately I've been slipping, just don't seem to have the time to actually train. I try to go running a couple of times a week, about 5 miles or so and go to the gym once. I like mixing it up to keep myself interested, like instead of doing 2 runs I'd go swimming or mountain biking instead. But like I say I'm struggling to find the time atm, the spare time seems to be taken up with the gf or the 405

[Welly]

the spare time seems to be taken up with the gf

Nothing wrong with pelvic thrusts, I've heard

I understand about the Dog thing, that's extremely popular around my Village although I'm not so good with picking up shizzle through a thin, scented, plastic bag

[highlander]

I go to the gym - occasionally. I'm supposed to go at least twice a week, but I am exceptionally lazy and have no motivation. Once I'm there I do OK - 30 minutes+ on the exercise bike (at least 10 KM), followed by 2 sets of 12 repetitions on a number of different weight machines, amounting to more than an hour's exercise.

A much more productive way of fighting the flab is to go hillwalking. I found that I was actually losing weight several years ago when I was taking the family out to the hills - even climbed a couple of Munros too; Lochnagar (3789ft), Mt. Keen (3080ft), and one other whose name I can't remember.

A word of warning for those taking this option - be properly prepared, bring all the proper equipment. Even though most of these hills don't actually have vertical climbs, and actually have properly-laid and maintained footpaths from the foot to the summit, there's no accounting for the weather, which can change in a heartbeat. Bring the proper clothing (sturdy walking boots are essential), food, torches, phones, maps & compasses (and make sure everyone in your party knows how to use them!), extra batteries, a loud whistle, etc. If you bring a GPS, don't rely on it as your sole means of navigation.

If you get a nice day, you get spectacular views from the top, some great photos, real fresh air, and a sense of accomplishment. Even better, you mostly have to drive down some fun twisty B-roads The exercise is just a nice bonus. On a bad day, you may have to turn back, even if you are only a few metres from the summit. Under-prepared people (and those too determined to press on even when things go wrong) can suffer serious injury and death on these hills!

Note - I don't know how much I weigh, I don't own a set of scales. Even if I did, I wouldn't look. I'm not massively fat. I'm just over 6 ft tall and am between a 36in and 38in waist; ideally I should be a 34in waist.

[lozz]

iwalk about 4 miles aday, the dogs keep me excercised,
igo out about 230am let them loose on the Moors, they do wait for me to keep up now theyve realised icarnt run at 45mph

[grasmere59]

My old dog went blind approx 2 years ago so we used to go for a short meander rather than a walk and i put on about a stone and a half,i had to have the old boy put to sleep about a month ago and by chance have ended up with a 5 month old puppy (same breed) so i hope to go for long walks again when the young boy can cope with them.

[rwb]

There's a gym near work, and I go every weekday in the afternoon -- I'm fortunate that I can make up the time in the evening (I usually work till about 7) and/or at weekends.

I hate exercise, and I hate sport even more. (I am the chubby nerdy kid at school who can't catch and runs away from the ball. I'm sure the main influence of PE lessons is permenant psychological damage.) Anyway, it turns out I hate being fat more than I hate exercise. And since I refuse to eat less (why is food so yummy?) I go to the gym.

The first time I went I did three minutes on the rowing machine, then when I got off I nearly passed out and had to sit down. Didn't go back for a fortnight. It never gets easier, you just get used to it. And that's the trick: now it's part of my daily routine.

As far as what you do, for the first 6 months or so it doesn't really matter. The fact that you're doing something rather than nothing should have good results. Beyond that, I think you have to work out what you can tollerate and what works for you. For example: I can't run (it is acutally painful) and I find cardio really difficult, but I'm OK at weights.

Unfortunately, after all this exercise, I've come to the devastating conclusion that to make much more progress: I need to eat less.

[OdinEidolon]

I've never felt the need to exercise, in fact I hate it.
I'm 22yo, 1.75m tall and ~64kg (I do not know how it accounts in your units and cannot bother to check ) so I'm very fit. I do some walking every day with my daughter, about half an hour, and I usually eat a lot with no contraints. I have sadly a pretty sedentary lifestyle, since I have to study of listen to a lecture most of the day.

But I'm a keen climber and mountaineer and whenever possible I step on some mountain and I enjoy it more than anything else. Even though I study about 120 miles far, I go as soon as possible back to my homeland, which is in the middle of the beautiful dolomites. I am a believer than exercizing is pretty useless when you train your body to have a proper breathtaking effort twice or thrice a month, use the stairs instead of the elevator and just don't try to avoid all the everyday fatigue.

[plod]

I never admitted to people how bad I was - I kinda thought for a big guy I carried it off quite well (ish lol)
Anyway, it doesn't matter now as i'm doing something about it, so I can confess

I hit 26 stone 10 lbs after xmas, and on January 14th I joined the gym
Since then i've been going 5/6 times a week
At first I did 2 hours at a time doing cardio and weights each time
I now do between an hour and a hour and a half, but I do Cardio one day, then I do some Cardio to warm up, then around 40mins of weights the next

In just over 4 months i'm now down to 22 stone
That's not 4stone 10 of fat gone, as I am now more muscular, so who knows, maybe 6 stone of fat gone, who knows

I feel shed loads better in so many ways, and before, I was so unfit, whereas now, I feel so much better
For example, I always do 35mins on the treadmill, and when I first started, i'd burn 180 calories, whereas today I managed 972 calories in the same time
Also I also do 35mins on the bike, and the first time I used that I burnt 120 calories, whereas today I did 550, but I have done over 600

Therefore I must be getter loads fitter

Trying to lose another 4 stone fingers crossed and at same time build muscle
However it wouldn't bother me if I lost 4 stone more of fat but built 2 stone more of muscle and ended up at 20, i'd still be really pleased

I'm really enjoying it up there, as it ain't full of knuckleheads like some gyms can be, and it's just loads of normal people, yes, there are some posers, but there always will be, but theres young old, fat, thin, alsorts, a right cross section
Plus I like the social side of it, as quite a few people I know talk to
Plus you can perve over all the fit lasses

[Alberto]

i lost 20 kg in about 5 months,how?its simple,stopped eating bread,potatoes,reduced take away food, it calls russian diet,when you have to eat any meat,pork,chicken,etc,with wegetables only

[plod]

I think mine equates to 30kgs, as was 170, and now 140

As well as the exercise, i've changed my whole diet

I have porridge each morning

Dinner most days is tuna

Evening meal is usually chicken, brown rice, and salad


I used to have 4 slices of toast each morning with my weetabix, and lunch was usually some sandwiches, and sometimes a snack involved bread
I don't eat much bread at all now, and if I do, it's a Weight Watchers wholemeal pitta bread

I've also cut out a lot of potato consumption
Now if I do have them, it's Sweet Potatoes which are good for you

Alcohol consumption is greatly reduced as well


I still have a "cheat day" as i've been advised you "need" to trick your metabolism once a week
I say cheat, but I usually have a bacon pitta bread - which is as above, the weight watchers pittas and bacon is lean anyway
I also have a supermarket curry, but I guess it's only the sauce as otherwise it's chicken and rice

[plod]

It never gets easier, you just get used to it.

Ain't that the truth - I thought it would get easier, but it don't does it, you just push yourself harder

Not regretting it one bit though

I'll be brutally frank here, but I didn't imagine i'd reach my 45th Birthday and kinda resigned myself to that fact
I kinda thought what my son and wife would do if that did happen, and decided to do something about it

[rwb]

Wow plod. That's inspiring.