Hubby and I recently had life insurance medical exams. Part of the medical involves you getting weighed, and boy, were we unhappy with what the scale said. Hubby still refuses to tell me his actual weight, but I can tell he’s put on quite a few pounds since we first started dating. So have I.
I used to work for a government agency, and we would have pastries and fruit and cake all the time. Apparently, treats are the way to stifle the pain of having endless meetings all the time. Anyway, leftover stuff would always find its way to this big cabinet surface behind my cubicle. Eventually, I wasn’t even walking to the treats, because I would just roll myself over in my office chair with wheels.
And that is how I gained 15 pounds.
Being newlyweds, I would rather sink my monthly gym membership dues into something like the cable bill or life insurance. Or food.
So here are some inexpensive ways to work out. Using methods 1 and 4, I managed to lose enough weight to feel comfortable in my wedding dress. I would have liked to have had toned arms and less boob fat, but we never get everything we want in life.
I used to work for a government agency, and we would have pastries and fruit and cake all the time. Apparently, treats are the way to stifle the pain of having endless meetings all the time. Anyway, leftover stuff would always find its way to this big cabinet surface behind my cubicle. Eventually, I wasn’t even walking to the treats, because I would just roll myself over in my office chair with wheels.
And that is how I gained 15 pounds.
Being newlyweds, I would rather sink my monthly gym membership dues into something like the cable bill or life insurance. Or food.
So here are some inexpensive ways to work out. Using methods 1 and 4, I managed to lose enough weight to feel comfortable in my wedding dress. I would have liked to have had toned arms and less boob fat, but we never get everything we want in life.
Post-wedding, hubby and I are using methods 1, 2 and 3. We’ll let you know how it goes. We don’t have a scale here though. We’ll have to use the ones at our parents’ houses.
Exercising doesn’t have to cost you anything!
1) Free - Workout videos are a great way to keep your exercise routine fresh. Here’s how not to have to pay for them: - search for “fitness” on Google videos. You can even use duration as a filter to make it easier to find longer segments - try your local library for DVDs
- ask friends to borrow theirs or go over and do workouts together
- check out your On Demand channels to see if there are any worth catching
- use your DVR or VCR to record workout shows (I really like Caribbean Workout on OLN, weekdays at 7:30 a.m. ET)
2) Free - Use weights
made with household substitutes like water bottles (the larger sizes), juice cans (apple juice/tomato juice), soup cans, and books (dictionaries/manuals). If you’re doing workout videos, some might ask for weights.
Exercising doesn’t have to cost you anything!
1) Free - Workout videos are a great way to keep your exercise routine fresh. Here’s how not to have to pay for them: - search for “fitness” on Google videos. You can even use duration as a filter to make it easier to find longer segments - try your local library for DVDs
- ask friends to borrow theirs or go over and do workouts together
- check out your On Demand channels to see if there are any worth catching
- use your DVR or VCR to record workout shows (I really like Caribbean Workout on OLN, weekdays at 7:30 a.m. ET)
2) Free - Use weights
made with household substitutes like water bottles (the larger sizes), juice cans (apple juice/tomato juice), soup cans, and books (dictionaries/manuals). If you’re doing workout videos, some might ask for weights.
3) $22.57 - Buy a stability ball
, which are apparently great for your abs since you keep them engaged all the time trying not to fall off and hurt yourself. Check out sales at department stores like Sears, but you can generally get one for around $20. Hubby has a giant Everlast blue ball, and it cost CDN $22.57 at Walmart. By comparison, my purple ball looks like it was made for Baby Bear. I bought that ball using a gift card so it didn’t cost me anything.
The stability ball will usually come with a DVD with a workout video. It’s not bad, but not as challenging as some other videos we’ve seen.
4) Free - Running by yourself can be really boring, so I highly recommend finding a buddy. If you can find a buddy that has a similar schedule to you and lives about a 20-30 minute walk away, you can alternate who walks to whose house. OR, if you’re the person who has to lose more weight, walk that buddy home so you get a good decent hour more of exercise. It’s always easier to walk with a destination in mind.
5) Free or donation - Depending on where you live, you may be able to find a local community centre or church that provides “free” fitness classes. If you’re going with the church option, you should probably leave a donation of some sort since it’s part of their community outreach. If you’re a university or college student, take advantage of the classes that your athletic centres offer. You’re paying for athletic fees anyway, so you might as well use them!
6) ~$20 - I still don’t know if my arm toning circles
work because I can’t follow the “just 10 minutes a day” thing. They’re basically like padded hula hoops for your arms. It’s boring to use them, and they kind of hurt when they bounce on your forearms or smack you in the head by accident. So I don’t really recommend these. In theory, I could use them while watching TV, since I do that every day. Meh.
7) Free - Cycling is always a fast and environmentally-friendly way to get around. Provided that you have a bike. (We don’t.)
8) ~$40 at Walmart if you’re not a serious skater - Like swimming, I’m always afraid to go skating by myself in case something happens to me. Like I fall and break something, or twist something, or come into not-nice contact with a skate blade. That’s just me. Hubby used to play hockey, so being on skates is like walking for him.
9) Free - If you have a friend that has a pool, either in their backyard or building, swimming will give you the best overall workout since you have to use all parts of your body. The friend in the building will probably support your frequent visits since it also means they get the use out of their condo fees.
10) Free - Not that I’m encouraging promiscuity, but sex can count as exercise too. Apparently, 30 minutes of sex can burn 85+ calories. So you can earn those few crackers. When you’re done here, check at WebMD for 10 Surprising Health Benefits of Sex.
And if you’re really inclined, check out some neat activity-specific calorie-burning calculators if you’re interested.
MSN - How Many Calories Burned
About.com - Calorie Calculator
No comments:
Post a Comment