mandalinn82: Holy OUCH! I've gotten thrown off a treadmill before - my fault, my towel slipped off the handlebar and I didn't even think before I stopped and bent down to pick it up... hah, the only reason i didn't end up halfway across the gym floor was because a pillar got in my way ... but wow! I'm glad you didn't do any permanent damage, per se :/
My journey has been pretty cost reasonable so far, but that's now that I'm doing it the "old-fashioned" diet and exercise way. For a period of about two months before I recommitted, I considered everything under the sun - eDiets ($149 annual membership), Jenny Craig (~$120ish/week), BistroMD $(~$180/week), Weight Watchers, Boot Camp, yadda yadda yadda. But for some reason I was never able to bring myself to spend that money, which is a miracle in itself because I can usually convince myself of anything if I want it bad enough Bad habit I have lol.
Now I spend: $31/mo on a gym membership, and probably less than $100/mo on food (for both DH and I), when I'm 100% on plan. But that's also because I buy in bulk from Sam's and Amazon, so realistically maybe $150/mo if I'm looking at regular grocery stores. We eat steel cut oatmeal for breakfast, crockpot chicken dishes for lunch (one of the reasons I'm paying so much for groceries is because I splurge a little bit on the flash frozen, "perfect portion sized" bags of chicken breasts. It's almost $10 more than just regular chicken breasts but it's worth the money to me not to have to weigh and cut and portion out the meat on my own), and some type of veggie soup and salad for dinner. Consistency and being boring is good and cheap
My biggest expense, honestly, has probably been on my Enell sports bra Darn thing cost me $70 but it has made a WORLD of difference as far as comfort goes when I'm doing cardio. I don't bother with "nice" workout gear, I just throw on bike shorts and an old tshirt, but I do probably need to get a new pair of shoes soon. Love my pink Zigtechs!
Mine LOVE it. It would depend on what was wrong with your knee, but incline walking is what they use on Biggest Loser for cardio (that and bikes) for people with knee injuries or issues. Mine goes up to 30%...walking at 3 mph is pretty impossible, and I am in good shape!
Yes to this. My knees have been weird for over a month now so I cut out all weight lifting that involves bending my knees and quit running on the treadmill BUT walking up an incline has actually been great for them and I just keep pushing the incline up to get more of a workout. I was surprised that I actually got up a sweat with that!
I'm now SLOWLY adding a few things back in. Like I do squats without any weight using a swiss ball behind my back to work on form but even those I only do once per week.
To be honest, I have always had to spend more when it came to weight loss efforts because healthy food just costs more than unhealthy food. I fill my diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables, whereas before it was filled with whatever was cheap like Ramen and Tostinos Pizzas.
I could see how if you went out frequently before, you'd be saving money. But I didn't have the money to eat out frequently anyway, so when I went shopping I was looking for food that was cheap but inadvertently bad for me.
If you are looking for a very good exercise routine, I would HIGHLY HIGHLY suggest reading the Primal Blueprint Fitness ebook. You will get healthy and toned following his plan and all for free, no gym required.
well with the fact that i like to walk in the metro parks of Ohio and gas is outrageous to eat well and exercise cost me about 500- 600 a month. But thats feeding 2 picky men and myself.
It doesn't cost me anything more than I was spending before and infact I'm SAVING money now! I'm doing WW Points + but I'm doing it at home and don't go to the meetings and because I'm doing this particular program I'm VERY conscious of what I'm eating and therefore only buy a set amount of food throughout the week. I subscribe to the, "if it's not there I won't eat it" mentality I also exercise in my basement on my healthwalker so that costs me nothing either.
I still live at home, so honestly it's not costing me anything other than the new clothes I buy occasionally (I tend to buy a few items here and there so I have SOMETHING to wear), as I don't really have many old clothes to wear (plus they're from middle school). I'm want to take in some of my big clothes, but I did that before and now the garment I took in is too big on me. I think I'm losing inches faster than I'm losing weight!
I think I'm actually saving money as I'm eating smaller portions. When I go out to eat, I'm usually taking home another meal or two.
I'm saving money in the food department! Not sure exactly how much I spend because we never go on big shopping trips... husband is in town working most everyday so if we need something I just ask him to pick it up. Our fridge is mostly stocked with meat, fruits, veggies, milk, and our cabinets have simply baking supplies and dried beans/peas/ etc. So we eat pretty healthy.
I'm DEFINITELY saving money in the health department. Between exercise, eating healthy, and taking vitamins, I have no health issues anymore. I don't have to buy medication for the knee and back pain I was having, nor do I have to make any doctors appointments (other than to the OBGYN!). I am saving money in my husbands health too because now that we're married he is happy to not have to cook for himself and he eats what I put in front of him, and also goes for walks with me. He's also having much less pain.
As far as exercise, I have spent some money over the past couple of years to get some shoes, a heart rate monitor, some weights, and also a bunch of stuff for my new bellydancing hobby, and a few exercise DVDs. Aside from that I don't have a gym pass at the moment. I did when I was in college... but I haven't spent any money on equipment except new shoes in quite awhile.
My local Y offers scholarships; check that out. Mine has a great pool, many different machines, a walking track, outdoor pool, etc.
This! I have a partial scholarship at our local Y and I only pay $9/month for my membership and another $3/month for DH. Most of the classes are free, plus they have racquetball courts, etc. I just went in and asked about a scholarship one day, took about 5 minutes.
Also, maybe check with your insurance company. Ours offers gym memberships (within their network) for $30/month.
I don't think it costs me too much. Personally I believe it's got a lot to do wit your priorities - I, for example, don't go to the spa, have my nails done or go to a fancy hairdresser. I don't spend on these things and they don't make me very happy anyway So even though my budget is quite small, I can afford gym (45 a month; but in the warm months I workout outside) and healthy food.
I must agree that I spend a little less on my food due to the fact that snacks and sweets are off my list now. But this kind of balances the budget with more expensive yet very healthy alternatives like 75 % cocoa chocolate, sunny bisk muesli, whole grain pasta and quality proteins (meat, cottage cheese, greek yoghurt etc).
I tend to spend the most on healthy food that my boyfriend won't touch (so it doesn't go on our split food bill) but even that isn't that much per month on top of regular groceries. I only pay for yoga classes at a local studio, £10 each, and go once or twice a week depending on my schedule.
Have you ever been to a site called Body Rock? They are FIERCE, short, intense workouts. I've been doing them 3-4 days a week for the last few weeks and trust me they will almost have you in tears. I have done spinning and running and Jillian Michaels videos and I have never, ever sweat that much in a short time. They are just youtube videos and explanations of the exercises, so it's totally free! Google it! I'd definitely recommend trying them out!
I know it is costing me way more, but it still fits within out budget. (Not including buying new clothes.) It costs more for me b/c I eat mostly whole foods, organic, protein powder, etc. I am picky and stick with what I like, even if it is a bit pricier. We joined the Y for $88/mo, but use it all the time. I have equipment at home, too, that I never used, but I now work it into the week as well.
I've had all of these resources for YEARS, but never used them properly, b/c I wasn't motivated to actually change. Now that it is a lifestyle, I use whatever is at my disposal and look at the extra money as an investment into my health, happiness and marriage. ;-)
... but wow! I'm glad you didn't do any permanent damage, per se :/
