I have been reading this forum for about a week now and cannot believe the support that everyone provides. I think it is absolutely great!
I have tried dieting in the past but usually have fallen off the wagon due to no motivation. I am angry with the weight I have let myself reach and am positive that I am ready to commit to this. I started following the weight watchers program from at home 2 weeks ago. This program seems to really work for me and is actually sort of "fun". I started working out this last week MWF doing a little bit of walking on the treadmill and riding the stationary bike. I fractured my ankle 12 weeks ago and have been cleared to ditch my aircast boot! But I am now cautious about reinjury so I am taking it slow.
I have 2 questions that I'm hoping I could get some feedback on. 1.) I have read a lot about the 30 day shred video some of you are doing. Would this be do able with my ankle injury or is it a little too intense for where I am right now? If so, any advice on how I could pump up my activity? 2.) I have a cheapo scale that I can't read the numbers from very easily. Any recommendations for a good weight scale? Is it more motivational to get one that reads in .2 increments?
Sorry so long. I look forward to joing the group. Thanks!
Welcome and glad to have you. I can help a little with question #1, but I have a cheapo scale myself and don't have any good recommendations for a nicer one.
The 30 day shred cycles with 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio, and 1 min abs. I'm only on level 1, so I'm not sure how intense the other 2 levels are. With an ankle injury the strength and abs will be easy, the issue you might be concerned is that most of the cardio is jumping around (jumping jacks, faux jump rope, etc.) that being said, you could always modify the cardio to do whatever you're comfortable with and build your way up to doing the full exercise. I love the 30ds video though, it's such a tough workout.
As someone who was also dying to get moving after an ankle injury, I would strongly suggest you speak with your doctor or physical therapist and ask them to elaborate on what kind of activity you can do. I was limited to the elliptical and bike to prevent re-injury.
At the moment, I'm nursing a fractured humurous and can't do anyting. It's driving me insane! But if I re-injure myself, I have to go under the knife. I'm going to avoid this at all costs.
Also, I would suggest some physical therapy. It can be so helpful in regaining strength and range of motion. It was such a lifesaver for me and I can't wait to start it with my arm
I've heard great things about 30 day shread. I tried it once, but since I live in an upstairs apartment and there's a bunch of jumping, I stopped out of respect for my neighbors. I think if you're careful with the jumping or skip those parts, your ankle should be okay.
As far as the 0.2 increments, I'm not sure if it's a major motivation factor. You have to expect that your weight will fluxuate several pounds on most days, so you can't really trust any weight to be "the real weight". What really matters is that those numbers are going down in general. Don't be discouraged if you see you've gained two pounds or so at any point; chances are, you'll drop again.
I think most scales are pretty much the same- either decent, or cheap. I got mine from Wal-mart, and it works just fine. The more expensive scales have more options like body-fat percentage estimators, but the accuracy doesn't necessarily improve. On the box, they should say the accuracy, so you can compare them that way.
3FC is wonderful. These women are the best support you could hope for. they have helped me through a lot. I hope you find the support and encouragment you need here!
Ok as for your ankle you need to take it easy, I speak from experience here with injuries. If you push yourself to hard you might hurt yourself again and it can put you out of commision for weeks. Which, trust me, is incredibly frustrating. I have injured my hip, my knee and ripped all the ligaments in my toe. My toe was the worst. When it healed I pushed myself and some of the ligaments got damaged again. once again out of commision. I got so frustrated I fell of the wagon for 6 months. Anyway it's not a good idea. Enough about me.
the 30 day shred is extrememly intense. I don't know if it's such a good idea after an injury. maybe play it safe and wait a month before you do it. In the mean time. How do you feel about swimming? Aqua aerobics is great and it would be easy enough on your ankle.
If you are at the gym regularly try adding in weights to your routine, weight machines that focus on upper body are probably best for you at this point. Also free weights are great.
When your using the machines try the ones that don't put a lot of pressure on your ankle. I love the rowing machine, not a lot of people do but it is a good workout. there's another one that's like a bike for your arms, yeah I haven't a clue what its called
so basically try and focus on upper body until your ankle is strong enough.
As for the scales I was in the same predicament when i started. I invested in a body anaylsis scale it was only 20 bucks. So you don't need to invest huge money in it but those extra .2 .4 .5 .7 etc pounds really boost your motivation!!
I have bad knees and I've been doing the 30 Day Shred with everyone else. There are a lot of jumping and hops but I modify them. Jillian says something like "If you're looking for a modified version of the jumping jack, you won't find it here! blah blah" and she's proud of that, BUT! on days my knees hurt, I did modify by alternating side lunges. Sometimes for other jumping or running moves I march in place and make sure my arms are doing what their arms are doing. As long as my heart rate is up, I'm happy. The strength and ab moves are good, but again, there are a lot of lunges. If you feel comfortable with those (maybe not do them as deep as the girls on the tv), I'd try it. I got the thing for $10 at the grocery store, of all places, so even if it was just for some ideas to integrate into my own program later, I got my money's worth.
As for a scale, I just bought one at wal mart a few weeks ago. Nothing fancy, but one with numbers instead of a dial. It was about $20 and it reads in .2 increments and "can track the weights of up to two people" but I don't use that feature. The thing I like about it as opposed to the cheapy dial scale is... if I step on it three times in a row, I get the same reading three times in a row!
I bought a scale at wal mart that I really like. It's digital and it has a feature that allows me to log my weight, and tells me exactly how much I lose from week to week. I wanna say it was less than 20 bucks.
I have a really bad ankle, as well as some knee issues. The 30DS is INTENSE. I was like yeah, it looks cool (I found the whole thing on youtube and watched it before I bought it) It is intense! I think I have to agree with brooks about the jumping jacks... I think in level one, you end up doing about 4 sets of jumping jacks and they are heck on my ankle. I have to take quick breaks, and sometimes I also substitute other things for jumping jacks.
Granted, I'm still only 3 days into the 30DS, but I feel like my legs are getting tighter and that my tummy isn't so puffy. I think overall, it's a great program!
If you are able to though, I would go to a gym and get with a trainer to see about some weight routines. I've been going for about three weeks now, and I have a set program that I really enjoy doing that is ankle and knee friendly.
Newbie with a few questions
and don't have any good recommendations for a nicer one. 
