Just beginning. No money and no confidence.
 

Hello, I just joined and I really want to get serious about losing some weight. Specifically losing 30lbs. I'm 18, and I don't have I job so my workouts are limited. I'm a full time student and I want to get on a schedule that will help me achieve my weight loss goals. I want to know if there is anything that someone can share that can help me lose weight without money. I've had a gym membership, and just never went so I can't get another membership. I really would like to walk and jog in my area, but it's not really safe where I live. My dad gave me pepper spray and told me to have at it, but i'm still not so sure. Any advice will be well appreciated. Thanks for reading.

Don't put yourself at risk and walk/jog alone if your area isn't safe. Instead of giving you pepper spray and saying "have at it", he should have told you that he'd walk with you and he could be your protector! All kidding aside, don't take unnecessary risks - it's just not worth it! Is there someone else you can walk with? Can you walk during your lunch break at school? Could you walk with a buddy after school? Could you walk to school with a buddy? Is there a gym at your school that you can use?

Good luck with your weight loss efforts...I know it's really hard!

Well, he told me that because I tried this weight loss thing many times before and never really made myself devoted to it. My dad used to be a personal trainer and body builder and knows a lot about weight loss so I would go to him for help. I guess this last time he just didn't take me seriously.. just like the other times. The thing is.. i'm home schooled and really only leave the house once a week to go to school and get/return my work.
I have a younger sister, but she's thin and doesn't want to.. we have a dog too the only thing about him is he's a little small mutt and couldn't harm anyone who'd try to hurt me. I know it sounds like i'm making a lot of excuses, because I am. Although they're true... I just don't know what else to do in my situation.. Thank you for replying.

I don't have a lot of money and I don't go to a gym. I work full time and I commute 20 hours per week to get to and from work. So I'm really time limited.

That means I either get up VERY early to exercise or I exercise during my lunch hour or I exercise when I get home and my husband is making dinner. I started jogging back in April, so this summer I actually got up very early to do that in the mornings. It's been a bit of a challenge to do that now that the time has changed (and in the Netherlands we really have less daylight hours than you have in Sacramento), so I've been going after I come home from work. I have a reflective vest and I run only in places that have a bit of traffic and streetlights. It's not ideal but I go where I can go to do what I need to do. I also have an elliptical at home and I cross-train on that when I'm not running. I have several DVD's as well, so maybe you could look into that.

The thing is, if you WANT it, you'll find time for it. And sometimes its a matter of turning on your auto-pilot and just doing it until it feels good and you start to get confidence. You have to start somewhere - if you don't feel safe running or walking, what about just jumping rope outside your house? There are so many things you CAN do, right in your own home or backyard.

If I can do it, you can. I used all of these excuses just 8 months ago and with the help of the chicks here I found a way and now I'm unstoppable!

good luck!

I agree about not putting yourself at risk. You know your area better than anyone here, so definitely use your best judgment. There are things you can do in your house that would at least get you started. Push-ups, crunches, jumping jacks, running/marching in place, squats, lunges. If you have stairs in your house, or just outside, go up and down the steps. It would cost a little bit of money, but resistance bands are fairly inexpensive (I bought mine this week for $12.00). If you have a library near by, they always have exercise DVDs you can borrow. This is beneficial because you only have them for a week or two, so you can try out new stuff, mix up your routine. Another inexpensive tool would be a jump rope. Use all these things to make up your own routines. I used to make up circuits when the weather was too bad to get outside. I would do 5 minutes of jump rope (if you cannot afford one, use a pretend jump rope, works just as well), 20 crunches, 10 push-ups (girl push-up, still haven't moved up to regular), 5 more minutes of jump rope, then squats and lunges. The next day, I would change the routine...add and subtract stuff so I didn't get bored.

Also, if you are comfortable on your street outside, just go up and down your block. It may get a little boring, but I can't imagine a treadmill is any more exciting. Also, see if a friend or other family member would go with you.

I completely understand the cost issues, I have had to find very inexpensive exercise options over the last year, but there are free and low cost options out there.

Edited to add - you may check things like Craigslist for very inexpensive weights, DVDs, etc. People who bought stuff with high hopes of using it are often getting rid of stuff (some times never been used) for very little money. Just make sure you are careful about picking stuff up.

You sound just like I did before I had this epiphany of mine:

I kept saying to myself, "I don't want to walk/run alone because it is dangerous in my area"...then my boyfriend and I started walking on the track together at my college which is well lit. The best thing to do is to find a buddy who will walk with you, or maybe try walking/running in a highly visible area in the middle of the day so there are lots of people around and you feel safer. I know when my boyfriend can't go with me for some reason, I will walk in our cute downtown area where there are lots of people around, and I always do it during business hours so I feel safer.

Good luck!

Check out shape.com...they list all the workouts from the Shape magazine on that site for free and many of them require only your body weight, or you can use canned foods for weights when required. Many body band workouts can be done without the band, and you can modify exercise ball moves on the floor or lean on the wall. They also list tons of exercises by body part, mix them up and create your own routines.

I started with Walk Away the Pounds tapes, but they got so boring I would do the basic moves to my own routines while watching TV. here are the simple moves used in those workouts:

marching in place (get your knees up more and go faster to increase intensity)
step side to side (challenge yourself to step out further and bend down lower)
front kicks (go high, go low, go in circles, whatever makes you happy)
knee lifts (just lift up and pat your hands on knee)

I used to march until a new scene on the TV flipped, then go side to side until a new scene, then kicks, etc. I would start jumping side to side and making harder movements as I got bored.

Just be creative and you can do this! It takes determination and commitment, not money!

Thank you all! I really do appreciate your words of encouragement. I now realize that I don't have it as bad as some of the people that mentioned their situations with time and exercise. It also opened my eyes to how grateful I should be.. I have decided to go for a fast paced walk every morning when I wake up (with my sisters dog, and pepper spray) then hopefully moving on to jogging, then running, as well as looking around online for sites that involve exercises that will also help me burn fat and tone my body. I believe that when my dad see's how motivated I am, and sees how i'm losing the weight that he will then get me a gym membership. Thank you for the suggested site, I will definitely check that out as soon as possible. I can already tell that this site will be the motivation and inspiration I need to achieve my weight loss goals. Thank you to everyone sharing their journey! It's truly a blessing.

I strongly recoommend workout videos! If you can spare 10 bucks (or less if you find some on ebay or amazon) you can get a good workout in while in your safe home! You could probably even find a few good segments on Youtube! Another option is seeing if your college has a fitness center. Most do...even at my old community college. It was very convenient during long breaks.

We have a fitness center at my apts that I use but I dont really feel very safe going in there at night alone so I started using The Firm. Or I just wait till my SO gets home at 1230am to go with me but thats getting old. lol

Good luck with your weight loss! Its def possible to lose weight on a college students budget because my bestfriend and I are there and have been successfully losing. You can do it! =)

Hey, I was looking online for online videos and so far youtube has a good amount that I can work with :) I will go to the library and see what they have there as well. I was wondering how effective are jumping jacks and jogging in place? How long should I do this? (30 minutes to an hour 3 times a day?) Until I find something else to do, I will just be walking/jogging in the morning and jumping jacks/jogging in place. Do I need to do more to see results? Thank you.

You may want to visit you local library and see if they have any DVDs of exercise programs that you can check out and use to guide you in a workout at home. Once you get the routines down, you can practice to music in your room.

If the library doesn't have anything useful, ask them if they can get you something via inter-library loan (where they request the DVDs from other libraries and have them sent to your library).

Okay! Even after just a few days I can see the difference! This is so great! Thanks for the suggestions! Stay blessed!

im in the same predicament as you..i use exercisetv.com