[Lifeguard]

I was wondering if anyone else shares this problem with me. My toes get all tingly like when you sit awkward & they fall asleep - problem is, it happens when I am on a cardio machine for more than 15 minutes. It's incredibly irritating & have tried so many things to get rid of it, different shoes, loosening the shoes, wiggling my toes as much as possible throughout the workout & changing to different type of machine. It doesn't happen when I go for long walks, only on the machines.

I am very frustrated with this as I am cutting my cardio short because of it & I can use all the cardio I can get! Any suggestions?

[SonJohn]

How funny is that! I suffer the same problem and I just received an e-mail from Jullian Micheals web site regarding this very problem. She says it's from our shoes being too tight! That our feet swell another size up during cardio(treadmill and stepper ect...) so if your an 8 you'll need a 9. Good luck I'm off to buy my next size up too

[Analystbyday]

I'm totally with you on the toe tingling. For me it was always the worst when I was doing the stationary bike. I just fought through it, that is until I stopped working out.

I guess I'm not the best person to offer advise. I ended up changing my weight loss routine to all nutrition, and decided to wait until I was within 10 pounds of goal to return to exercise.

*Please don't read any further if exercise is an important component of your weight loss, I don't want anyone to get discouraged from a path that is working for them.*

My reasoning for stopping working out was this:
1. My weight loss (actual pound droppage) was slow if not non-existant.
2. While it's true that solely using nutrition for weight loss causes muscle loss as well. I don't need the same amount of muscle in a 140 lb. body as I do in a 260 lb. body so I would be gaining muscle just to lose it later anyway.
3. If I was working out I would get hungrier because I would need to fuel the exercising, and that would mean taking in more calories, which was a bit counter-productive.
4. Once you start working out you have to do more to keep getting results (more time, more intensity). So I would be doing quite a bit more exercise than that which would be maintainable by the time I got to goal.
5. Lastly there's the simple fact (and now that I've lost a bit of weight I've found it to be true) that exercise is a lot more challenging when I'm larger. I didn't want any potential dread of a workout to discourage me from reaching my goal.

Sorry I couldn't give any more help on the tingly toes.

[Misti in Seattle]

I have the same problem... and my shoes are most definitely not too tight. It does seem to be getting a bit better though as I am losing weight and getting in better shape. Also I have been working really hard at foot care and rubbing peppermint creams into them several times a day to keep them soft and soothed.

[Sheila53]

Yes, I get that at about 1/2 hour on the elliptical machine. I was told it was the way I'm standing on the machine. I try to press down more on the heels, which helps some, but I think I'll try the larger shoes and see what happens.

Analystbyday, many people lose weight just by changing their diet, although it's a bit more difficult than doing diet and exercise combined. Whatever works is my motto! For me, it's a matter of getting that body fat down as well as hitting the goal weight. Plus, hey, when I have more muscle, I can wear a smaller size sooner!

[kykaree]

Don't wear shoes a size too big without getting properly fitted. You could do some real damage!

You could try going to a specialist running shop (which isn't fun when your still big - ask me how I know) but they can assess your walking style and suggest good shoes which will give you appropriate support.

The tingling toes and numbness is really normal. There are lots of threads about it on the exercise forum. It gets better. I used to get it all the time and now I rarely suffer from the numbness and tingling.

What I do is split my cardio. I do say 10 minutes bike, then two sets of weight exercises, jump on the eliptical 10 minutes and then do another two sets of different weights, and keep repeating that so I am spending about an hour in the gym in total. The benefit of this is that your muscles are being used in different ways, it also maintains your heart rate whilst you are doing weights and you keep burning fat, working aerobically rather than anarobically.

Also, make sure you are stretching well at the end of your session, that might help a bit too.

[nelie]

I actually had the same problem before but it was definitely my shoes. It wasn't that they were tight but I think they pinched somewhere. Have you tried switching shoes? I also tend to try to move my feet a bit if i'm on something like the bike or elliptical so they aren't just constantly pressing down.

[midwife]

Nelie!!! Great new pic!! And you are within SPITTING distance of 100lbs LOST!! You look so happy and beautiful!!

[synger]

It may be not only the size of your shoes, but the lacing. I use a longer lace and a special lacing for "pain on top of the feet" because that is where I can see my feet swollen most after exercise. The lacing skips an eyelet over the top of the foot, yet then tightens up again at the top of the shoe to keep it on. Once I started doing that, my tingle toes pretty much went away.

http://www.newbalance.com/techcenter...etter_fit.html

[ChocLabLover]

I used to have the same problem as well. Getting fitted with proper shoes took some of the pins and needles away from my feet. With the continous excercise, I have noticed that it has now completely disappeared.

hijack-Nelie, your avatar looks amazing!-end hijack

[nelie]

I think synger may be onto something with the lacing. As I said, when this happened to me it was the shoe and not the exercise.

PS Thanks midwife, carol, I decided to post some pics in the progress pics post if you care to see

[Lifeguard]

Wow - you have no idea how reassuring it is to know I am not the only one with this problem. I have been sized for shoes & tried lacing in different ways as well. It's great to hear that some people have found it goes away as their weight does. I think I will try splitting the cardio with my weights - that sounds like something that would work for me.

Thank-you everyone for the quick replies!

[drake3272004]

I usually don't have problems while I'm doing cardio, but my feet fall asleep ALL the time. I can't sit on the floor much any more because within 5 minutes my feet fall asleep. It doesn't matter how I sit either, I've tried every which way. I'm really hoping that with weight lose this gets better!
Good luck, sorry I went a bit off topic!

[angel-eyes]

HA!!! So I'm not a freak!!! Thats been happening to my feet for YEARS!!! I thought I was going crazy. I've tried new shoes, loosening the laces, putting more weight back onto my heels when on elip. , changing to thinner socks, .......but its just my feet. I can manage 15 minutes max on the elip. trainer, so I do 15 minutes, then treadmill or weights, then return for another 15 minutes. I'M NOT CRAZY!!!!

ps....lifeguard....was just visiting Ottawa 3 weeks ago......where did the beavertail booth go from the byward market? WAAAAAA

[Lifeguard]

Originally Posted by angel-eyes

ps....lifeguard....was just visiting Ottawa 3 weeks ago......where did the beavertail booth go from the byward market? WAAAAAA

I don't know?! To be honest the only time I have beavertails is during winterlude - there is just something about being on the canal with your fingers & nose frozen trying to eat it before it stiffens into ice that makes them taste so much better! (to those wondering what the heck a beavertail is: it is a large piece of dough deep fried & topped with cinnamon & sugar or jam or lemon, etc. - very tasty! Sometimes they are called elephant ears.)