[doIlookfat?]

I need some ideas from those who are doing it and sticking to it. I seem to keep coming up with excuse after excuse not to do a single thing. All I do is go on small walks with my mom, when it is convenient and my dad can watch the kids.

I can't walk by myself whenever I want because dh works nights. I work during the day.

Gyms are not for me. I live in a small town and I know too many people who go there from work and I DON'T want to run into them after work too. Also, I hate the smell, the sounds, everything about the gym. Going in one makes my skin crawl!

See what I mean? Help!

[Kery]

For me, apart from weight-lifting at the gym, it is either biking or running. Running I can do in the park early in the morning. Biking is convenient to go to places (work, supermarket, friends, downtown for shopping), and although I'm aware it is not heavy cardio per se (there are too many traffic lights and passers-by and cars and such to allow me to rush), it IS a form of exercise that, if done daily, will improve things no matter what. And it's funnier and more pleasant than using a recumbent bike or some such in a gym (yes, even when it rains, I think).

[srmb60]

Walking without a doubt!

[Diva]

Walking is my number 1 choice and if ya can't do it outside the Walk Away The Pounds (WATP) DVD's are just wonderful! I walk and do these DVD's more than I do anything else and Leslie also incorperates some light weights into her programs. They are very easy and you don't need a lot of space.

I also like step Aerobics, bike riding, Swimming, and lifting light weights. (no more than 5 to 8 lbs).

[HeatherAngel]

I hate gyms, too - but I do have a weight machine at home for building up my strength.

I have shocked myself by following the Couch to 5K programme and becoming a runner - now I LOVE it!!

Really - you'll just have to try a few things and see what grows on you... and knowing you hate gyms means you can scratch that one off - no need to do ANY exercise you hate - although some days you might have to force yourself to do it, one way or the other!

Heather

[AnneWonders]

I've found signing up for an 'event', something like a 5K (most allow walkers) or a charity walk helps keep me motivated. Even if I don't feel like it, I know if I don't get out there and train, event day will be painful.

Something that really helps me get out is a jogging stroller. They can be pricey, but you can get one used if cost is an issue. Then you don't need someone to watch kids, they can come along (I guess I'm assuming you don't have more than two)!

Also, I hate the gym as well, but some strength training can be worked into your day, 10 pushups here, 20 squats there, 10 curls during a commercial etc. All the little things also add up, walking an extra lap around the store (like going back for ketchup), parking in the farthest space.

Good luck.

Anne

[phantastica]

Walking, definitely. There are other things that are more fun, but walking is the most convenient for me. How old are your kids? Can you bring them with you on walks? I walk to the library, hike in nearby nature preserves, and walk on trails on my lunch break.

[kaplods]

My favorite exercise is swimming. I love the water, and if I lived closer to the warm water therapy pool, I would be there absolutely every day.

Walking is the most convenient, but I usually want to give up as soon as I start to get sweaty and tired (which for me is pretty quickly) - until my husband's father gave us a GPS, and we tried geocaching. OMG, it is so absolutely fun. A fancy GPS is about $100, but I've seen sales, places you can rent them and people giving them away or asking for one on a freecycle group (check yahoo groups to see if there's one in your area, where people give away stuff they don't want anymore or ask for said stuff free) and you could scour the garage sales (another way to motivate you to keep walking, especially if you can find neighborhood garage sales with several blocks of garage sales).

Anyway, geocaching (geocaching.com) is basically an electronic treasure hunt. You take along a trinket to trade if you'd like and when you find the cache, you put in a trinket and take one as a souvenier. My husband and I leave tiny plastic frogs (we buy a bag at the dollar store). We usually take things that can hand from our rearview mirror (like strings of plastic beads, and keychains and such). If you don't want to trade, you can just sign in the log bood and write TNLN (took nothing, left nothing).

When we visit family in Illinois later this summer, we're going to take along the GPS and take my nephews 2, and 6 looking for a cache. They'll get a kick out of leaving and taking a treasure. What's really cool, is the website will tell you how many caches are in your area and the general area, and the distance to the cache from parking. I'm in pretty poor physical shape, so I can't walk very far. Still there are alot of caches in small parks as well as large county parks and walking trails. Our second cache was in town - in a bush in the front yard of city hall (it was a Saturday, and we were sure that we were going to get arrested! - but all caches have to be hid with the permission of the property owner/manager - still it felt shady! we were laughing so hard, it took forever to find the cache).

[SARose1961]

My DH also works nights and he's my exercise partner. On his days off we do walk outside at a track near our house. If his day off falls on my saturday off we plan a special walk - like at a hike trail at a larger city park. On work days we eat dinner at 6pm and exericse from 7-8pm and we vary that. We have a gazelle and an exercise bike and a weight lifting machine which we take turns on, and we also do the Leslie Sansone walk away the lbs dvd's the dvd's are by far my favorite.