Hello all, I have 43 pounds to lose after having already lost nearly 70. My question is, is walking every day enough exercise to help me tone up? I do have exercise videos at home but much prefer to walk. I try to walk quickly. I can't afford to join a gym at the moment but nor do I want to end up with lots of loose skin (I have already noticed this a little on my chest )

I do have hand weights at home that I use and also try to do abdominal crunches for my stomach.

Any help, advice or suggestions would be welcomed.

Phoebe

Walking is great exercise and you can continue it as long as you want. You have already lost 70 lbs, so you are obviously doing something right!

Just be sure to keep your speed up. As you loose weight, your body will not have to work as hard to walk the same distance, so you will need to either speed up or walk longer to get the same benefits you did 70 lbs ago.

The main reason people stop an exercise program is boredom. If you are happy just walking, by all means continue. Remember, you have to continue these new exercise and food habits for the rest of your life to keep the weight off. So while boredom may not be a problem now, in a year of so you may need something different to keep it interesting.

If you notice some boredom setting in, you probably should add some variety to your routine. Take a different route around the neighborhood. Or, every so often, get in the car and drive to that park on the other side of town and explore a new area. If you usually walk alone, invite a friend along occasionally the walk and talk.

Or put in one of those exercise tapes once in a while. Even if they are not your favorite form of exercise, at minimum they will remind you why you like walking and your next walk will be refreshing.

Good Luck !

Phoebe, walking is just grand (I lost all my weight with nothing but), but you might check out "Strong Women Stay Young" by Miriam Nelson. She lays out a simple 40-minute resistance training program that you can do at home three times a week (I liked the idea of working out while watching sitcoms). Her program does call for a set of ankle weights and dumbbells, but you can often buy used ones, and even new ones are far cheaper than a gym membership.

Part of the idea is to keep from losing muscle and bone mass as you age (I'm 42, so I worry about these things). The other is that if you have more muscle mass, your body burns more calories, which helps with weight loss and maintenance.

I lucked out--the city just opened up a great, cheap recreation center nearby just as I had started shopping for weights, so instead I spent the money on a year's membership.

Phoebe - first of all, a heartfelt ***Congratulations*** to you for losing so much. You've come so far!!! Keep it up - you can do it!!

Okay, first of all loose skin. I must say here that I do have a lot - a LOT- of stretch marks, especially on my stomach, hips and thighs. But, it's still better than weighing 265 pounds...I think of my skin as a rubber band that was stretched a bit too far, and has some damage. I would LOVE to have liposuction, to get rid of some of the looseness and maybe someday I will (when I win the lottery!).

I just wanted to recommend some reading as far as weight lifting goes - pretty much anything by Joyce Verdal...my favorite book of hers is called "Bottoms Up!" I think you'll enjoy her books, as she focuses on using the dumbbells as opposed to machines you would find at the gym. You should be able to find at least some of her books at your local library.

Although I have never seen them, I've heard so many good things about "the Firm" series of workout tapes that I'd have to say those are at least worth a look. See if you can rent one first!

And...one more thing...walking is GREAT! But if you feel like adding variety to your workout, I would suggest trying a Jazzercise class. Great fun for all fitness levels, and best of all most classes have strength training included at the end of their class (mostly with small ankle/hand weights). If you go to www.jazzercise.com I believe they have a coupon for a free class. (No, I don't work for them!). I heartily recommend Jazzercise because it was such a revelation for me when I started to work out...it showed me that working out could be fun! Plus met so many great people - of all sizes and ages.

MrsJim
265/155/145

Hey there, and a big congrats to you!
If I understood your post correctly, you were asking for ways to "tone up" in addition to walking. Now, while I believe weight lifting is the ultimate tone'r up'er, I really think you may want to try the Tae-Bo tapes by Billy Blanks, since you aren't joining a gym. They give you a great workout, including muscle toning. The kicking and punching really work your muscles. You will feel the burn, and the basic is about 20-25 minutes, and is a great workout. You can even rent them at the video store to see if they are for you.
Most importantly, find something you like.
"Go to you Destiny!"

Hi Phoebe! Walking is one of the best exercises you can do --- it works upper and lower body; it's weight bearing; and it's great on the knees as far as stress is concerned.

I do the treadmill and then add some hand weights as I go along depending on the speed and the incline. Regardless of what your exercise of choice is, you must enjoy it if you are going to make it part of your everyday routine for the rest of your life. From everything I have read, it takes approximately three months for an exercise routine to kick in to the point that you enjoy it and it becomes a "routine" --- and you miss it if you skip!

Good luck on the toning, and I am so impressed with what you have done so far --- I need your advice more than you need mine!! Please let me know how you have been so successful!

Thanks, Terry

Walking is a great exercise for losing weight. It's one of my favorite workouts as well.

As far as toning goes - you need to add resistance to tone and build muscle. Walking up hills is great for toning your lower body. Likewise if you add a powerbelt or light handweights while you walk you can add some upper body toning.

But I would also suggest you add some strength training workouts to your schedule. You don't need much - just hand weights which you already have, and a few tapes.

Two I like are:

• Firm Basics: Sculpting w/ Weights - this is a beginner level Firm tape that includes total body strengthening exercises with cardio. Or if you want to tone specific muscles you can try the various Firm Parts tapes.
• Donna Richardson 4 Day Rotational Workout. This is a great tape with 4 15minutes stength training workouts to target a different body part each day (abs, upperbody, thighs, hip/butt). Or if you feel really energetic you can do them all in one session.

I'm another advocate of checking the library or video store to preview exercise tapes or books before you buy. Or check www.half.com or for used tapes. The FIRMBelieversforum also has a thread that allows members to trade and sell used tapes http://www.firmbelieversforum.com/cg...er=7&SUBMIT=Go

Good luck...you are well on your way!

Phoebe - I see by your profile you are the same age as me. As we age our skin loses it elasticity, it's ability to bounce back to it's original state. Grab a fold of skin on the back of your hand then let go. Likely it'll go right back in a millisecond. Now I won't swear to this but I think a lot of that loose skin will gradually tighten up if you continue with your weight loss and eating healthy. Your skin needs a lot of vitamins and minerals to work properly so make sure you are eating a good diet or at least taking a vitamin supplement. Oh yes, lots of water too.

I think the others have answered all the questions you may have about toning up using weights so I won't go there. Just wanted to give you a bit of reassurance about the loose skin.

Thank you so much everyone for all the excellent advice. I am going to go to my library and the video store and check out what videos they have on offer before I buy any. I already have the hand weights and have a programme to use those with. Thanks everyone!

Jen, thank you for the encouragement. I love your little picture of the kitty too! I try to drink lots of water, about 2 litres (not sure what that is in oz) a day and I am determined to start moisturising after every bath and shower.

Phoebe

All I do is walk... in terms of exercise... everything else at this point just hurts my knees too much... so I hope walking's ok ;-)

I do LOVE dancing though. You all seem to have so many good suggestions for workout videos, what about workout videos with an "up" beat and a few dance moves? Any suggestions?

Congratulations!!!!

I won't go into detail because of all the great advice above, but wanted to say if you like walking, stick with it for your aerobic exercise. To get some nice muscles, ST in addition is the way to go, if you like it. Women don't bulk up. And, muscles burn more calories than fat, making it easier to stay at goal.

Getting tapes from the library and video stores is a great idea. Here are three sites that have some great video tape reviews. www.videofitness.com , www.college-video.com/ (this link doesn't always work, so you might need to type it in directly), www.amazon.com . I've bought about a dozen yoga tapes after VERY CAREFULLY reading the reviews (you have to review the reviewer, also) and haven't had a dud yet.

Phoebe, I use Susan Powter's "Building Strength". She goes slow and she teaches alot about correct form. She also does 3 repetitions of each exercise. I have some others, but I like hers the best. Hope this helps!(And I bought it on ebay)