Exercise Novice in need of toning advice

  • Hello everyone. I'm totally new to this section of 3FC but I've posted over at the 300+ support group for almost two years. I'm also pretty new to exercising in general. I've lost most of my weight with very little exercise involved...I belonged to the Y for a while and really enjoyed their fitlinx weight machines, but quit due to money and time constraints. I did yoga for a while - ditto! I bought an eliptical for use at home and it became a very ugly piece of sculpture in the corner of my living room until recently. About three weeks ago I decided to give doing the eliptical in the mornings a try. I'm quite pleased that I've actually kept that up and have no plans to stop! I started at 10 minutes and am up to 20 each morning. (I do allow myself up to two days a week to NOT do it, but so far haven't used them this week! ) Now that I'm actually getting in some exercise, I'd like to try some more!

    I really need to tone up. As you can imagine, losing 90+ lbs without exercising has not been kind to me - flab city! As always, time is precious to me...I have new yoga dvd's I need to try and haven't yet because finding 40-60 minutes in the evening has been a problem, but I'm working on that. We've been talking about buying a bowflex or some such machine for the home so we don't have to leave our dogs (our babies) home and go to a gym. My DH is quite taken with the Total Gym thing that Chuck Norris hawks...but either machine is probably several months away. All we have for weights at this time are little 1 to 5 lb dumbell things.

    What sort of things would you recommend for toning and maybe building a bit of strength? I have ZERO upper body strength - doing yoga is hard enough and a push-up is out of the question - I have NEVER done a pull-up, even as a child! My upper arms are HUGE and flabby and they are without a doubt the WORST part of my body in my opinion. The fact is I FEEL weak - and I don't like it! ANY advice is most welcome! Thanks!

    Oh, and if it matters at all - I'm on Weight Watchers.
  • You might start with Ladies Who Lift (see link below). This forum has stickies at the top with useful information for people who are starting out. In addition to the information for newbies, you might check out the resistance band workout. The bands are cheap, you can take them anywhere, and they provide a great workout.

    http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=80

    Good luck!