Maddy

PLEASE POST YOUR MOTIVATIONAL HINTS AND TIPS FOR EXERCISE/RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EXERCISE VIDS/DVDS/MUSIC/ROUTINES OR ANYTHING RELATED TO GETTING MOVING!!

WE HAVE A STICKY FOR DIET INFORMATION BUT THERE IS SO MUCH INFORMATION ON THE BOARD ABOUT EXERCISE

I have compiled this as a sort of "ready made search" with links to lots of posts here on the board from motivation and inspiration to exercise routines to information on exercise equipment and videos/DVSs/motivating music and research articles

Please feel free to add your motivational hints and tips or reviews of exercise equipment/videos or share what routine has really worked for you!!!!

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hints and tips have been taken from Shape Magazine for Women

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1. GETTING STARTED


You can do it

Stop Making Excuses and Start Exercising


8 things you should do before you start any new fitness plan:

Talk to your GP if you have any health concerns

Get a good pair of trainers/sneakers and a sports bra

Find exercise classes available locally. Call leisure centres, church halls, gyms and pools: you’ll be amazed at what’s on offer. Alternatively invest in an exercise video or two – you can buy used videos at amazon.com

Take it easy – Start gradually and build up. Exercise at a level where you’re working hard enough to sweat, but are able to carry on a conversation.

Get Real. Be Practical. If it takes thirty minutes to drive to your aerobics class, will you really be able to fit it in on a regular basis? And you may want to roller-blade but if you live in a hilly area with bad roads it may not be the ideal way to get fit.

Stay focused. Muscle weighs more than fat. As you lose fat and gain muscle it’s possible your weight may remain the same or even increase slightly. Go by how your clothes feel. They will start to feel looser and your body will appear firmer, smaller and more toned – hurrah!

CHOOSE SOMETHING YOU KNOW YOU’RE GOING TO ENJOY – it’s no good deciding to start jogging every day when you know you hate it. You’re bound to give it up.

ALWAYS WARM UP THOROUGHLY before and after exercising.

DON’T FORGET TO STReTCH – and drink plenty of water before, during and after exercise to prevent dehydration.


GET MOTIVATED TO EXERCISE

Book it in – Treat your workouts as you would a business or social event by writing them in your diary. That way you won’t make any other arrangements that take priority over getting fit. Also, if you book your workouts for the same times each week, they’ll become part of your routine.

Work out with your friends – it’s more fun, feels less like a chore and you can motivate each other – also you’re less likely to cancel your regular workout if you feel like you’re letting the other person down. Check out the Diet and Exercise Buddies forum and see if there is anyone in your area!

Remember that feeling – after each workout really tap into how you’re feeling. Because exercise causes your body to release endorphins (happy hormones), you’ll be left feeling elated, energised and proud of yourself. Hold that thought. Next time you’re hesitating over whether to work out or not, remind yourself how good it makes you feel.

Have a back-up – if you can’t fit in your usual routine, don’t give up altogether: have a 10-minute back-up plan. Run up the stairs, skip, whatever you like, just don’t get out of the habit of getting your heart pumping.

Know your triggers – Stress, depression and major life changes can all contribute to your giving up exercise. Remind yourself that exercising will help you deal with these bad periods by actually reducing stress levels and improving your mood.

Okay…….. Now for the Excuses!

I’m just too busy…. Getting fit doesn’t have to take up all your time. This plan provides maximum gain in minimum time. Try keeping a diary for a week, outlining how much time you spend on all the things you do outside of work. You’ll probably be astonished at how much time you waste – and how much free time you could use. For maximum results make exercise part of your everyday life…… try

Organising social events around physical activities, such as swimming, ten-pin bowling, walking.
Exercising while you’re watching TV (great if it’s cold and you don’t want to go outside)
Use your lunchtime to walk, swim or run
Set the alarm half an hour early so you can cycle or walk to work
Order your weekly food shop over the internet so it’s delivered to your door. You can use the time you’ve saved to work out.

I lose interest easily….. try different activities. If you prefer to work out alone, try walking or climbing. If you’re a more social exerciser, try rugby, netball or badminton. Instead of doing a long 30 minute workout on the same machine, try three 10 minute workouts on different ones.

I’m too tired….. the great thing about exercise is that it boosts your energy levels. Try to see working out as something that will rejuvenate you rather than make you feel worse. Make sure you’re drinking 8 glasses of water a day; dehydration will make you feel tired and lethargic.

Gyms are too expensive……….. who said anything about expensive gyms? You can exercise anywhere, any time you want.

GET ACTIVE IN EVERY AREA OF YOUR LIFE

It’s easy to become more active without even noticing.

Walk around when you’re talking on the phone with friends.

At work ditch the lift and take the stairs; walk to people’s desks rather than e-mailing them; and instead of sitting around in your coffee breaks, go for a quick walk around the block – it’ll revive you a lot more than a shot of caffeine.

Ditch the remote control – get up off the sofa to change the TV channel

Put some real effort into the housework and wash up by hand instead of using the dishwasher

At the weekend meet your friends for a shopping trip rther than lunch. You don’t have to actually buy anything but a busy afternoon trying on clothes is a great calorie burner and the perfect incentive to stick with your weight loss plan.


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Maddy

MOTIVATION AND INSPIRATION!!!!!!!!


MOTIVATION

We all start out with good intentions but there are times that it all just feels "too hard", sometimes reading motivational threads/stories/quotes can help

Need some motivation/inspiration to exercise? Here are some previous threads.....

Anyone seen my motivation??

*share Your Motivational Hints And Tips*

Testosterone can be a good thing!


::::::::motivation:::::::::::
http://www.motivationstation.net/
you then need to click on the Get Motivated on the left hand side

http://www.greatday.com/motivate/030529.html
http://www.motivation-and-self-motivation.com/

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Maddy

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nobimbo

Maddy,

You are awesome!! Thank you so much for putting all of this together!!

I just got a great source of motivation in an email from my cousin, who I had seen yesterday at a get-together. I saw her and others who were at this party just about two months ago, and have only lost about 8 more pounds since then, but I have upped my exercise so it looks like I've lost more since I've lost more inches than pounds. Here's what she said:

"Were your ears burning at all? A time after you left, Ginny mentioned how great you look and how much weight you've lost, and Judy and I agreed. I loved your top and the outfit really looked sharp. It may be a tough go to keep the weight loss going, but it's working!"

Somehow knowing they were talking about me "behind my back" meant more than giving me the compliment directly, lol.

Exercise makes me feel strong and energetic, and fuels my motivation to keep eating properly as well. I believe it's the #1 positive thing we can do for our health and well-being.

Linda

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dx pcos 1984, type II diabetes 2001, also hypertension
Met 2000mg since 2001, started Glucophage XR 4/22/04, then switched to Met ER 6/04; also: multi, Vit. C, Vit. E, B12/folic acid combo, fish oil & borage oil combo, garlic capsules, cinnamon, Vitex, calcium with magnesium/zinc, biotin, CoQ10, selenium,iron
Other meds: Verapamil and Altace(for blood pressure)
Started laser hair removal 7/29/03, completed 3/04 (it works!)
UAE for fibroid 3/24/03 and 3/16/04

Maddy

All technical hitches should have been corrected now!! Some of the links didn't work - but they should all now be present and correct

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Maddy

There is a lot of controversy about when to exercise for maximum fat burning and how

Here's some info:

There is a common misconception that if someone wants to lose weight, they need to do a lot of cardiovascular training. Although cardio is indeed a very effective tool in weight management, when performed without a corresponding weight training program, your body will actually start to break down the muscles that you already have for energy. This has the effect of reducing your muscle mass, and consequently, your ability to burn calories faster and more efficiently.


And Here's some from sixpacknow.com - I love this website - it pulls no punches and is full of "straight-talk"

Maximum fat loss - the Best time for Cardio?
Many people don't realize just how important a well timed cardiovascular program is when comes to eliminating body fat. Whether it's early morning, late evening, the most important thing is that you just do it. Continuous cardiovascular exercise, such as running, walking, jogging, stair-climbing, or cycling, sustained for at least 30 minutes, will burn body fat no matter when you do it. However for the maximum benefits of fat loss you MUST ensure that your performing your cardiovascular training first thing in the morning. You should consider getting up early and doing cardio before you eat your first meal - even if you're not a "morning person." Early morning aerobic exercise on an empty stomach has three major advantages over exercising later in the day.

Early in the morning before you eat, your levels of muscle and liver glycogen (stored carbohydrate) are low. If you eat dinner at 7 p.m. and you eat breakfast at 7 a.m., that's 12 hours without food. During this 12-hour overnight fast, your levels of glycogen slowly decline to provide glucose for various bodily functions that go on even while you sleep. As a result, you wake up in the morning with depleted glycogen and lower blood sugar - the optimum environment for burning fat instead of carbohydrate. How much more fat you'll burn is uncertain, but some studies have suggested that up to 300% more fat is burned when cardio is done in a fasted, glycogen-depleted state.

So how exactly does this work? It's quite simple, really. Carbohydrate (glycogen) is your body's primary and preferred energy source. When your primary fuel source is in short supply, this forces your body to tap into its secondary or reserve energy source; body fat. If you do cardio immediately after eating a meal, you'll still burn fat, but you'll burn less of it because you'll be burning off the carbohydrates you ate first. You always burn a combination of fat and carbohydrate for fuel, but depending on when you exercise, you can burn a greater proportion of fat relative to carbohydrate. If doing cardio first thing in the morning is not an option for you, then the second best time to do it would be immediately after weight training. Lifting weights is anaerobic (carbohydrate-burning) by nature, and therefore depletes muscle glycogen. That's why a post lifting cardio session has a similar effect as morning cardio on an empty stomach. The second benefit you'll get from early morning cardio sessions is what I call the "after burn" effect. When you do a cardio session in the morning, you not only burn fat during the session, but you also continue to burn fat at an accelerated rate after the workout. Why? Because an intense session of cardiovascular exercise can keep your metabolism elevated for hours after the session is over. If you do cardio at night, you will still burn fat during the session, so you definitely benefit from it. However, night time cardio fails to take advantage of the "after burn" effect because your metabolism drops like a ton of bricks as soon as you go to sleep. While you sleep, your metabolic rate is slower than any other time of the day.

Burning more fat isn't the only reason you should do your cardio early. The third benefit of morning workouts is the "rush" and feeling of accomplishment that stays with you all day long after an invigorating workout. Exercise can become a pleasant and enjoyable experience, but the more difficult or challenging it is for you, the more important it is to get it out of the way early. When you put off any task you consider unpleasant, it hangs over you all day long, leaving you with a feeling of guilt, stress and incompleteness (not to mention that you are more likely to "blow off" an evening workout if you are tired from a long day at work or if your pals try to persuade you to join them at the pub for happy hour.)

You might find it hard to wake up early in the morning and get motivated to workout. But think back for a moment to a time in your life when you tackled a difficult task and you finished it. Didn't you feel great afterwards? Completing any task, especially a physically challenging one, gives you a "buzz." When the task is exercise, the buzz is physiological and psychological. Physiologically, exercise releases endorphins in your body. Endorphins are opiate-like hormones hundreds of times more powerful than the strongest morphine. Endorphins create a natural "high" that makes you feel positively euphoric! Endorphins reduce stress, improve your mood, increase circulation and relieve pain. The "high" is partly psychological too.

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Maddy

One of my favourite bits of research on exercise though comes from the Biogenic Diet Book by Leslie Kenton: I think it sums up all we need to really know

Burn Fat Not Sugar - when you exercise there are three ways you can use energy: you can call on glycogen or sugar stored in the muscles, you can call on glucos - sugar stored in the blood; or you can call on free fatty acids which you get either from triglycerides stored in the body or from burning fatty tissues via the mitochondria.

Which route you use to feed your movements depends on the intensity of the effort you are making in your exercise. Using exercise to enhance body ecology and thereby both to decrease cellulite and to rejuvenate demands low intensity. Why? because low-moderate intensity isotonic movement develops red not white muscle fibre and burns fat best. It utilizes free fatty acids first and only second does it turn to muscle glycogen as food. That is exactly what you are after in breaking down cellulite as well as in shedding ordinary fat from the body. You want to stimulate the mitochondria of your cells to release fatty acids, turning them into energy and enhancing metabolic processes at a cellular level. If you are overweight this will mean you get maximum support for the burning of stored fat and for turning flabby low energy tissue into firm strong muscle.

If you go the other way with exercise, pushing yourself to the limit you will defeat your efforts - as aerobic exercise increases, more white fibres develop and the burning of glycogen becomes more important than the burning of fat. At 80% of your exercise limit glycogen supplies twice the energy that fat free fatty acids do. At 100% it supplies virtually all. Pushing yourself to your limits only make worse the disturbances in your body's ecology which produced cellulite in the first place. It also produces large quanitites of lactic acid creating acidosis, which increases your bodily pollution (which is why a few top women athletes can't shift their cellulite). So exercise to banish fat needs to be rhythmical and continuous, using large muscle groups and performed at an intensity and frequency that increases your heart output only to 60% of maximum heart rate - never more.

Just as working too hard is counterproductive so is working too long. Exercise done properly will energize, not exhaust you. If an hour after a session yu feel a lot of fatigue that is a sure sign you have been pushing too hard. Your body has probably been burning sugar rather than fat and in the process producing clinkers of waste. There is no ideal time limit for this exercise; it all depends upon your current fitness level. 15 minutes may be all you need to start off with; others may need 60 minutes; remember; if you are energised not fatigued it is the right amount for your body. If you exercise in this way you will begin to experience an abundance of life force and creativity and it is the start of caring for yourself!

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Maddy

Have You Fallen Off Track Lately?
HAVE YOU FALLEN OFF TRACK?

Have you fallen off track lately – either because of the Easter holidays and chocolate; time has passed you by; or you just need to recommit to your diet and exercise plan?

STOP MAKING EXCUSES AND START TODAY!
Today Is Yesterday's Tomorrow
by Jim Rohn
The problem with waiting until tomorrow is that when it finally arrives, it is called today. Today is yesterday's tomorrow. The question is what did we do with its opportunity? All too often we will waste tomorrow as we wasted yesterday, and as we are wasting today. All that could have been accomplished can easily elude us, despite our intentions, until we inevitably discover that the things that might have been have slipped from our embrace a single, unused day at a time.

Each of us must pause frequently to remind ourselves that the clock is ticking. The same clock that began to tick from the moment we drew our first breath will also someday cease.
Time is the great equalizer of all mankind. It has taken away the best and the worst of us without regard for either. Time offers opportunity but demands a sense of urgency.

When the game of life is finally over, there is no second chance to correct our errors. The clock that is ticking away the moments of our lives does not care about winners and losers. It does not care about who succeeds or who fails. It does not care about excuses, fairness or equality. The only essential issue is how we played the game.

Regardless of a person's current age, there is a sense of urgency that should drive them into action now - this very moment. We should be constantly aware of the value of each and every moment of our lives - moments that seem so insignificant that their loss often goes unnoticed.

We still have all the time we need. We still have lots of chances - lots of opportunities - lots of years to show what we can do. For most of us, there will be a tomorrow, a next week, a next month, and a next year. But unless we develop a sense of urgency, those brief windows of time will be sadly wasted, as were the weeks and months and years before them.
There isn't an endless supply!

So as you think of your dreams and goals of your future tomorrow, begin today to take those very important first steps to making them all come to life.

ARE YOU A WAYWARD WINNER? RECOMMIT TO YOUR GOALS TODAY!
Persistence
by Les Brown

I believe there are three kinds of people. There are winners, who know what they want and understand their potential and the possibilities. They take life on. Next are losers, who don't have a clue as to who they are. They allow circumstances to shape their lives and their self-image.

I believe there is a third group as well. This consists of potential winners whose lives are just slightly out of alignment. I call them wayward winners. It may be that they just need to learn how to be real winners. Perhaps they've hit a bump or two that has knocked them off course and they are temporarily befuddled.

Wayward winners are not lost souls; they just need some tweaking and coaching and nudging to get them back on course. A map might be nice. Many of these wayward winners are easily identifiable because they are always searching.

We all have the capacity to change, to lead meaningful and productive lives by awakening our consciousness.

You know there are going to be tough times as you go about changing your life, so brace yourself and you will be able to handle them. When you get into your seat on an airplane, what is the first thing they tell you to do? Fasten your seat belt. Brace yourself for the turbulence.

When you decide to move your life to the next level of accomplishment, you must fasten your mental and spiritual seat belts because it is going to be a while before you reach that comfortable level again. You will reach it, but you must endure the turbulence of change in order to grow.


Do battle with the enemy. Do battle with your fears. Build your courage to fight what's holding you back, what's keeping you from your goals and dreams. Be courageous in your life and in your pursuit of the things you want and the person you want to become.


HOW TO GET BACK ON TRACK!

The bottom line is to take action, today, towards your goals. Then take more action tomorrow. It's amazing how quickly you'll begin to see results! Ask youself this question: "What can I do today that will move me closer to achieving my goal of _____ ?" Then guess what? Do it!


S.M.A.R.T. Goal Setting
by Andrew Wood

A Lesson From Wonderland - Having a lovely and bright young
daughter, I just began to re-read some of the children’s
classics I enjoyed in my childhood.

Although Lewis Carroll’s masterpiece, Alice in Wonderland,
is frequently (and mistakenly) considered to be for children
only, its pages contain many basic lessons in life.
Take, for example, this wonderful little excerpt...

"Is this the right way?" said Alice to the Cheshire cat.

"That depends a lot on where you want to go," said the cat.
"I don’t know where I’m going," said Alice...
"Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go," said the
cat.

How many of us have found ourselves in this situation --
walking, talking, working, and getting by just fine without
ever really knowing where we are going?

That’s exactly how life is for the 95% of people who don't
set S.M.A.R.T. goals!

S.M.A.R.T. Goal-Setting

Unlike dreams, goals must adhere to strict rules. In order
to be smart goals, they must be...
Specific
Motivational
Attainable
Relevant
Trackable


Your goals must be Trackable. You must be able to measure progress as you go along. If your goals are not trackable, you don’t know where you stand on the road to your goal.
Now do this exercise.( I mean it. Really do it!)

1. Write down how much weight you want to lose in the next year, starting today. ____________________

2. Divide that figure by twelve. That’s how much you have to lose each month. ____________________

3. Divide that figure by four. That’s roughly how much you have to lose each week. ____________________


Now, what steps can you take to help achieve that goal now, today?
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Maddy

For all those who, like me, might have fallen off the wagon lately; I found a really nice paragraph in my new book which made me smile ~

Don't just focus on the final destination, concentrate on the journey that you are making. Be clear what your final destination is, think about the route that you want to take, and be realistic about how far you can travel in one go. Don't make the journey so long that you feel exhausted when contemplating the way ahead. Achieving a goal should not be seen as an endurance test: you will need stops and it may even be that you rest for a while at each stop, but you still have your map. You know the route and where you are going..... you still have your map!

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Maddy

I just received this in my in-box - small and not directly related to weight loss but I liked it all the same:

SADNESS

Rain, rain, go away
Come Again another day.

Sometimes, this IS the other day. If it never rained, the earth would dry up, the flowers would wither away and the lawn would turn brown.

When it rains in your life, remembers the words of Patrick Norman:
"Viens toujours le soleil après un jour de pluie."
Translation: Always comes the sun after a day of rain.

May you live all the days of your life,
David Leonhardt,
The Happy Guy

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Maddy

taken from Life Coaching... Change your life in 7 days by Eileen Mulligan

NO MORE EXCUSES

You may have heard of Roger Black. An Olympic and world 400 metre silver medallist, twice european and also Commonwealth champion as well as the world 400 metre relay gold medallist, he became the Great Britain athletics team captain and was awarded an MBE. What makes roger's achievements all the more exceptional is the fact that he suffers from a heart condition.

throughout Roger's career his condition remained a secret, "I didn't want to have an excuse if I failed"

If one thing really makes Roger stand out in my mind it's his attitude. I'm bing on excuses. Not on making them, but on blowing them out of the water.

Excuses are the little voices in our heads telling us why we can't do something. To some people, they are "the voice of reason" but I don't think much of that description. As an experiment, try substituting the word "Excuse" every time you want to use the word "Reason". I think you'll find you don't get the same comfort factor from it.

Presented with a challenge, you can either slip into a mind-set that looks for umpteen reasons as to why it is not achieveable, or one that looks for ways to overcome the challenge. The distinguishing factor is attitude. which one will you choose?

PUT YOUR ATTITUDE TO THE TEST

People who achieve goals stand out through attitude, through their determination to succeed even against the odds. That involves not only seizing opportunities but also creating them. One obvious cuase of excuses is fear. If you keep giving yourself reasons for not doing something, the chances are you won't do it.

EXERCISE

Write down some exerciseweight loss goals for the coming year.

On a piece of paper, divide a page in two halves and draw a vertical line down the middle. Write a goal across the top of the page. On the right hand side list as many reasons as you can for achieving that goal. On the left hand side of the page list all the reasons you can think of for not achieving your goal.

It doesn't matter whether one list is longer than the other. What counts is what you make of the list.

All your apparent weaknesses can be converted into opportunities. You can't deal with seaknesses by ignoring them or crossing your fingers and hoping for the best. Now is the time to be up-front about them and find a way to turn them into strengths. If you are determined to succeed, you will, so long as you have your goals clearly in mind.

do you remember your first day in a new job? Remember how unnerving, even hostile that unfamiliar environment was? And yet, miraculously, by the end of the week it appeared so much less daunting. You adapt, you unwind a bit, you get to know people, to know your way around. Setting out on your goal can feel like that first day: opening the door on something new it's all too easy to feel tempted to run back to the security of familiar ground.

Sabotaging your own goals is an all too common phenomenon, which is why you need to eliminate as many excuses as possible to determine what's really holding you back.

Successful people have the right attitude. They don't look for excuses to fail.

It's up to you to achieve your goals. Don't make other people your excuse.

Push beyond the excuse and find the reason reason that's holding you back

Goals can mean you stepping into new territory. Recognise that excuses are part of the fear process

Read your goals daily. For a goal to be achievable it needs mental attention. Keep it in mind - your thoughts influence your actions.

Allocate a time frame for achieving your goals.

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Maddy

Motivation
One step after another

Right now you can take one step, one clear and unambiguous step, toward whatever it is that you most desire. Situations and circumstances may seem to work against you, yet nothing can stop you from taking at least one positive step forward.

When tomorrow dawns, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that you're already well underway. Then take another step, and suddenly you've created a powerful momentum.

You can get anywhere you wish to go by moving toward it every opportunity you get. One step after another will surely get you there. Yes, it would be nice to make big leaps, and perhaps you'll have the opportunity to do so along the way. In the meantime, though, keep taking one step after another.

Even on days when the going gets rough, there's a way to move forward at least one step. Keep in mind that you've taken those steps before and you can surely do it again.

Put time on your side, and put momentum on your side. Take one step forward every chance you get, and you'll end up getting wherever you want to go.

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hurrihottie

This topic is phenominal..i am soo glad i found these board..it is becoming a real life saver for me!!

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I will be skinny!!!!
Start weight: 176
Current weight: 176
Goal weight: 135
Height:5' 7 1/2
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missmelanie23

This thread is awesome Maddy... Keep it coming, please...

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Mélanie
St-Colomban, Quebec - Canada
Age 29, Diagnosed at age 14;

[font="Trebuchet MS"]Medication:
100mg Al