I've been doing No S for quite some time, now, and I swear I've gained weight the entire time.
Clearly, something is wrong.
I need to get more exercise. I have never been athletic. I'm uncoordinated, and am dismal at sports. Also, I'm an introvert, and not competitive. I feel like a dork when I've gone to the gym, because everyone but me knows what they're doing. I used to do a lot of hiking, but when my partner was paralyzed in a freak accident, hiking stopped.
I've been struggling with a whole mess of relatively new food allergies, so my diet can be fairly limited.
I had to buy a cocktail dress for a work function, and am wearing the largest dress size of my life. Now, admittedly, after trying on about forty dresses, I can say without hesitation that I'm ROCKING that dress. But I'd look even better without the gut.
I think I've been lying to myself about his well I've been eating. It's hard not to be totally demoralized. Hard not to just say "I suck."
Demoralized
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sophiasapientia
- Posts: 919
- Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2008 3:09 am
- Location: Michigan
Hi Who Me -- I'm so sorry that you're feeling down and having a rough time.
I too am an introverted, uncoordinated individual who dislikes sports and is horrible at them. I've found that I can still be an active person even if the gym isn't my thing. The key is to find something you enjoy and commit to doing it. I like hiking and walking and those have become my bread and butter exercises. I walk pretty much everyday, currently with our dog but prior to that on my own. My partner, too, is no longer able to hike or walk at a fast pace due to a disability. I still walk with him once or twice a week but I consider that a bonus/family time rather than a workout. Wearing a pedometer helps my gauge my overall activity level and listening to audiobooks/podcasts during my daily walks makes the time fly. Add in some hand weights and sit-ups and it can make a huge difference.
Hope that you can find something that works for you!!!
I too am an introverted, uncoordinated individual who dislikes sports and is horrible at them. I've found that I can still be an active person even if the gym isn't my thing. The key is to find something you enjoy and commit to doing it. I like hiking and walking and those have become my bread and butter exercises. I walk pretty much everyday, currently with our dog but prior to that on my own. My partner, too, is no longer able to hike or walk at a fast pace due to a disability. I still walk with him once or twice a week but I consider that a bonus/family time rather than a workout. Wearing a pedometer helps my gauge my overall activity level and listening to audiobooks/podcasts during my daily walks makes the time fly. Add in some hand weights and sit-ups and it can make a huge difference.
Hope that you can find something that works for you!!!
From another uncoordinated, dismal at sports, non competitive introvert - let me just say exercise DVDs have saved my fitness. They come in so many varieties, geared towards all different fitness levels, and the best part is that no one can see me flopping and thrashing around in my basement while I'm working out. I don't have to drive to a gym or wait for suitable weather, and the local library never runs out of new exercise DVD's to try, so I don't even have to pay for new ones if I don't want to. I like kickboxing videos - I find that I don't actually have to be too coordinated to do those. I stay away from any videos with the word "dance" in it.
Re: Demoralized
I'm not athletic, either. I've never stepped inside a gym and I never intend to do that.Who Me? wrote:I've been doing No S for quite some time, now, and I swear I've gained weight the entire time.
Clearly, something is wrong.
I need to get more exercise. I have never been athletic. I'm uncoordinated, and am dismal at sports. Also, I'm an introvert, and not competitive. I feel like a dork when I've gone to the gym, because everyone but me knows what they're doing. I used to do a lot of hiking, but when my partner was paralyzed in a freak accident, hiking stopped.
I've been struggling with a whole mess of relatively new food allergies, so my diet can be fairly limited.
I had to buy a cocktail dress for a work function, and am wearing the largest dress size of my life. Now, admittedly, after trying on about forty dresses, I can say without hesitation that I'm ROCKING that dress. But I'd look even better without the gut.
I think I've been lying to myself about his well I've been eating. It's hard not to be totally demoralized. Hard not to just say "I suck."
The only thing I've ever done consistently is walk - and I've been able to jump start weight loss or keep it off doing that. I used to use a pedometer and easily walked 8,000-10,000 steps at work, plus I walked for exercise before or after work. When I stopped working, it was difficult to get all that movement in my day.
In my case, I'm the one with a disability and I can't move as much or as quickly as previously. I don't power walk, in fact, I never did that. I don't think it's necessary. Just one foot in front of the other. This was on the urban rangering site. I do occasionally break into what I call a "funky jog." It's not speed-walking or power walking and it's certainly not really jogging, but it's somewhere in between. I don't do it for long -- maybe 50 steps. And then I walk again.
I walk my dog 20-40 minutes 2-3x daily. I'm also going to be walking my daughter's dogs. They're young (and big!) and not well-trained to be on a leash. I'm starting with them by walking them up and down the sidewalk and driveway until I can get them to walk by my side. Then we're going to go further.
I look for excuses to move. If something needs to go up or down stairs, I don't wait until I'm going or there are more things to take, I take it when I realize it. I bring in one bag of groceries at a time, put it away and get another one. I park far away at the mall or grocery store. I walk up and down every aisle at the grocery or big box store -- even when I don't need anything. (I don't "look"; I just walk.) I do plies when I'm brushing my teeth or washing dishes. I pace when I talk on the phone. I get up and move around during commercials when watching TV. Ever noticed that all skaters have great legs and butts? I mimic that skating movement whenever I think of it and can do it. I also dance. I don't mean I really dance, I mean I move to music. I might just walk or march in place, do kick-steps or whatever -- but when I hear a song I move.
All the movement counts. With the exception of walking the dog(s), nothing takes more than a minute or two.
"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do. Not that the nature of the thing itself has changed but our power to do it is increased." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."
"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."
Sorry to hear you are feeling demoralised 
I too am rubbish at most (ok all) forms of exercise, and hate the idea of a gym, even if I could afford it. Lately I've taken to strength training using my OHs dumbbells and actually really enjoy it. It doesn't take co-ordination - you just lift things up and put them down again, and I can do it in my flat without jumping around on the floor disturbing my neighbours. I really like the way it makes me feel like I've done something, muscle soreness is actually a motivator for me!! Plus it's awesome for building good bone density which will be good when I get old and doddery, and that whole 'oh em gee but you'll get all huge and muscley' is actually a myth - women don't build giant muscles without a LOT of training/supplements.
Anyway, just putting in a good word for strength training
It's not something I see people, women especially, think of automatically when it comes to exercise but it can be awesome for losing weight and looking fabulous!
I think before you have mentioned that you don't weigh yourself. Might it be worth investing in a set of scales so you can see the patterns in your weight over time without guessing? What's your NoS compliance actually like? I haven't lost much weight since I started, but I know full well that this is largely down to really crappy compliance for a few months last year, and excessive S days undoing any good work from the week. Tracking calories for a week or two to see how things really look might also help, at least then you could see if there are any calorie dense foods you are eating often that might be better to cut down on.
As great as NoS is, it can't magically help you to lose weight if you are eating more calories than you burn! That's where mods/tweaks etc. can come in I suppose
The structure of NoS seems to be a great starting point to making things work for you, don't give up!
I too am rubbish at most (ok all) forms of exercise, and hate the idea of a gym, even if I could afford it. Lately I've taken to strength training using my OHs dumbbells and actually really enjoy it. It doesn't take co-ordination - you just lift things up and put them down again, and I can do it in my flat without jumping around on the floor disturbing my neighbours. I really like the way it makes me feel like I've done something, muscle soreness is actually a motivator for me!! Plus it's awesome for building good bone density which will be good when I get old and doddery, and that whole 'oh em gee but you'll get all huge and muscley' is actually a myth - women don't build giant muscles without a LOT of training/supplements.
Anyway, just putting in a good word for strength training
It's not something I see people, women especially, think of automatically when it comes to exercise but it can be awesome for losing weight and looking fabulous!I think before you have mentioned that you don't weigh yourself. Might it be worth investing in a set of scales so you can see the patterns in your weight over time without guessing? What's your NoS compliance actually like? I haven't lost much weight since I started, but I know full well that this is largely down to really crappy compliance for a few months last year, and excessive S days undoing any good work from the week. Tracking calories for a week or two to see how things really look might also help, at least then you could see if there are any calorie dense foods you are eating often that might be better to cut down on.
As great as NoS is, it can't magically help you to lose weight if you are eating more calories than you burn! That's where mods/tweaks etc. can come in I suppose
The structure of NoS seems to be a great starting point to making things work for you, don't give up!