Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

It's a little tough for me to post this because everyone else here is so fit and in shape and looking and feeling great! Me, I'm not. I've been an overweight person my whole life. Technically I'm beyond overweight. My BMI counts me in the obese category. But I want to get out of that. I don't want to turn into my mom. She's in her early 60's and weighs over 300 pounds and never does any form of exercise. I can remember being a little kid and she wouldn't go outside with me or wouldn't go to amusement parks because she didn't fit comfortably in the seats of the rides and got worn out from all the walking. I don't want my daughters to have to deal with a fat and tired mom all the time. This change isn't just for me, but for my family as well. I want to get fit. I need to get fit.

Now I don't have to turn into a complete gym nut. I can't afford a gym membership either. I have $18 in my bank account right now anyway to last me until Wednesday, which isn't enough to sign up anyway. But what can a broke and fat gal do that's cheap to get in shape? Can someone recommend me some good exercises for beginners? I need to lose weight and get fit and would love some advice on how to do it.

I lost 48 lbs last year by losing about 1 pound a week.

This free online book helped me, it is called the Hacker's Diet
http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/

I used this site that was made for the Hacker's Diet to track my progress
http://www.physicsdiet.com

If you want to lose weight you have to get your energy intake under control, because even a small snack can replace the energy that an exercise session will use up.

Don't cut back too far or that will make it hard to live with and will make you quit. The optimal rate of losing fat is 1 - 2 pounds a week.

A simple way to get unnecessary energy out of your diet is to drink only water whenever you can, and reduce the amount of foods you eat that prepared with oil

If you can cut your intake by 200 calories a day, you can loose 20 lbs a year. Take a look at this web site to see how little 200 calories can be
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-does-200-c ... k-like.htm

HTH

Good Luck.

Hey, not everybody's fit I'm not, but working on it.
You want to build muscle, because muscle is smaller than fat and burns calories 24/7! Since running is hard on joints for an overweight person, I'm thinking bodyweight exercises. Squats, lunges, climbing stairs, knee pushups, some kind of pulling motion too, like assisted pullups, but they may be hard for now, and anything else

http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/displayarticle.php?aid=75
http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/displayarticle.php?aid=51
Good site btw. http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/

stumptous is a great site, I've learned a lot from it.

If going ot hit the weights is too hard or expensive you can always try resistance bands. You will not only get in shape working with them but you will also gain control over the strenght you develop. You might even get more creative because they're just that: bands and you'll need to combine them in different ways to work the muscles you want.

Interesting site! I like her bluntness and honesty.

After I had my first child, I got back into shape using exercise videos. I couldn't afford a gym membership or any equipment, but I did manage to purchase two videos. I had one video that was mostly aerobic and the other was mostly stretching and simple bodyweight exercises (like pushups, situps and leg lifts). Neither one required the purchase of any weights, bands, balls, or other special equipment. At first, I could barely make it through one video, but after a very short while I could do both in one day if I wanted to and go for a long walk pushing a stroller too. I looked and felt soooo much better.

Acquiring some fitness DVDs for cheap or free should be easy, as many people have a collection of them that they never use. Ebay and freecycle would be good sources. Your public library may have some available. And if you find you like a lot of variety, blockbuster & netflix both rent them out.

After a few months, I was fit enough that the videos were no longer enough of a challenge and I worked out a deal with a local gym to barter a few hours of work per month for a free membership.

I would suggest start by walking more. You can go at a faster pace, then slow down, walk with light weights in your hands, and if you get tired stopusing the weights. My mom was getting really out of shape, was over 215 pounds, started just walking and the weight started to fall off. Of course if you reward yourself afterwards with something that isn't that great for you the walking isn't going to help much. Then when you've lost a bit of weight and feel comfortable I'd say start weight traing as a way to build muscle, and improve you metabolism. I was about 190 when I was 18, and just by doing weight training circuits I lost 40 pounds.It took a while but it really was effortless. Back then I wasn't vegan though, and didn't know anything about nutrition, or else it may have come off faster. Don't give up though no matter what find an activity youlike and stick to it. Hope this helps. Keep us posted!

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness.asp is a great website and you can use all it has to offer for free.

Krista knows a lot, but she does not have health professional credentials. She is a Women's Studies professor who happens to be a fitness enthusiast who reads a lot and who doesn't think much of veg*n diets.

Great person, knows a lot, but you have been warned.

burpees ... they're free and they'll kick your ass
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBZiwFRG9s4

and when you master burpees .... go to advanced burpees
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seHiBvgxwCE

jump rope .... a decent rope is like $10

i'm a fat ass too so don't worry about comparing yourself if everyone else here, i can do about 10 burpees before my legs start to burn, so that's how unfit i am. we'll just stand on the sidelines and throw things at everyone during the flexing competitions that happen on here

also check out this users video, they do all their workouts with bodyweight exercises, and most of their equipment is free or very cheap http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=Celciusss (same user from the beyond burpees video)

Courtney;

Exercises that may be good for you at a smaller size may be healthy for you to do starting out. In my humble, uneducated opinion, walking, some yoga, and getting your energy intake under control will be a safe start that will give you some nice results.

I had a neighbor who wanted to lose about 8 lbs and who hated going to the gym. She organized all of her house cleaning so that she could keep constantly moving and she kept a food diary. She lost the weight and I was amazed.

A food diary is definitely something I should start doing again. It really helped me before. I know I am one of those people who doesn't eat large meals but is constantly grazing throughout the day. Every single time I walk by the fridge I peek into it. It doesn't change after a half hour so why do I do this? Old habit, I guess.

Burpees....holy crap those look tough! But I'll sure as heck give them a shot. My arms are so weak that I can barely do one real push up. I need some strength in them big time. I bet those are a heck of an exercise that would really help, provided that I can build up the strength to do them.

I didn't even think about a jump rope! I loved doing that as a kid just for fun! I still am decent at it too, so I really should head to Scheel's and buy a decent one! Thanks for that tip! It's going on my shopping list!

Videos can be very useful. I have two walking videos. One's a Denise Austin "Blast Away The Pounds" and the other is a Leslie Sansone "Walk Away The Pounds" video. They will certainly do on days when I can't get outside to walk. And pushing my daughter in her stroller adds to the exercise.

Once the money situation is a little more under control I might be able to foot a gym membership and maybe a session with a personal trainer. That would be really cool I think!

yeah, I agree with the walking.
I don't know how hilly your area is, but around here where I live there are tons of them!

Start off easy, if you haven't worked out before. Also, try to cut out processed food as much as possible. Every day counts. Remember that! Even if one day you feel like you fell off the wagon, go for a walk. Everything helps. ^^