Ok, I always wanted to look good.  Kept my hair always neat, took care of my skin, etc. 

Over the past few months, its been really hard to do anything worth anything.

It all started with a bummed leg (hurt my ankle, knee, and hip) in a bad fall.  Then Joy passed away.  Then the stress with my neighbours, moving, quitting smoking, etc.

Well, I havent took care of myself, and went to the doctors and found out I had gained 20 pounds (which makes me a weight I never thought I would get to, no matter what). 

I used to dance,and took pride in that.  And now, I bet when I say I used to dance, people look at say "Yeah right, the floor probably screamed!"

Anyways, I need some good diet tips to try and loose this extra weight.  Please keep in mind, that exercising is hard in the winter, because walking in general is hard for me.  Have had several knee operations, and find it very hard to get a good exercise in without being in pain.  During the summer, I go for many walks, because I can take it at my own pace.  If it takes two hours to walk 4 miles, I dont care, at least I am getting out and doing it.  Right?  Just these stupid winters, and then the stress, I really dont want to get more gutted at myself.

Any help would be great. 

Thanks CD'ers

Kory

Swimming would be a good non weight bearing exercise that would be easy on your knees, if you can get to a swimming pool :-)

How about speaking to someone whos into fitness, or if you can afford it a persoanl trainer. All you need is a few sessions to give you some advice on exercise at home. Its amazing how you can turn household objects into fitness aids.
Another option is a fitness video/dvd to do in your lounge. You say you like dance - you can get lots and lots of dance dvd's.  As you have injury's resistance bands training might help as it is very gentle and not a huge strain on your joints. How about going to a yoga class or pilates?
I would also say the gym but i know not everyone is in the position to afford it. However, the benefits are having trained instructors who will take not about your injurys and work out a programme around that.They are also very good to motivate you and believe it or not its great fun and an excellent way to meet people.
Swimming is also a great one to try.
It goes without saying that diet is very important. You dont necessarily need to do the latest fad diet, but go back to simpe healthy eating. We all know what it andf isnt good for us, we just choose to eat the chocolate instead of the fruit :-)  so (if you dont already) go back to eating 3 meals a day. Make sure you have a good hearty breakfast (porridge etc) and dont eat huge meals late at night. Snack on fruit, nuts, seeds etc and drink lots of water inbetween. I fill a 2 litre bottle in the morning and make sure i drink it all by the time i leave work. This way you can monitor what you drink and make sure it's enough.
If you can drag a friend into lose someweight aswell that would really help motivate you and spurn you on.
Good luck!!!and remember we are all human and all have bad days, but once youve had a bad day forget about it and start again the next day -DONT give up completely! :-)

PM me if you want :-)

Just try to eat nice healthy foods little and often that will help you to loose the most weight. :-)  Have 5 small meals a day.

Jolene has come up with the best exercise plan, swimming really does exercise all your muscles, it is fun and you can do it at your own pace.

Trouble with walking, yes, it keeps you healthy and gets your blood pumping and exercises your muscles, but in no way does it help you loose weight, not unless you are likely to do 10 mile hikes, if you jog that is different as you burn up energy, but to be honest walking as a weight loss programme is useless.

Swimming, a little light tennis or any exercise programmes you can do at home, get a video will help much more with a cut down on none healthy food, drink lots of water to help fill you up aswell. :-)

Smoothies are good - they fill you up (and give you your '5 a day')  without lots of calories.

Actually walking will help you lose weight alongside a healthy eating plan. Anything that helps raise your heart rate is good. So walking and increasing the area you cover and/or the speed you travel will work. It will also give you more energy which wil motivate you to keep up the good work.
however you said that you cant get out to walk much this time of year so definately exercise in your home.

> How about going to a yoga class or pilates?

that would help with your stress as well, yogas increadibly relaxing i find, and you don;t have the embarassing "all the fit people at this gym are looking at me sweat" thing (i know i feel that way anyway) as its very gentle to begin with.

if you can get the cash together accupuncture can be used to lose weight. i didn't have the money to keep it up but in the one session i had i lost 3lbs in an hour (i'm not kidding). was great, lay on a table, listened to nice music, got some needles and had a wee nap! i'd reccomend trying it for your knee anyway, it can be great for controlling pain (i get it for migraine and its the only thing that works!)

as to diet, i think (if your anything like me) the winters the worst time...you just want to eat cozy (usually full of calories) stuff...so try and find warming but healthy things, thick (veggie filled) soup is a good one!

Thanks everyone.  I am going to look into maybe a video or something.  See when I look at myself, I dont "look" that fat.  But stepping on the scale, yesterday at the doctor, yes I was big. 

I just cant believe I let myself get this way.  When I worked so hard to keep a good figure before, and now the only real good thing is that I have really muscled arms (thanks crutches!!!)

I already drink 3L of water a day, dont know how I can drink anymore than that. 

Have a bike, but its crammed behind boxes.  When I get to the new place, I am gonna set it up and make sure, every day, that I ride it.  (Indoor, exercise bike).  The only thing I hate about it, is you get a wedgie cos of the seat.  lol

Anyways, thanks for all your advice!!!!

> I have really muscled arms

muscle is very heavy, could have made a big differance

What about mall walking in winter?  You will meet older folks, disabled folks and there are sessions for Mum's with tots in strollers.  There are usually some younger people there accompanying some of the above.  As well as exercise you could think of it as a networking endeavour or sales opportunity for your doggy business.  :)

umm wil give that some thought.......  Dont know if we have that here in town or not.

crespin,

I know how you feel but you need to remember that giving up smokeing is far better for your over all health then putting on a few extra pounds.
You should be really proud of yourself for doing this and living though all you have these past few months and worry about losing that extra weight later.

Crespin,

I dont know quite how to say this,but if thats you in the background of the pics with your dogs on your website,my first thought was that you were alarmingly skinny and that you could stand to put on a few pounds.. :)

Ah, those pics are of my mom.  (Checked to make sure which ones I had up there, it was a while since I uploaded some pics to the website)

My mom is starting to gain weight (in that pic she was 87 pounds - and now she is 100 lbs).  She is a newly diagnosed Celiac, and with eating the proper diet (no wheat, rye, barley - and a few other things she has to look out for) she has been gaining weight.

If I was that skinny, and was gutted about gaining weight, I would probably put myself into an Eating Disorder Clinic.  Mom is only that skinny since she is Celiac and went undiagnosed for almost 50 years with not getting the proper nutrients.

She stacked my dog, so I could get some pics of Cher.  Mom cuts heads off, even with a digital camera lol

These are some pics of me

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg300/CrespinMinPin/Cher/Pinscher%20Potluck%20Picnic/My%20Time%20At%20Friscolanti%20Funeral%20Chapel/Kory.jpg

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg300/CrespinMinPin/Cher/P10104381.jpg

The last one, is more of a recent one. 

Christ if you are big then i am enormous!
i was a size 10/12 5 years ago but since then have crept upto an 18 and hate it!
i cant look in mirrors and wont go naked in front of Dave
he loves me no matter what i look like! but i cant help hating myself!
since quitting smoking i have put on a bit more as well!
although not as much as i thought i would!
however i am not going back to smoking as its been nearly 4 months and i hate the smell!
and couldnt afford it anyway!

Crespin looking at your photo you're definitely not overweight at all, but sometimes what matters most is whether you feel happy in your skin.

Maybe becuase you have put on a few pounds you feel bigger than you actually are. I know I do, although people tell me I don't look over weight I think I would feel a bit better just toning up a bit. Some of of the exercise suggestions posted here are great, I might try some myself :-)

Swimming is really good though, and the results can be seen quite quickly, usually just a few weeks if you go a few times a week.

Just remember, don't beat yourself up about putting on a few pounds, it happens to all of us and it will come off with a bit of exercise and healthy eating.

Claire
x :-)

I think the big thing is I used to do ballet, and in a dance where the slimmer the better, I mean, it just got beat into me.

I hate how flabby I look, and I do need to tone up. 

I saw an add, for a local gym where you can go UNLIMITED for $12.95 a month.  Apparently it works out to .49 cents a day.

I look at my hips, and I just feel so big.  But I dont honestly get, how I can gain all the weight I apparently have, and still have my jeans fit.  Yes, my dress pants dont fit anymore, and I would love to get back into them. 

Been watching what I eat, and took a posters advice about small meals and snacks during the day.  Measuring out everything, according to Canadas food guide. 

Thanks though, for saying I am not as big as I think I am.  Its true though, you have to be comfortable in your own skin.  And right now, it seems that I am not.

http://www.halls.md/body-mass-index/bmi.htm

The link is to a body mass index calculator.  Make sure to click on the weight percentile link  and the ideal weight links. 

well it says I am obese.  So...........

So...........

So.....after looking at the pic of you I'd say that's a load of rubbish. 
You look fine to me, but if you're not happy in yourself, I'd go with swimming as others have said, to tone up if that's what you want to do.  I hate exercise *eek* and I have dodgy knees, but I actually enjoy swimming and it doesn't put any strain on my old joints :-D

Thats what I am gonna do, and join this gym that I found locally. 

I am just so used to taking care of myself, and to let myself slide for a bit, its just taken a toll.

Get my work out brace, and then start working out.  Did it when I was in dance, gosh danced every day for 4 or 5 hours.  That was the best.  Felt so good.

I know what you mean Crespin.  How old are you if you don't mind me asking?
I'm 30 now, but for years, when I was younger, I did ballet, tap and gymnastics - nothing serious....I was never that good!  But I did feel brilliant after a good work out.
I was better at gymnastics than ballet and tap, and I loved it, just wish I could do something like that now, but I'm a lazy sod!

I am 23 years old.  Danced until I was about 18, when I had to give it up for good after my second knee surgery.  Tried to get back to dance after the first one, but kept messing my leg up, so I hardly dance anymore.  I still have my Pointe shoes, and now they hang on a hook on the wall. 
I miss dance so much!!!!

I bet you do, it must be hard to give up something you love like that.

Definitely give swimming a try though - it's relaxing as well as being brilliant for you.

(((hugs)))