The Student Room Group

excersize in your own home

hello there!
basically i was 5ft3 and 10 stones so at uni i went on a healthy eating program and did cardio at the gym and went down to about 7st10, im now back home for summer and my folks have gone abit wild at my weightloss insisting i must skip breakfast and dinner all the time (i never ever skip these two) and it did take me about 2 months to loose the weight, and they say my face is all horrible and yellow (even though everyone else says i look fine).
being back home for summer i want to keep up my excersizing because i feel much better but basically my folks wont let me " do not be stupid have you seen yourself" and i dont want to put the weight back on, so does anyone know any excersizes you can do in your own house, thanks in advance guys.

(by the way sorry for posting anon people on here know who i am)

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Reply 1
press ups
sit ups
roll your duvet up and then put on shoulders and do crunches (saw this on a prison programme)
go for lots of walks
bycicle rides
etc

you can see what you've got in your bedroom - be inventive!
Reply 2
If your parents are that worried about how you look then maybe you should consider the fact that they could be right. I understand you don't want to put weight back on after you worked hard to get it off, but if they are saying you look ill it might be good to listen to them. Why not relax slightly over the summer? Keep up the exercise and healthy eating, sure, but maybe make it a bit less intense to give your body some rest.
Reply 3
Press-ups, sit-ups are good and don't take long - least not for me! Other than that, swimming is very good general exercise, or you could try running (get some proper shoes) or cycling.
Reply 4
thanks guys! the thing is i cant really go running at the mo, too much hassle from parents and i dont have a bike, i still do sit ups and stuff though, i do try and walk as much as possible walking rather getting the bus etc, was just wondering if anyone had any other cool ideas. do you think if i am looking abit peaky the excersize is the cause?

I dont think im that strict on myself though, i dont completely cut out treats and stuff (i love icecream and ill have the odd biscuit/ slice of cake every now and again but not too often) and i definatley eat the recomended fruit and veg and maybe more i just snack waay less then i used to (like on crisps, flapjack, chips i dont have these at all now and usually if i do need a snack its fruit), I just count my calories and cut down on carbs (though not totally remove) so how can i relax my diet even more if i do look abit ill? i think im being reasonable here my diet isnt obsessive or anything.
Reply 5
I put on my music and dance around the living room for half and hour. Make sure no-one can see you through the window though.
1013
I put on my music and dance around the living room for half and hour. Make sure no-one can see you through the window though.


I am one for dancing around with music on. Exercise without even realising it. I have received a few funny looks from neighbours walking past though. :p:
Reply 7
If your parents think that you aren't looking right, theyre probably right as its the people you dont spend time with that notice changes. I would go to the doctors and ask if they think it is diet/excercise related. If they say its not then it will put your parents mind at rest, if it is, then maybe you should relax some more,take their advice. 7st10 is a very low weight for someone of your height, im the same height as you and i know that 7st would be far too low for me. And i think it as actually below a healthy BMI range.Your parents are only doing this beacuse they are worried, they cant look after you while your at uni, so theyre making up 4 it now!
Reply 8
hehe nothing like a good boogie eh? thats actually a good idea never thought of that (doh!) thanks! i didnt think my weight was that low i thought it was within the normal range of bmi? and i dont feel weak or anything in fact i feel more active then previous weight. and i do think 7st would be too low,but im not intending on loosing anymore weight, my parents didnt believe me when i said i weigh 7st10 and when i got the scales out and showed them- their answer was the scales must be wrong! parents eh? but thanks for the help guys! muchos appreciated
Reply 9
Ive just checked and your BMI is 19.1, anything below 18.5 is unhealthy. So youre ok for now but make sure you dont go below. I really would go to the doctors, even if its just to reassure your parents. You dont want tospend the whole summer battling them over this!
Reply 10
Skipping breakfast and dinner is stupid. That's a crap way to lose weight, you must eat a lot of healthy, low fat (though that's not to say don't eat any fat, you need some) foods. To exercise in the house I would do skipping (with a rope), squat thrusts and running up & down your stairs.

Don't bother with pressups, situps or pullups if you're only interested in losing weight, they're not very good CV exercises (unless you do them fast, but I'd rather skip fast rather than do situps fast if I was interested in losing weight).
Reply 11
I think i will go to the doctors just to make them happy as my parents now want me to take vitamin tablets (and i dont want to do that without the right advice) thanks!

Btw tomX i said in my other posts that i NEVER skipped breakfast dinner, i dont intend on loosing anymore weight as i said i just want to stay at what i am now but not put any on. :biggrin:
Reply 12
Anonymous
hello there!
basically i was 5ft3 and 10 stones so at uni i went on a healthy eating program and did cardio at the gym and went down to about 7st10, im now back home for summer and my folks have gone abit wild at my weightloss insisting i must skip breakfast and dinner all the time (i never ever skip these two) and it did take me about 2 months to loose the weight, and they say my face is all horrible and yellow (even though everyone else says i look fine).
being back home for summer i want to keep up my excersizing because i feel much better but basically my folks wont let me " do not be stupid have you seen yourself" and i dont want to put the weight back on, so does anyone know any excersizes you can do in your own house, thanks in advance guys.

(by the way sorry for posting anon people on here know who i am)




WTF- you lost all that in 2 months? What did you DO to yourself????? :eek:
I think that the reason that you probably look ill is because you lost the weight too quickly like loser88 suggested and therefore put your body under too much strain.

I would try to make sure that you certainly don't get any stricter with yourself. Try to just eat healthily and exercise but not too excess. Also if you fancy a treat have one without beating yourself up about it. If you relax thing a bit but eat healthily then your body will find a natural weight that is good for you.
Reply 14
Do two different kinds of sit ups to work all the stomach muscles.

The normal kind.

And like this: lie on the floor, face up, so that there is something behind your head you can hold onto with your hands (such as your bed). Then keep you legs straight, point your toes and lift your legs off the ground. Raise to about 20 - 30 degrees then lower to being just off the floor, and repeat.

WARNING-do not try and do too much of that at first if you haven't worked the lower stomach muscles before, as they are hard. I pulled all the muscles in my lower abs by doing too much too soon - start with five, if you can, then work up adding one a day. Seriously I am talking from personal experience. However, once you build up, they are excellent for toning that area.

Then of course there are press ups, and also find something heavy in the house you can hold (filled up water bottles, cricket bat, whatever) so you can do normal bicep curls as well.
Reply 15
thanks guys some good stuff there. i never really thought it i lost the weight that fast (it seemed like a long time to me! heh) i think it was because of the excersize id do about an hour of cardio a day and then id walk alot too (20min walk at least 3 times a day). like i said id not say no to the odd treat etc. but i suppose i should have tried taking longer. but now i have lots of ideas to try out now! :biggrin:
Reply 16
Sit-ups/press-ups won't burn many calories. They exercise quite smallish muscle groups. If you're desperate to burn calories, go swimming/running/sport and eat healthily.

I would also advise against sit-ups entirely. They exercise the muscles in your leg a lot compared to your abs and are apparently not great for you back. Crunches are, imo, better. Press-ups are fine though afaik. Move you hands closer together and raise your feet by 12 inches or so if you want to make them harder.

I keep in shape with just a pair of dumbbells and rarely go to the gym.
Wez
Sit-ups/press-ups won't burn many calories. They exercise quite smallish muscle groups. If you're desperate to burn calories, go swimming/running/sport and eat healthily.

I would also advise against sit-ups entirely. They exercise the muscles in your leg a lot compared to your abs and are apparently not great for you back. Crunches are, imo, better. Press-ups are fine though afaik. Move you hands closer together and raise your feet by 12 inches or so if you want to make them harder.

I keep in shape with just a pair of dumbbells and rarely go to the gym.


How do you do crunches properly? I can't do sit ups, it hurts my back too much, so I'm always on the look out for back friendly exercise.
Reply 18
StrangeKitten
How do you do crunches properly? I can't do sit ups, it hurts my back too much, so I'm always on the look out for back friendly exercise.


You can't do crunches with a weak lower back. To strengthen your lower back try this:
Lie face down on the floor. Hold your body up with just your toes and elbows on the floor (so the rest of your body is "floating"). Your centre of mass is near to your hip joint so it will try to cave in on itself but you can resist this by resisting this will strength your lower back (and abs, to a lesser, near insignificant, extent).

My favourite abs exercise is hanging hip raise, hang on to something (door frame, stairs bannister, etc.) with just your hangs, then just curl your legs (so your knees are moving towards your chin, but rather, in a circular motion) about your hips, then lower your legs back to their original position. While doing this make sure that it's always controlled, when your legs are descending it's easy to just let them drop, but rather, control them. When you reach the top/bottom, do not rest, keep the exercise as one continuous movement.
Reply 19
StrangeKitten
How do you do crunches properly? I can't do sit ups, it hurts my back too much, so I'm always on the look out for back friendly exercise.

I expect there are a million and one different ways people do crunches, but these guides seem quite good:

http://exercise.about.com/cs/weightlifting/l/blcrunch.htm

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exerprint.php?Real_New=%3C%3D+7&Name=Crunches&MainMuscle=&Isolation=&Equip=&order=Name