Getting fit for summer in Canberra?

Jenny, good on you for wanting to lose the trunk!
Get the process started with walking and increase to a jog when your ready. Upping the heart rate as often as possible is the way to go. Cut out the crap in your diet and stay off the schooners until the weekend if you can!!
No charge either for that love.

Don’t let them get to you, Jenny123, I think it’s great that you’re actually interested in doing something to help yourself.

Most important thing to remember is any exercise, no matter how small, is better than nothing. This could mean taking the stairs instead of the lift, parking a block further away, anything!

My suggestion would be Fernwood gym, with a pt session once a week. That’s what I do, and I find the pt session useful as it helps me work out what is the best exercise for me while making sure I’m doing it properly. Fernwood have gyms everywhere, and you don’t always have to use ‘your’ club. It’s pretty pricey, but I think it’s worth it.

In that case you are wasting everyone’s time and you might as well just eat another tub of ice-cream!

I dont think I am wasting everyones time, I simply requested pt recommendations because I am clueless when it comes to this kind of stuff.

I dont find comments like this helpful, move along now.

jenny123 said :

…….. yes

In that case you are wasting everyone’s time and you might as well just eat another tub of ice-cream!

well jog then…..or do an aerobics class, or go swimming and do 50 laps…. *rolls eyes…*

none of us know how fit or unfit you are. If you just happen to be skinny but haven’t exercised in years, then maybe that’s why I suggested walking. If you took up jogging 4 times a week, you’d be broken down with injury within 3 months.

think about it…… maybe something is often better than nothing.

I-filed said :

jenny123 said :

I have never really had to loose weight before so I really have no idea where to even start, is walking really going to do anything??

You can’t in all seriousness possibly be this dumb can you?

…….. yes

jenny123 said :

I have never really had to loose weight before so I really have no idea where to even start, is walking really going to do anything??

You can’t in all seriousness possibly be this dumb can you?

carnardly said :

why do you need a personal trainer? Why don’t you find a friend to waddle around the lake with you?

Go for a ride, make up your own bootcamp by running up and down stairs and doing lunges, using hand weights.

I personally think they are pretty expensive if you’re just starting out – i mean a lot of it isn’t rocket science.

google can be your friend and a PT might be better used if you have a specific goal.

Any of us can do the basics to move our arse.

I have never really had to loose weight before so I really have no idea where to even start, is walking really going to do anything??

Personal trainers, gyms, boot camps… all good if you’re a gym junky, but it sounds like hard work to me. No wonder people have trouble sticking with it.

Find something you enjoy doing, and some like minded people and you’ll never look back. I found mountain biking several years ago and within three months I’d lost 15kg. I have a ball every time I go out, I have absolutely zero issues with motivation and I’ve made some fantastic friends.

Oh, and it’s really not that cold here in winter, unless you like jogging at 5am. Our long, sunny winter days are perfect for exercising and the odd frosty wind just makes you work harder to stay warm.

why do you need a personal trainer? Why don’t you find a friend to waddle around the lake with you? Go for a ride, make up your own bootcamp by running up and down stairs and doing lunges, using hand weights.

I personally think they are pretty expensive if you’re just starting out – i mean a lot of it isn’t rocket science. google can be your friend and a PT might be better used if you have a specific goal. Any of us can do the basics to move our arse.

Rebecca Brown – Peak Performance personal trainers, is in O’Malley. Not cheap, but good. Just google it and it should come up.

Although I do tend to agree with the first post. If you struggle to find the motivation for exercise on your own then you’ll probably fall back into old patterns when you stop going to the personal trainer. However if you’re actually talking about making a commitment to a healthier lifestyle (long-term, not just for bikini season) then the right personal trainer might help you in the right direction.

And if it is just for bikini season then eating healthier and getting a personal trainer to kick your arse for a few weeks will still do the trick in the short-term.

jenny123 said :

Sideshowmatt123 said :

Monday 6:30pm boxing fitness at Erindale PCYC – Coach is a sweetheart and a comedic diamond in the rough. It’s all about the community, no frills. $4 per week.

What a great idea, do I need to bring a partner, is there any smaller females or weaker males I could partner up with

No need for a partner Jenny, there are men and women of different sizes, no contact. Wednesday night boxing training is a bit different – you change around different partners, and there is some mild body contact. Women are treated chivalrously – it’s timid men like me that might cop a glancing blow!

Hosinator said :

People are not genetically selected to eat processed foods etc so stay away from anything made in factory with tons of sugar, salt and preservatives.

Fixed that for you.

St Vinnies have a fantastic service called Night Patrol. You could volunteer and burn off calories travelling around offering warm drinks and conversation to homeless people. Might help get you out and about in the Canberran Winter (you can have a warm drink) or there’s the Street Soccer Team, door knocking for Salvo’s or Vinnies……lots of exercise to be had 🙂

Hosinator said :

Our family philosophy to food is only eat something if it grew naturally in the ground, on a tree, swam in the ocean or once had a heart beat and blood flowing through it’s veins (except if it was human.)
People are not genetically designed to eat processed foods etc so stay away from anything made in factory with tons of sugar, salt and preservatives.

Gee must be a recent family phenomenon then. Without sugar and salt as preservatives your ancestors would have died of starvation.

jules_from_latham said :

Sorry Hosinator, but these types of comments really annoy me. What is it that we are genetically designed to do?

I agree with the sentiment and my family and I practice what we preach, but to suggest that we are not genetically designed to do it is nonsense. I probably would have let this go except you added sugar – perhaps you are not aware of the presence of sugar in most “naturally growing foods”????

To put it simply we are genetically designed to move, a lot. Hence why jenny123 has a fat arse, as does 50 per cent of the Australian population because they sit on it instead of move it.

I am aware of sugar in fruit, fructose vs sucrose. What I’m saying is that prior to the society we know and love/hate today, we wouldn’t indulge in chocolate, gummy bears, chips, muffins etc. We would eat and then burn it off by tilling in the soil, walk between the senate and the Colosseum, where we would watch some Catholic’s being eaten by a Lion.

jules_from_latham said :

Sorry Hosinator, but these types of comments really annoy me. What is it that we are genetically designed to do?

I agree with the sentiment and my family and I practice what we preach, but to suggest that we are not genetically designed to do it is nonsense. I probably would have let this go except you added sugar – perhaps you are not aware of the presence of sugar in most “naturally growing foods”????

Perhaps you missed the bit about “tons of sugar”, or the bit about being “made in a factory”. The point that Hosinator was obviously making was that processed, sugar laden foods are not good for you and they don’t occur naturally, and are best avoided. Which is true.

Sorry Hosinator, but these types of comments really annoy me. What is it that we are genetically designed to do?

I agree with the sentiment and my family and I practice what we preach, but to suggest that we are not genetically designed to do it is nonsense. I probably would have let this go except you added sugar – perhaps you are not aware of the presence of sugar in most “naturally growing foods”????

You’d best get some horrible wasting disease. It worked for me. Or; diet control; if barfing all day won’t work for you. Personal trainers are not very effective at weight loss if you can’t eat proper.

Our family philosophy to food is only eat something if it grew naturally in the ground, on a tree, swam in the ocean or once had a heart beat and blood flowing through it’s veins (except if it was human.)
People are not genetically designed to eat processed foods etc so stay away from anything made in factory with tons of sugar, salt and preservatives.

Limit the amount you eat. In all honesty you don’t need a dietician to tell you what the crap is in your diet. 3 meals a day, no snacking, dinner no later than 3 hrs before bed.

Last time i saw the GP, he mentioned something about seeing a nutritionist (?) for free. Even though its free, i don’t think they would tell me something i don’t already know.

The other easy way to start your diet, is to get a step counter (they come free in cereal packets these days, or can be bought for $10) and aim for 10,000 steps a day.

Mrs. Bendross raves about the gym @ Vikings Erindale. It’s quite Average Joe’s as opposed to Club Lime’s (et al) Globogym.

I cannot recommend any health professionals though. I must admit I agree with jcroc’s rant. Basic healthy eating and exercise is the way to go. You can look good without being healthy and you’ll still feel like shit. If you get fit and healthy you’ll look AND feel good.

Meanwhile I ate potato scallops for lunch today as I was a hungover wreck. Everything in moderation, including tequilla.

Dietitians, Nutritionists, Health “Professionals” and the like are pretty much just going to “trim the fat” off your paycheck. As for your statement “I am a busy working professional with no time to exercise”, well, it pretty much explains the reason for your big behind!! Change your lifestyle, make time, or you will emphasize the way you are. Kilojoules in = kilojoules out – kilojoules spent getting rid of kilojoules.
Yet, at bequest of my better half, if you need help that isn’t so simple try Fernwood’s Facebook “Foodcoach on the go”. Supposedly it might be helpful for the intake side of things.

I think it’s important to remember you can’t out run a bad diet. Fitness will vastly improve health and wellbeing, and can aid weight loss, but it has to go hand in hand with good diet!

I’d consider seeking the aid of a dietician (NOT a nutritionist unless they can demonstrate they’ve got an actual science degree – many nutritionists are quacks – one of the warning signs is nutritionists who try to convince you to take a bunch of vitamins or blame random health problems on ‘vitamin deficiencies’. Often, they’ll even try to send you with a shopping list of tests to take to a real doctor, so they can make their own obscure – and often baseless – diagnosis from the results). Your GP can give you a referral.

I also don’t agree you can obtain a good understanding of nutrition based on the web or magazines. There’s simply too much misinformation and quackery out there. Many nutrition sites will tell you utter nonsense, like ‘eat lots of spinach, as chlorophyll is great for the bowel’ (er… no, and WTF would it do in your bowel?) or ‘go on this detox diet – it’ll help remove all the chlorine that’s been building in your skin for years’ (Whaaaaat?) Most sites will have all sorts of lists of symptoms of alleged vitamin deficiencies and the various vitamins or natural remedies to cure them (in fact, any vitamin supplementation without reason, including multis, is – according to a strong body of evidence – useless or even potentially very dangerous. Many anti-oxidant supplementation regimes have been demonstrated to cause cancers, especially in smokers). The basis for nutritional understanding should be founded in science and genuine evidence, and your average person can struggle to separate the science from the quackery.

Sideshowmatt123 said :

Monday 6:30pm boxing fitness at Erindale PCYC – Coach is a sweetheart and a comedic diamond in the rough. It’s all about the community, no frills. $4 per week.

What a great idea, do I need to bring a partner, is there any smaller females or weaker males I could partner up with

Monday 6:30pm boxing fitness at Erindale PCYC – Coach is a sweetheart and a comedic diamond in the rough. It’s all about the community, no frills. $4 per week.

Alas I think if you rely on a personal trainer you will relapse and get fat again as soon as you cease to pay. Nutrition? What you don’t know, find on the web or in women’s magazines.
I’ve your prime motivator is to get thinner, the best way to get started on exercise if you’re also dieting is perhaps to exercise gently e.g. walk daily – even if it’s late at night around the ‘hood. That’s so you don’t work up an appetite and wreck your diet. The more your exercise regime requires e.g. driving to a gym, the more likely you will find excuses. Good luck! (I’d be spending the personal trainer fee on nice clothes).