Be my personal trainer for my 3-week boot camp
March 24, 2018 9:55 PM   Subscribe

I would like a simple kickstart program to getting back to fitness and weightloss and I have an unexpected opportunity to concentrate on this for 3 weeks starting from Friday. Suggestions please.

I am working from home from Good Friday until the end of the Commonwealth Games because traffic. I set my own hours (yay) so I can spend as much time as necessary moving. I gained 20 kg in the last 12 months (boo!). I was able to walk 40km in one day 2 years ago (yay!), and 100 in 4 days. Not now (boo!). Now i am at my heaviest weight ever and it's annoying (bending, going up stairs, wearing clothes). I like walking and the beach is 100m from my door, and my complex has a pool.

I have fitness pal to count calories. I live with a trained masseur who is a fan of mine and very generous. I have been doing very little exercise in the last 12 months and I'm motivated. I can not run because humungous breasts (I don't care what bra you recommend, it doesn't help - same for jumping jacks and couch to 5k (running) can't happen). I'm introverted with social anxiety so gyms are horrifying to me. My plan is to go from nearly no exercise (around 2000 steps a day) to 10km per day and to eat (mostly) unprocessed food (eggs for breakfast, salads and steak/chicken breast/fish for other meals - the masseur cooks).

Other relevant info: my ADHD/autism can cause barriers with boredom. I have, however, made a chart to compare distance covered to known distances (100km is equivalent to distance between my place and the capital). While I should probably give some thought to whole body fitness, my goal here is to get back to regular and significant exercise. Weight lifting bores me, I can't concentrate on exercise videos and I'm extremely unco (ordinated) - so no tennis or other games with hand-eye co-ordination.

I expect to be hungrier and to need more calories - what easy good things to eat?

Without group activities (aargh, no, can't do it), what schedule / menu / whatever do you recommend for my own person boot camp? Keep me moving, keep me proud of my achievements and excited to exceed personal best.

I intend on before and after photos / measurements. Is there a way to measure flexibility or endurance as well?

(I'm realistic. 3 weeks = hopefully 3 kgs loss. But once I have the energy again, I'll be walking to/from work and doing hikes on weekends, which currently are painful and unpleasant and 2 years ago I could do a 20KM Grade 5 hike in the mountains in 4 hours).
posted by b33j to Health & Fitness (11 answers total) 15 users marked this as a favorite
 
Great intentions. However please take all advice here with a pinch of salt- I am not a trained medical professional nor personal trainer. Even if I was, I wouldn't be able to see you in person to give accurate advice.

First piece of advice- go easy and ramp up- if you hit it hard and you don't have the structure to keep you going, you risk crashing out.
(My muscles are aching in pre-emptive sympathy!)

Break up what you do- swim on alternating days, or every three days.

When you walk, don't mosey- walk with purpose. Walk on the sand.

Timer activities are good- do as much as you can of one exercise for 50seconds, then change to another.

Boob friendly exercises:
mountain climbers (hands on the ground, sort of push up position, bring feet up and back, pretending you are climbing a mountain)
'clean and press' - bend over, grab weights, lift into the air (little weights!)
cycling
walking
push ups?
grab a weight, sit on the floor, rotate from side to side
medicine ball slams
etc.

FOOD - yes, you need to eat more, but not much more and your brain will justify to you that you 'deserve it' because you are exercising.
posted by freethefeet at 1:35 AM on March 25, 2018 [1 favorite]


The Hasfit Foundation program got me moving again. I now follow their Motive program. I love it because I don't have to think about it. I wake up in the morning open the app see what it tells me to do and do it. If it is a rest day I take my dog on an extra long walk to still close my rings (apple watch). Time flies when I do their workouts and I am definitely seeing results.
posted by a22lamia at 5:14 AM on March 25, 2018 [8 favorites]


>Other relevant info: my ADHD/autism can cause barriers with boredom.

Podcasts/ audio books solve that problem for me.

Also, re: diet. What helped me lose weight was going low carb (keto specifically) . YMMV obv.
posted by pyro979 at 6:27 AM on March 25, 2018


Swimming is great exercise and easier on the body than a lot of other stuff. You can even waterproof gear so that you can listen to music or whatever when you swim. Maybe someone here can recommend some.

Whatever you do, start out slowly and gently. Time yourself and add more minutes every day. Walk faster and faster. (I hear you on the boobs issue!) I know you said you don't like exercise videos, but if you can stand doing a 30 minute one every day it will help, especially something that improves your flexibility.

Some people say it's helpful to have an exercise partner or just a friend working on similar goals that you can check in with often.
posted by mareli at 6:38 AM on March 25, 2018


Fitness Blender has several 4-8 week programs you can purchase for very little money. These are generally a mix of cardio, HIIT, and strength training.

There are often jumping jacks involved or other jumps, but they tell/show you what the low-impact version is, so you can still participate without bouncing. If you don't have weights, they'll give you some other options like just using a book or doing the exercise without weight at all.

If you don't want to purchase a program, you can just design your own from the hundreds of free videos they have. Check out the "bored easily" series, where there are no repeat exercises.
posted by brookeb at 6:58 AM on March 25, 2018


Darebee has tons of options and you can pick ones that are doable for your circumstances. Free, though you can donate.
posted by OneSmartMonkey at 9:39 AM on March 25, 2018


With the boob thing and having a pool handy, swimming could be a great solution for you. Ruth Kazez's 0 to 1 Mile is a great place to start if you haven't done distance swimming before. That's only 3 days a week, so you could also do some of the other ideas above for cross training.
posted by hydropsyche at 4:14 PM on March 25, 2018


You might find coach.me a fun place to share your goals. I've tried it a few times with success for short burst projects like yours.
posted by OlivesAndTurkishCoffee at 6:38 PM on March 25, 2018


Check out the Down Dog app for yoga! It generates a sequence of yoga postures with gentle music and nicely voiced instruction.

There's different types of sessions; intro, full practice, short practice, quick flow and restorative (particularly good if you're feeling your other exercise). Levels are configurable (beginner 1 & 2, intermediate and advanced) and session length can range from 10 to 110 minutes, so there's really something for everyone there. These are all configurable regardless of whether you're using the free version or the subscription.

I loved it so much that I subscribed for a year, and I *hate* subscription apps with passion.
posted by eloeth-starr at 11:29 PM on March 25, 2018


Walk fast—pump your arms, do hills where possible, and intermittently march to spike your heart rate—with podcasts in your ears! I did two back-to-back 22-min stories from Snap Judgment yesterday and barely noticed I was exercising. You can do it!
posted by AnOrigamiLife at 11:58 PM on March 25, 2018


Darebee, mentioned above, has some workouts that are like, "do this many X today, break it up however you want." That seems like it might work for you? It could be a complement to walks -- when you get stuck waiting for a light to change, do bodyweight squats.
posted by batter_my_heart at 9:32 AM on March 26, 2018


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