Quest for a new lifestyle.

[Alo]

Hi everyone,

My name is Aloïs and I am french and 24. I discovered you and your community 2 and a half years ago. I was a bit overweight and I started to realize that I needed to take care of my body (I never thought about it before that). I started to move more (run and body workout) but I had a consistency problem. Beside I had a hard time taming my food input. Yeah ... I like food. But one day of March 2016, I decided I will get there, I will lose weight, I will lose these extra kilos (yeah I use the metric system, I will try to make the conversion in my posts). And I started to run 3 times a week and to workout every day when I was not running. I ate way less sweets and more reasonable quantity as well. And guess what? I lost wiehgt. Within 4 months and a half I lost 14 kilos (I think it's 30 pounds... is it?). I was so proud. Before I couldn't do 5 push ups and at the time I could do 4 times 10 easy. I was running 3 times 1 hour per week and I loved it.

 

Unfortunatly my left knee gave in and I had to stop running. I went to doctors, got soles but still not really healed after a year right now... It's frustrating because I love running. And worst beside that, I took most of my weight again because I lost motivation and gained frustration.

 

So I want to start again. However, I can't, for now, run as much. And I would like to find other way to excercice where my knees are not use so much (any idea will be welcome). I think I need support because I want to be fit. Not crazy muscular and all but simply fit and healthy that's it.

 

I'm looking forward to exchange with all of you.  

 

Have a blessed day,

 

Aloïs

[dayzee84]

Hi there and welcome! Swimming is a great workout that is easy on the knees, if that is a possibility for you. Although you use your knees in cycling I would imagine it's lower impact than running. Or if you belong to a gym maybe rowing or the elliptical? You could also start doing strength training (either at the gym or do bodyweight stuff at home) and just go easy on your knee. 

[Odinson]

I definitely recommend swimming as a low impact replacement for running! Welcome to the team.

[Sciread77]

Welcome Alo!  I'll put another plug in for swimming if you have access to a facility for it.

 

I ran for health and competition for years, but it's pretty hard on the joints.  All that came to a screeching halt when my joints (including my knees) started to have issues.  It took me a while to find healthy alternatives.

 

I'm not sure exactly what your your knee situation is, but these days I walk for most of my cardio.  Surprisingly, as long as I walk instead of running like a maniac, stairs are fairly low impact on the joints.  I often walk one at a time.  I have access to a lot of flights in my office building. I'll also occasionally add weight in the form of a backpack or sandbag when I'm training for a trip with my toddlers, although I walked a good long time and added weight slowly to ensure I wasn't overloading my joints

 

I also have a stationary bike at home.  I like it, and I can usually get my heart rate up on that as well as I can on the stairs at work.  I don't usually use the thing, but I'll be off work for a few months when the new baby comes and that'll become my primary cardio since I've only got one floor.

 

As far as strength training goes, you can train pretty hard for strength and not get the crazy muscular look.  That's usually achieved by drugs, dehydration, or both.  

Note: I'm not a doctor, and I definitely wouldn't recommend any exercise that causes a pain unless it's coming from your doctor and/or physical therapist in the rehab process.