I started because my doctor told me too but that was because my weight went up to 150. And I am only 5"2' so that is a LOT of weight. And now I have been working out EVERY DAY since my Doctors appointment on December 10th. And been watching what I eat. In sprite of all this I have managed to loose a grand total of only 5 pounds!

Toni, I am doing most of those exercises that you describe wuth the dumbells myself. Working with weights really is very good for people. LIke I said, right now using 5 pounds, started with 3 pounds and will be working up in weight as I am able.

I hope you get much better quickly. Pain is the worst thing to have to bear.

What you said about all the bulb planting. I was sore and tired like crazy until it all got done. Took me about a month and a half as I started in mid October and finished the very end of November. But apparenty didn't work too well as exercise. I was really surprised myself. I thought all that would surely be great exercise.

Google won't tell you unless you add 'work out' to Gizelle.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000AS7W2/

nice article with detail on how it works
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000AS7W2/

It is an exercise machine. Great for the joints as it has no impact.

http://www.gazelleglider.com/g...

I love it because it is no stress on the joints. Streaches your leg musches. Works on your core and legs. Easy for anyone no matter how out of shape to use.

PPal - It's like an elliptical, but with more of a free-flowing motion. Extremely low impact. However, designed for little people like Rita (yes, even at 5'2 & 150 I classify you as a LITTLE PERSON!! as I was bigger than that by the time I was 8 years old). Think of it as running in motion in the air. It's a nice machine.

My Doctor said 20 minutes of exercise 5 times a week. I decided I had to exercise every day because if I skipped days I would always be saying I will do it tomorrow (and not get it done). But on the net (at web.md) I read how it is now the common guideline to recommend at least 30 minutes of exercise each and every day.

So I make sure I do that 30 minutes on the Gizelle. Mostly I do longer. 30-50 minutes rountinely. I do it in batches of 20 minutes, take a short break and then more. And I do the sideways cross scizzors trpe motion for 10 minutes most days. So that is how it often ends up at 30 minutes or 50 minutes.

I do those as the backbone of my new fitness program, I time the Gizelle, I know how long I exercused for each day. Then when I do the stepper I count numbers. I have been doing 1,000 in sets of 200 (short break in between). Alternate with free weights on alternating days. Again, I need a short break betwen sets. So I don't worry about time on the weights or stepper, Just on getting it done.

So I am getting much more in total exercise time than just the time on the Gizelle. But can only account for the time total on the Gizelle, not the other.

The Gizelle does have a weight limit. I think the Freestyle (which I have) is 300 pounds. Then there are models with a lesser weight limit of 250 pounds that cost less too.

Rita - I tried using a Gazelle.. it seemed way too flimsy for my big ol' butt, so, when I go to the gym, I use this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

It's an awesome machine. You can do steps, you can do elliptical.. it's very flexible. And I like the fact that it's good for my long legs, too. I was doing 45-60 minutes 4x weekly on it and seeing some real progress. But what I hate is seeing the scale just NOT MOVE. GOES NO WHERE. Sweat like a stuck pig, working out a whole ton, eating everything right, and the scale just won't go down. Got very very disheartening. And then this damned sciatica starts up and everything goes to hell quickly in a handbasket. And I can't find someone who's willing to just chop off my leg.

I don't go to a gym. I just would never exercise unless I do it at home. There are gym type machines that interest me but I am not motivated to get to a gym. But I am motivated to work out at home.

And I do know what you mean about the weight loss (or lack thereof). I have only managed to loose 5 pounds for all my efforts since Decemember 10th. Working out every day. Watching the calories and eating healthier. But still FAT!

Rita - Watch your clothes, not the scale. That's what I have to do. I went down a full pant size & dress size in the time I was working out. I lost a full inch on my upper arms, about 2.5 inches on my hips, and 2" on my thighs. Now if only the gut part would go down... It's just embarassing & depressing seeing someone watch me get on the scale & hear them gasp when they see the numbers..

Things do seem to be tightening up.

All those machines look like they came out of a dungeon from the middle ages - just polished up a bit: new paint and a little technology added. And it appears that one needs a certain amount of coordination to avoid being consumed. You ladies are brave!

PPal - I do admit, the AMTi100 does get a bit getting used to. It's hard to start. You have to really push down on the footpedals at first to get it going, but once you get it going, it's very smooth. But I find it to be way easier than digging ditches or cleaning a pig stye like when I was a kid! And a lot cleaner, too. lollll Just wish they weren't that expensive... I'd love to have one at home. I'm seriously thinking about buying one of these:

http://www.elliptigo.com/

I guess I'll just stick with ditch digging and sty cleaning - something I can do at home too!

PPal - yea, but then you have to eat the piggies in the stye.. and that just makes me even more fat. LOLLLL When I was like 17, my father decided that I was too bored (*I* didn't think I was bored, but he did). And he decided that the propane tank, that had sat at that same spot for about 20 years, was just too far from the fence line, so he wanted the tank moved closer to the fence so the propane truck wouldn't have to go so far. So I got to dig a 1/2 acre ditch. By hand. In slate. With a pickax & shovel. 1ft deep, 1ft wide. Took me 2 weeks of hacking through that damned slate to get it done. After I got the ditch dug, we laid the 1" copper pipe and left it open so the propane guy could inspect it. When he showed up, asked why didn't we use a ditchwitch to make the trench? Ditchwitch? What's that? I looked at my father.. what was a ditchwitch? He kinda looked embarrassed... soon thereafter he found a great deal on cinder blocks. Bought 350 of them. I ended up moving every god-damned (sorry for swearing) one of those blocks FOUR TIMES THAT SUMMER. And not just from here to there,... NOOOO... from next to the garage to next to the barn 3 acres away BY HAND. Didn't even get to use my wagon.. had to carry each 33lb cinder block by hand (thank goodness for leather gloves) because of the bumpy terrain.

That's why I don't want to do a lot of outside manual labor. I did enough of a kid for a lifetime.

Rita: If you're only 5' 2" tall, this answers the question I've always had in my mind about how you navigate all those raised beds you have ! LOL

Do you women take calcium supplements or drink milk ?
My mom was a tiny woman (5' 3") and drank milk her entire life and never had the osteoporosis problem. She had 7 kids and had the bones of an ox. She swore it was because she drank milk and the calcium kept her bones nice and sturdy and she lived to be 84 before she got alzheimers. She never "exercised" per se, but did walk a LOT and rode a bicycle to stay in shape. She came from a LONG line of "short stumpy Germans" (her words) and vowed she would never "look like a brautwurst tied in the middle" like they did.

Toni: That would make anyone not want to do any manual labor again, especially a girl !
Nowdays, kids sue their parents for things like that.

We were the last people on our street to get a gas clothes dryer...in 1974, no less. People would always ask my mom, "Oh Marilynn...you always have such a gorgeous suntan and such beautiful red streaks in your hair. With 7 kids, when do you find the time to sunbathe?"
She'd say, "Oh hell. All I do is hang clothes on the clothesline every day...then I get to take the damn things down and hang up ANOTHER load."
When my last sibling was finally out of the cloth diaper stage, my dad bought her a dryer. She took one look at it and said, "I don't know whether to kiss you or punch you in the nose." So she punched him.

I hate milk. Stopped drinking mik when I was a kid. I do take a calcium supliment.

I am used to my raised garden beds and not very easy navigated paths. No one but me gets in them anyway.

LOL. Mike, she sounds like she was a spunky German woman!