How can I lose weight when I can't do cardio excercises?

Question

I'm a 20 year old girl who is 30lbs overweight. I also have very painful, severe heel spurs. Everytime I even try to go on a treadmill, after about 2 minutes I want to cry because of how bad they hurt!

I have gone to a podiatrist to talk about this situation and he told me i'm in a Catch 22 because in order to relieve my pain, I need to lose weight. But I can't lose weight, because of how much pain I'm actually in.

But my dilemna is this: I know i can change my diet to lose weight, but I don't lose weight well/quickly when I don't exercise. Also I don't know what kind of excercise I can do that can effectively assit me with weight loss that won't end up hurting me.

Is there some diet or food products that can really help me with weight loss in a non-excercise situation?
and is there ANY effective cardio that can be done that doesn't require much impact on my feet? (other than biking because i do not find it effective for me AT ALL.)

Answer 1

Honestly, the quickest way that I was able to lose weight without the conventional cardio methods were the following:

1. Eating every three hours (Starting with breakfast!)
2. Swimming ( There are plenty of exercises to do in the water)
3. More weight training(You will build up a sweat quickly when you are weight training)

Keeping your carb intake down will really help you slim up quick too. I was able to loose 4lbs a week on the every three hour eating rotation. Once the weight starts coming off, try to do at least 20-25 mins on the Treadmill or Eliptical machines. They make a HUGE difference!!

Answer 2

1. First start by getting up earlier than usual. Around 5:30 AM to do some of you workouts. Getting up early shocks your metabolism because the body needs more energy to get going. Right? This will start your system on the road to weight loss. That early start with about 10 minutes of stretching. Have a cup of coffee to get the blood going also. 2. Do all the sit-ups you can. Just do them. 15 or 20 whatever, we don't have a lot of time to work with. Rest 1 minute repeat, do this for 6 sets. Already you are breathing hard and feel worn, because the body is working extra hard at being up earlier and then going right into exercise. If the early morning hour lets you get your cardio in, go ahead and do it. 30 minutes. 3. Diet. Cut all current meal portions in half, just cut them in half, nothing fancy or complicated, CUT IN HALF! Cut out all bread products, all gravies, candies, chips, night snacks, etc. If you crave at night eat a banana, other fruit or best a non-fat yogurt. There are some tasty ones out there. 4. In the evening do another 6 sets of sit-ups maxing out each set. Cardio again. The trick is to stay with getting up earlier. Yes it’s hard, that’s why it is so effective. Why do you think the Army gets up so early, it is intense training to the max.

Answer 3

Weight lifting and eating sensible. try something like weight watchers. you can eat what you want but you have a certain amount of points a day and can't go over them. previous poster said swimming, i agree, a very effective cardio workout that many people use because of medical problems, as it doesn't put stress on your joints

Answer 4

If you burn more calories than you take in you can loose weight. That means no MickyDs and other junk food. No sugar filled soda. Portion size should be watched.

COUNT CALORIES! I use a little program on my computer and then sinque it up with my Palm. It is about $35 on "calorieking.com." I can track my calories while I'm out. It is like a checkbook for what you eat. You have a daily allotment and then when you eat something you enter it from their huge data base and subtract the calories and you know what you have left for the day. It's really cool.

I lost 20 pounds and never exercised. All I did was change my eating. Good luck to you.

Answer 5

If you can't do cardio (I hate it) keep yourself busy at all times. Even fidgeting at a desk job helps. But definitely lower your caloric intake to 1400-1500 per day, and keep busy- even at night. Do yard work, or walk the mall, keep moving. You can do floor excercises as well that burn calories but don't require cardio, such as thigh and leg lifts, and crunches. These can be done while watching t.v.- You gotta get that metabolism going without raising your heart rate with cardio, you can also try green tea.

Answer 6

I would suggest swimming if you have access to a pool... can you walk a while without your heels hurting? If so you could try walking a mile or as long as you can. Strength training is definitely a must because it will speed up your metabolic rate/help you burn more calories. Eat a lot of fruits and vegetables & drink a lot of water. Also set goals for yourself. For 3 weeks my boxing teacher didn't eat any fried foods and she lost 6 lbs. She didn't change anything else. If you have a bad habit such as fried foods, chocolate, maybe set goals as to how much you can have a day/week. I hope this helps and good luck to you!

Answer 7

let a great dane walk you for 13 minutes 5 mph

Answer 8

save time and money during the week by buying lean protein such as chicken breasts in bulk and cooking a weeks worth on sunday night

Answer 9

try swimming, it is an excellent cardio workout

Answer 10

got nuts with nuts eating a handful of nuts will help you stay full try soaking them in water for a different texture