Does anyone have advice on how to improve my level of fitness?

Someone else asked this recently and a lot of people (including me) said stair/steps. Find a set of stairs nearby that you can climb regularly. Perhaps even a staircase in a building. You could carry a backpack as your fitness builds up to increase your fitness more and move faster to keep pushing yourself.

Walk at least 30 minutes a day.

You’re doing what you need to do to improve your fitness level – working out. If you’ve already seen improvement in your strength, you’re on the right track.

There’s no secret weapon. We all know effective exercises for our muscles – push-ups, squats, lunges, planks, all the variations of a crunch or sit-up. These paired with regular cardio is what will do the trick. Once you get in the gym, you can start a lifting routine to get even better results.

I’m sure the videos you’re using are great, but if you’d like some variation, try some HIIT workouts. They are free on YouTube and they’re fantastic.

Recreational swimming or jogging in waist deep water.

Train at 100x normal gravity.

P90X

@ragingloli Perfect answer. Exercise in a gravity force accelerator would be fun, and effective.

You can add weights to your regime you can do this at home. There are some great YouTube videos that start at beginner level. Muscle burns fat and speeds up your metabolism. Some one mentioned walking up the stairs. You can also use just the first two steps and use the same way as you would a stepping machine. This is great for calves and upper thighs. It also should work up a great sweat.

Body weight creates body resistance so even using kitchen units can build muscle. For example standing with you back to the bench placing arms on it and raising your body. (Bit hard to explain).

You need not join a gym. A gym does not make you fitter, it is the actions you do in there that do. So you can recreate them at home for free. Or in a park for example. Swimming is a great all round toner too. As are water aerobics.

Move more. Eat less.

Get a book. Body for Life. Follow it.

Sounds like I’m doing the right things for now. @josie I’ve considered P90X & Insanity but both are hard on the knees & mine aren’t great to begin with. That said, I know I could do variations. Might look into it again.
Thanks!

“Move more. Eat less.”

Oh, how I hate that cliched advice. I really wish people would stop saying it. It’s probably the most common and most unhelpful weight loss advice there is.

It’s the “eat less” part that bothers me. Eat less what? Eating less food naturally decreases your metabolism while exercise naturally increases your metabolism. See how this makes no sense? People seem to think being hungry is how you lose weight. Wrong.

In fact, most people don’t eat often enough. Eating smaller meals more often throughout the day boosts metabolism and keeps hunger away. I actually eat more food now that I’m losing weight than I did before. That’s because, instead of eating a donut, I’ll eat something that actually has some nutritional value. Do you know how much watermelon I can eat while consuming the same amount of calories as a jelly donut? Answer: a shit load; more than I could ever actually eat.

Advice like this fuels what I call “the myth of the 1200 calorie diet.” It seems that 1200 calories is the go-to diet plan of all women looking to lose weight these days. Unless you’re a tiny little thing, your body needs more than that. I eat between 1500 and 1700 calories per day and I’m consistently losing weight. I often feel as if I’m always eating and I’m certainly never hungry. If people would take the time to learn about nutrition and fitness, they wouldn’t be giving half of the advice they give. If I didn’t take it upon myself to do my own research and learn this stuff, I’d still be practically starving myself and seeing absolutely no results on the scale.

@stardust
I also can’t do every move in P90X due to bad knees. Just modify those moves, or don’t do them. It is still a good program.

@livelaughlove21 There is no need to misrepresent my comments to fit your extreme interpretation of them. The advice is sound. But like anything, there is always more information within the details of how best to accomplish it.

Eating less could simply mean watching one’s portions, rather than gorging. “Eating smaller meals” as you say, is in fact eating less per meal. The less calories in your watermelon from the jelly donut is in fact eating less… as in, less calories.

Move more could simply be walking to the grocery store rather than driving.

@livelaughlove21 “People seem to think being hungry is how you lose weight.”

There is nothing in my comment about “being hungry”. No need to suggest that Move more, Eat less intends anyone to be hungry when it doesn’t say that.

But, thank you anyway, and very kindly my friend, seriously, for expanding the sound advice of “Move more. Eat less.” Your details expose the greater truth behind that cliched advice. GA to you!

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies I did not direct my answer to only you because I was addressing the advice in general, not just the way you meant it. My point was, as I said, “eat less what?” It’s only good advice if someone understands what you actually mean by that. Oh, and eating smaller meals more often is not necessarily eating less food.

I just can’t stand dieting cliches that are way too simplistic to be useful. I’m equally bothered by “eat to live, don’t live to eat.” But like I said, my comments were directed at the cliche itself, not you in particular.

I’ve used the phrase many times in real life for the sole purpose of starting a conversation to detail your exact advice. If people ask, they usually come to the question thinking the answer to be some long toothed hard discipline, or another latest diet plan.

Their surprise and favor are won for extended conversation when the initial advice is simple, and non confrontational.

“Move more. Eat less.” is kind of like saying “Jesus Saves”, or “Gravity Kills”.

It’s just a conversation starter. There is always a bit more to it.