How do you stay fit/lose weight/keep healthy on the "cheap" or for free?

[Thystle]

For those of you that work out or are trying to lose weight, or just in general try to keep healthy but do NOT spend (by choice or budget) large amounts of money on healthclubs, trainers, supplements, sports, classes, etc... what do you do frugally or for free?

New Years is when many make the annual "this year I lose weight/get a six pack/wear a bikini/get healthy" resolution, but many put it off thinking they have to spend a ton to get there.

So let's brainstorm for the new year!  

[EmsMom]

I started using the free Sparkpeople website a little while ago.  It has a reasonable diet, much like the old weight watchers (before points).  I have lost 5 pounds but also about 4 inches off of my waist.  It makes it easy to track what I have eaten and add extra food.  Yesterday I had to add a piece of pumpkin pie...   It also has some decent exercise videos on the site and tracks exercise and various nutrients of your own choosing.  Lots of advertising, but it is free and quite a reasonable, healthy diet (although I find that I double the vegetables it calls for). 

For exercise I recently discovered that I can get some good exercise videos from Netflix on my computer.  But mostly I prefer walking outside.  I go to a section of town that is essentially a small mountain and walk there.  Hard right now because there is alot of ice around, hence the videos. 

I also have a membership at a Planet Fitness which is about $10 a month and, while it is not my favorite gym, it is close by and has decent equipment so I do use it for the treadmill and the weight machines.

Technically, I could use the gym at my school for "free" since I am a student, but it isn't as convenient as the other.

[crunchy_mama]

We do family activities here.  We walk together(I have a stroller and the baby rides in the Ergo), we bike together(we have a trailer for the 2 youngest- bought for less than half price off of Craigslist).  I do bodyweight exercises at home.  I have done some weight training moves with a sledgehammer.  I have used dailyplate.com to track my food choices in the past as well.

[kittywitty]

Walking and jogging are all free or cheap. Good running shoes I consider a must and they can be pricey, but if you watch zappos you can get a good deal with free return shipping if you change your mind. We hike a lot when the weather is nice, too. Also, I do exercise dvd's. You can buy them used on amazon for pretty cheap. I try to sell my old ones to make way for new ones, but haven't had any bites yet.

[Ruthiegirl]

I buy good shoes and go from there.

I walk to library, I walk to the post office, I ride my bike to the grocery store.  

I have been training to do 100 push ups.  I started using my kitchen counter and then graduated to a lower step on my back porch.  Now I can do 20 sort of good push ups and am getting stronger everyday.  

We belong to the YMCA for all of the kids' activities and I'll go there sometimes, but it is not necessary.  I lose more weight when I simply go out for a slow jog around the neighborhood.  

I rent workout DVDs from Netflix when I need a little something fun to do.  I rented a pilates one for a month and learned a lot doing that.  I can do most of the workout from memory now.  

But really, just walking, jogging, sit ups while watching TV, and careful eating has been most effective for me.  

[kijip]

. Find family walks which incorporate some up and down hills and or a lot of stairs. Put a baby or even better, a heavy toddler, on your back or front in an Ergo or similar. Go to how to stretch dot com and set a goal to stretch for x mat of time a day. Consider getting some cheap or free exercise DVDs and using them at home, if you are low income see about getting a scholarship to the YMCA. Pick one errand and do it on foot. If you have space, get free or very cheap equipment off of craigslist or free cycle. Start doing crunches and sit-ups, planks, and pushups as a family. 30 a day, 50 a day, 200 a day. Start low and work your way up. When I started doing push ups in boot camp class in June (it is my big splurge, and I love it), I thought I could never do them, even when I was younger and way more thin and fit than I was when I started boot camp. I started with knee pushups and can now do stacked feet push ups. My husband, not wanting to be left behind, started doing them with me at home and he can now do 1 arm pushups, You will notice progress if you stick with it. I do the bootcamp thing because it gets me outside and keeps me motivated, but I spend more time than ever before on fitness at home. My 5:50am Bootcamp is about $80 to $90 a month for me, which is a lot but I started out where a size 22 was getting too tight:o and really needing to shed the weight for health reasons. I am now wearing a 16-18 and steadily dropping without doing anything really radical to my diet, other than being mindful about not eating too many treats and eating less out/cafe food. We can afford it, otherwise I would just do it on my own but that first session really did teach me a lot about exercise.
Edited by kijip - 1/2/11 at 3:56pm

[dejagerw]

You might be interested in the book "The Ultimate Cheapskate's Guide to True Riches" by Jeff Yeager.  In it he talks about how people pay for things that can usually be done for free and which causes you to exercise, and then pay for a gym membership so they can exercise.  He talks about washing your own car, cutting your own lawn, painting yourself, biking or walking places, shoveling your own snow, cleaning your own house, etc.

[frugalmama]

Sparkpeople is good, I'm a big fan of WeightWatchers though. If you go to just one WeightWatchers meeting for around $25 you'll have everything you need to follow the plan on your own. You can also pick up previous versions of the plan materials cheap at thrift shops.

[daisymama12]

Walking the dog every day. Try to get to a nature-area once a week and walk with the family.

do yoga at home, before the rest of the family wakes up.

[peainthepod]

Housework! Our house has lots of stairs and I burn endless calories running up and down between floors. I also try to take a good long walk wearing DB with DS every single day. I'm not always successful but it definitely helps.

Other than that, I just focus on eating "clean"--mostly raw fruit and veggies, lots of wholesome homemade soups (I even make my own bone broths and stocks), whole grains (hand-ground wheat and buckwheat in my own kitchen mill, steel-cut oats, etc.), kefir, organic and raw dairy, locally raised organic meats and eggs, and lots of water. I rarely eat anything sweet or sugary and we almost never buy processed foods. This is both cheaper and healthier and DH and I find it easy to stay quite thin on a clean diet. We eat fattening foods in moderation, like butter, but we don't eat empty calories. (I do ensure that my toddler gets plenty of fat, though! Nut butters, avocados, cheeses, etc.)

[VisionaryMom]

I have a medical condition that makes just an everyday, active lifestyle not enough for me. We spend $62 a month on a family membership to the Y, and I really think it's worth the $15/week. The kids get to play, and we all swim in the indoor pool after working out. It's both fitness & entertainment for us.

[matey]

We do the YMCA. They have a family assistance program. It costs us around 18.00 per month. I go and drop the kids off, ds loves it there. I have recently started doing a boot camp class which does cost money, but I really needed to kick my butt in gear. I told DH I'd use my christmas money, but we can work it into the budget, at least for a while, so we are doing it that way. I hate spending the extra money, but am having a hard time getting off the weight from baby #2. I used to be really heavy and I did ww and lost 80 pounds. I have less to lose at this point, but am still heavy. I have been having some motivational issues with ww and wanted to feel more physically fit. Now that the holidays are over I am hoping to get back top eating well and with the exercise, to lose the weight.

[newcastlemama]

Walk/jogging/intervals/sprints/hiking/nature trails 

Some free weights (I have 10, 12, 15lbs)

double jogging stroller (craigslist!)

music

body weight workouts (This blog has tons of ideas for that) http://skievat.blogspot.com/ 

playing soccer/baseball/basketball with my kids and dh

My kids really like it when I turn on my workout music and they do my workout with me....they have 5 lb weights and it is pretty funny to watch!

[Ravin]

I lost a fair bit of weight last year before I got pg. I started watching my portion sizes (eating less is less expensive, too!), fixing simple, healthy, from-scratch meals with in-season fruits and veggies (a tortilla wrapped around sliced avocado and tomato is cheaper than a microwave burrito, as a work lunch example), and I rode my bike to and from work, which saved on gas $$ along with getting me more regular exercise.

[Pogo0685]

I follow the Primal Blueprint book, I don't do the grass fed meats or organic veggies because I honestly just can not afford to pay that much for meat or veggies. I have found that with his eating plan I spend way less on food than I ever did before. For breakfast I eat 4 oz meat with 1/2 bag of veggies cooked in butter or bacon fat, if I'm really hungry I will also add 2 eggs. I don't eat lunch because I am never hungry for it. Dinner is usually 8 oz of meat with a sweet potato or some veggies. I also eat cheese and dairy with my meals. For snacks we eat fruit, nuts, cheese, sliced up raw veggies or pork rinds. My DH also eats like this and in the last 9 months I have lost 25 pounds and he has lost over 40 without ever working out or "trying". We do go for walks every now and then but we never pay for anything fitness or workout related.

[redvlagrl]

Maybe not what you're looking for, but I traded some consultations with a Holistic Nutritionist for her daughter's violin lessons. It's worked out really well for me and I've lost about 27lbs so far.

[LilMomma83]

Walk, my 3.5yo rides his bike and I put the toddelr in his jogger, sometimes I put them both in the jogger, sometimes I put them both in the jogger (converted to bike trailer) and bike with them. I work 1hr/wk at our local Y and get a free membership for the whole family, and my kids stay in the childwatch free while I work! (I used to work 6hrs/wk, but, cut back to 1 due to getting a FT job somewhere else). I also  just joinet Planet Fitness for $10/mo, pretty excited about that (it's way more convenient for me, because I can work out at 4am before work and it is right across the street from me).

Food...I don't know, its hard! I do make my own "100 calorie packs" by putting healthy snacks in zipper snack bags, I've found that filling those bags (easily, not cramming food into them) tends to be about 100 calories' worth of the food I normally use...I snack whenever I am hungry so that I don't over indulge later, and I feel I save money buy packing my own little snacks instead of buying gronola bars and stuff (I also make my own granola bars, but, I am still tweaking the recipe as they keep coming out a little crumbly)

[sunnysandiegan]

I walk DD to and from school every single day, rain or shine. Sometimes, I walk extra after dropping her off or before picking her up. We walk to the library and certain places in our community. When running errands, I choose the location with care so that I can park once and walk between the places. Saves money on gas and frustration with parking and adds exercise and sunshine time (vitamin D making and better eye health -- remove glasses whenever possible).

As a family, we hike and swim (ocean and pool) and walk and ride bikes. All for free.

I also take free exercise classes through our city's adult continuing ed program. Technically, most of the free classes are intended for older adults (55+), but as long as a certain percent of the students fall into that category anyone else can attend as well. I am usually the only student under 55 (or a friend of mine and me) and the instructors never mind.

When our playgroup first started, we were a baby hiking group. We met twice a week during the week (moms and babies, although we have some dads who joined us on their days off when it worked out) and twice a month on weekends for family hikes. We'd put the babies in packs or jogging strollers and go. When they started fussing about being carried, we slowed down A LOT but still hiked with them toddling along on foot on easy trails. We still go camping once a year as a group and go hiking in Yosemite and Idylwild and other such places. Two of the kids hiked Vernal Falls in Yosemite at age 4! Those two kids (mine is one of them) still have amazing stamina for walking, running, and hiking on a regular basis. Us moms still get together a few times a year to hike nearby. (We also get together for social reasons, like our annual New Year's Eve party -- which is early and kid-friendly.)

I meet up with a different friend once a month to walk along the beach for hours.

Some friends and I took cheap belly dancing classes one time and then met at my house to practice with a DVD my aunt gave me. That was so much FUN!!!

[Imogen]

I practice Yoga at home (I bought Katy Appleton's CD collection a few years ago, investment of £25.00) and I also go running!  I've never been in a health club/gym in my life 

[Aeress]

Walk the dogs 1x-2x a day

Wii Fit 1x a day- I don't believe I burn a ton of calories this way, but I really enjoy doing it, and I am sure I am gaining some benefits from it. I feel like I am still learning how to use it, so I hope to really get a workout in the coming weeks.

I have also gone diary free and am avoiding HFCS/Hydrogenated oils and lowering my intake of carbs.