I really want to generally shed fat from all over my body. What is the best way to do this? I can't build any muscle until I've lost my ice cream and cookies weight (those are my major weaknesses and I have an uncontrollable appetite) so I need to get in shape and lose my big gut etc.

however, I have such issues with how I look doing almost any sort of physical task so the thought of jogging in public scares me.
my mom has a trampoline that she does jumping on but I used to do that, and I didn't really like it. the bouncing noises the springs made every fucking jump annoyed the shit out of me

what can I do in the house without buying a treadmill or exercise bike? (If I lived on my own and had money and room for those, I'd totally get them.)

if I want to lose most of the weight off of my stomach, butt and thighs should I just do some squats, lunges and crunches? Or is that not going to do anything really?

Most importantly, I have to drink more water (I don't drink any really. it's bad) and give up wheat and dairy (which my body does not tolerate well) and food with tons of white sugar.

EDIT: Title should say "leaving the house OR buying"

I suppose your best bet, in terms of cost, would be aerobics dvds for an all-round cardio workout and overall weight loss.

I think the general consensus is that it's pretty hard, if not impossible, to lose weight in specific areas of your body and not others.

But it wouldn't hurt to do crunches and squats, etc., to tone up your difficult areas.

There is some fairly affordable fitness equipment out there that wont take up much room and wont cost too much:

Step aerobics platform:


Stepper:


Fitness ball:


To name a few examples. I'm sure there are loads more.

you could get a skipping rope

sit-ups, crunches etc are for toning, not for losing weight. the best thing for indoors is to dance in my opinion. seriously, people really underestimate how much exercise you get out of dancing. and it's fun. time flies and you don't even realize what you did. you don't even have to know how to dance, just rock out to some music, build up your heart rate and keep at it for 30-60 minutes. also doing stairs help.

oh yeah and jump rope is awsome too... you'll kill those arms!

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i think it'd be pretty hard to do a good cardio workout at home. why not just go running in your neighbourhood; that's not too scary?

but i can say that there is a kickass pilates program On Demand (which is like TiVo for Comcast customers) -- you have to pay extra for it. but, i use to drag my ass to Pilates class in the morning, and pay 60$ a month. Now it's like an extra 9$ on my cable bill, and i do pilates at home and in my pajamas, with dirty hair. but, if it's your first pilates class, maybe it's better to go to a pilates studio so someone can coach you on form.

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