There are many safe exercises for obese and overweight people, and they don't need to cost anything at all. There are many alternatives to joining a gym and spending hours doing boring repetitive exercises. In France, for example, there are very few gyms - and very few obese people. One of the reasons for this is that they try to get as much incidental exercise in their daily lives as they can.

EXERCISE DOESN'T HAVE TO BE IN A GYM

Many Americans and other Westerners regard exercise as something that is done in a gym. It's a chore for some and a joy for others, but either way, it's something slotted into the busy schedule: an add-on. But exercise can happen almost every hour of every day if you look for opportunities to exercise.

INCIDENTAL EXERCISE

The key to exercising safely (and at no cost) is to exercise all the time: at home, at the shopping mall, or wherever you happen to be. This kind of exercise is gentle on the joints and small opportunities for incidental exercise add up.

Here are a few simple tips:

1. Instead of driving around to find a parking spot as close as possible to where you are going, park as far away instead. Try to change your attitude to walking, and tell yourself that a long walk iss a good walk. Walk a little farther each day.

2. Whenever you have a choice between an elevator and stairs, always use the stairs. Learn to regard stairs as your friends, and an excellent opportunity for exercise.

3. In a shopping mall, find the longest route to where you want to be rather than the shortest. If you need to stop and take a breather somewhere, that's fine, but remember that walking is your friend, and not the enemy.

4. Use public transport whenever possible. Taking buses, trains or trams will make you increase your incidental exercise because you always have to walk to the bus stop, and the bus never stops exactly where you want to be. Try to think of this as an advantage, and not a disadvantage. It's another opportunity to walk, get fit, and lose weight - at no cost. If you want to make an even bigger difference, get off the bus one stop early so you have to walk the extra distance!

5. If you have a choice of standing or sitting, always stand, because you use more calories that way.

6. Turn down your heating temperature a little. A few degrees cooler means a greater number of calories burned to keep you warm.

7. If you are on an escalator, moving sidewalk, or travelator, then walk as well.

8. As a general rule: sit instead of lie down; stand instead of sit.

9. If you have "labor-saving" devices, consider doing things the old way, the way they did them before these devices were invented. Whisk eggs with a stainless steel egg whisk; use buckets of water to water your plants. Seek out opportunities to find incidental ways of exercising, and try to think of all kinds of labor as your friend.

10. If you're working, walk during your lunch break instead of sitting around chatting with your colleagues. Take every opportunity during the day to walk.

11. Consider riding a bicycle to work or to the shopping mall.

12. Walk fast rather than slow. This doesn't mean you have to go into a blinkered 'power walk' mode, but just walk a little faster than you would have before. You still have plenty of time to smell the roses.

These are just a few ideas, but even if you are extremely obese, simple changes like these can make an enormous difference. Just remember: exercise isn't what happens in a gym, it's what happens in life.

Learn more about this author, Lin Edwards.
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