How did you get motivated to start exercising?

[A1A1]

I don't exercise. I have never liked to. The only exercise I enjoy is walking around epcot, and believe me, I go fast. My poor little DD's legs don't go that fast.

I have joined women only gyms before, and go all out for a month. Then I am stuck paying the monthly contract payment for the rest of the year. They call me for months on end after that trying to get me to rejoin. I feel I never have time. I have an extremely busy schedule, and feel that every spare minute, I want to spend with DD.

It is very cold outside right now. I just don't feel like doing anything. I bought a treadmill, and it sits there collecting dust. Right now, I am so tired I will go to bed. I always go to bed around 8pm.

What did you do to get your self to exercise?
Were you always an exerciser?

Here is my exercise
:jumping4:

 

[ADisneyMom]

Hi,

Have you tried putting a t.v. near your treadmill?

You could make a rule for yourself that you cannot watch your favorite show unless you are on the treadmill.

Since you want to watch it anyway you could exercise while watching.

That's how I started. I would exercise while watching Monk. After Monk went into reruns, I would review the t.v. book for a show and then schedule my exercise time then or tape it and watch it later .

Good Luck!

ADisneyMom

 

[jazyjewel]

Well, I just figured the weight would come off faster if I did. I am shooting to look good for my February trip to WDW. I know it won't happen by December, so hopefully Feb will do it. I have noticed a huge difference in my face though. Most of my double chin is gone!!! YEAH! So, my pics will look a little better. But, WDW is my motivation!!!
Julie

 

[LisaTx]

I'm trying to lose weight for my health primarily. I started Atkins in July, but didn't start exercising until October. I had to MAKE myself do it. I tell myself that being a smaller couch potato is not enough. If I want to be healthy, I need to exercise too. I still have to make myself exercise.

The good thing is that I lose weight much faster when I'm exercising. Another plus is that when I shed those winter clothes next spring, I'm hoping to have some nice muscles to show off instead of lots of extra flab.

 

[catherine]

I like you am not an natural born exerciser, if fact I have to really push myself, but I do some form of exercise every day. I enjoy seeing the rewards! When I get on the scale every week and I have lost more weight, and when I can chase all over the place with my DD's without getting out of breath then I see the hard work paying off.

 

[Claire4dpins]

Hello - I understand exactly how you feel - I am the same!!

Here is a link to a thread I started 3 months ago -
Exercise for the exercise HATER!!

You have done more than I ever could - by joining a gym in the first place!! It was these boards and the people on them that motivated me to start doing a little exercise - thanks so much to everyone for that!
I am right with you that before the past few weeks walking around Epcot twice a year was the most exercise I did!! I am now really trying to be a reformed exercise hater - it is still tough, it is not natural to me & most of the time I have to make myself do it! It was the Walk Away the Pounds tapes that did it for me - being from England I had not heard about them until reading about them on these boards - & I brought two back from my September trip to WDW! My plan is always to do either a 2 mile or a 1 mile each day - I stick to it as much as I can. My parents have just come back from a trip to the States themselves and brought me back a second 2 mile and a 3 mile (which I am no way ready for yet!!)!!

Start with just a little something - mostly everyday - perhaps your DD could 'do' a WATP with you - the 1 mile is only 15 minutes - she might find it fun to exercise with Mommy! I don't have children but I have seen others post that there children - even little ones -like to get up move & copy them!

Start small & look to the boards for motivation - good luck,
Claire

 

[bicker]

What did you do to get your self to exercise?
Were you always an exerciser?

I was a couch potato for a good long time, and never had any significant affinity for exercising. Even as a child I'd read instead of play sports.

The program I used to lose my weight set a target of burning 2000 calories per week. That is one of three imperatives of the program, and if you believe there is a relationship between your health and your ability to fulfill your obligations to your family, friends, work and society, long-term, then these imperatives can readily be taken as moral imperatives:

1 - Eat fewer calories, no more than you burn, but get sufficient protein.
2 - Eat at least 5 (full cup) servings of fruit and vegetables each day.
3 - Exercise off at least 2000 calories per week.

You can say that I've made a lifestyle change with respect to these imperatives, but it is truly more akin to a religious conversion, and it is keyed to how being fit and healthy better serves the obligations I have to family, friends, work and society.

So I suppose the short answer, from my standpoint, is to make exercising a moral imperative -- see it for what it is, a radically significant contributor to fulfilling your moral obligations.


Some of the tactics my program advocated to help get folks to better integrate exercise in their lives were the completion of weekly assignments. We spend 4 or 5 weeks in a "module" and the exercise module came up every three or four modules. (The other modules focused on strategic use of meal replacements, eating fruits and vegetables, overall health factors, etc.)

Anyway, here is how one of the exercise modules went. (PA = physical activity; Sample = Do)

March 2002
Week 1 - Sample a type of PA you haven't done in the last 3 weeks.
Week 2 - Sample a high-intensity type of PA.
Week 3 - Sample an indoor type of PA.
Week 4 - Sample two types of PA on the same day, at least once this week.
Week 5 - No Zero Days. (No days with no PA at all).

Note how the point here is to build skills that will make you a better (more consistent) exerciser. The more different type of exercise you do, the more "bases you have covered" (i.e., indoor, which handles cold and rain), the better. Other modules had assigments that sought to build our reperatoire even more significantly.

Again, completion of the assignments became, for me, part of the moral imperative I mentioned earlier.

 

[DoeWDW]

The thing that really got me started was a simple pedometer. It counts your steps. I would wear it all day long and see how many steps I got in a day. Then I started trying to get more steps in.

It seems simple and it really is. I got exercise creidt for all the activities I normally do in a day, so I didn't have to fit in a half hour exercise tape or take separate time to work out. I found myself walking a little further each day, taking the stairs just to add steps, walking a little bit more to meet a goal I'd set.

That pedometer got me started and it only cost $15! Eventually my goal was 10,000 steps a day and I really felt like I had accomplished something. Unfortunately I dropped it and it broke - thanks for the reminder that I need to pick up a new one!

Good luck! I always hated exercise but now it just seems like part of my day. I'm sure you'll find something for you, too!

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Workout Buddy! A friend of mine is a personal trainer at the gym I go to. She is there every weekday morning and if I don't show up there before work I hear about it, and she is mean.

 

[nativetxn]

I hate exercising but I force myself. Unfortunately, I don't force myself nearly often enough.

My sister and I have made a pact to exercise everyday and to call each other everyday to help us stay motivated.

 

[ohMom]

WISH buddies and great suggestions, I have nothing of value to add.

except remember and never forget

YOU ARE SOOOOO WORTH IT!!!!

just do it. for your health, for your family, for your future. what's 20-30 mins 4-5 times a week? not much compared to the payout you get in terms of health benefits and years to your life!!

we need you here on WISH!! just do it -- and then take note of how you feel when you are done. I don't like to exercise, as many have already said. I just do it. and be done with it. Many a days I have walked out of the Y and said to myself "remember how good I feel now, when I don't want to come back next time!"

for you my friend. hang in there. best thing is just to get in a routine and then let it become natural and dont' think about it. Find a buddy - accountablity is a strong force. even just someone to email and say "hey, I did it today. Even though it was hard I did it!" we are here to pat your back for your efforts. It IS hard!! you CAN do it!!! PD to you and your new commitment to a healthy exercising lifestyle!!

 

[Chattyaholic]

How did I get motivated to start exercising?

With my doctor telling me that I am Type 2 diabetic!!

I have always been a "couch potato." Even as a teen I would prefer to sit and watch TV, or lay on my bed and listen to my records, talk on the phone, etc. rather than get outside and play ball or anything physical.

I do like to walk, but just never did it on a regular schedule. And I would huff and puff all the while so didn't do it very often.

But, with the doctor telling me about the diabetes she also said that IF I would lose weight and IF I would excercise regularly I could probably get off the medication. I take 500mg of glucophage once a day (morning) and I don't EVER want to have to take insulin shots so THAT was a VERY BIG motivator for me!!

It's just too bad that it had to take diabetes for me to make a lifestyle change. I probably could have avoided diabetes, had I lost weight years ago and started exercising.

I have lost 32 pounds so far with my first "goal" being 50, then I want to "see how I feel and look" before deciding if I want to go down even further.

I try to walk 2-3 miles 3-4 times per week and you know what? I LOVE walking now that I can do it without huffing and puffing, and I can actually walk and talk at the same time!! I FEEL GOOD when I walk, knowing that it's helping me to get healthy again. Even little changes you can make, like parking far away and having to walk to where you're going, or when you're shopping in a mall take your packages out to your car each time you buy something, a little walking here and there adds up and helps.

Good luck to you!!

 

[antmaril]

I decided that nothing would change unless I changed my behavior and that means adding exercise to my life. I am another person who HATES to exercise. I decided to join Curves about two weeks ago (I'm going with a friend) and this is the first time I've actually enjoyed doing some form of exercise. We have been going three times a week and I am positive this is going to help me lead a healthier life. I am watching my diet by incorporating as many healthy choices as possible, as well as portion control. I am not doing anything "formal". It just doesn't seem to work for me. I am trying to change my behavior in a positive way a little at a time.

Wish me luck!

 

[wiskband]

My secret is simply "DONT THINK ABOUT IT"
annoying huh like Dr. phil advise.
People used to ask me how do you do it with four kids you know go out and venture to the mall the dr. etc. You just cant think about it. I have taken all four to the GYN! lol.
when you have to you have to.
if its priority.... it gets done.
I also have this think about starting what I finish so when the Walk away the pounds tape goes in the VCR and begins........ as much as sometimes I don t want to do it, It gets done. I finsih what I start.
kinda like NIKE............
JUST DO IT!
renee