Exercise is my enemy. How do we become friends?!
Question: I'm almost 30 years old. I'm obese. I loathe exercise. I have my entire life. I avoided gym class in junior high. My job and my hobbies are light to sedentary activities. I'm not keen on the outdoors (ew, bugs).
I know I need to start exercising because I know that my weight is unhealthy. I'm also feeling a desire to be healthy. But I have no idea where to start with exercise. I've tried yoga, walking, tennis, calisthenics . . . I wasn't interested in any of it (well, kind of yoga).
I want, in my life, to experience the high that people who exercise intensely experience. But I don't want to jump into it, and I can't figure out what I might enjoy doing.
I'm also low on cash, so joining a gym is out of the question until after my wedding later this year.
I need ideas. Anything and everything you can throw at me, I'm willing to listen. I need motivation, and I need something to be interested in.
Answers: I'm almost 30 years old. I'm obese. I loathe exercise. I have my entire life. I avoided gym class in junior high. My job and my hobbies are light to sedentary activities. I'm not keen on the outdoors (ew, bugs).
I know I need to start exercising because I know that my weight is unhealthy. I'm also feeling a desire to be healthy. But I have no idea where to start with exercise. I've tried yoga, walking, tennis, calisthenics . . . I wasn't interested in any of it (well, kind of yoga).
I want, in my life, to experience the high that people who exercise intensely experience. But I don't want to jump into it, and I can't figure out what I might enjoy doing.
I'm also low on cash, so joining a gym is out of the question until after my wedding later this year.
I need ideas. Anything and everything you can throw at me, I'm willing to listen. I need motivation, and I need something to be interested in.
Kick boxing!
or
Camen Electras stripper work outs.. (what you learn in this workout is great for the honeymoon . . .) The fitness clubs have these workouts in a class, but the videos are more cost effective and you can do them in private. But keep them a seceret from your fiancee so you can suprise him with a strip-tease on your honeymoon! I had a friend who did that for a valentines present and her man LOVED it! He bought her a subscription to a fitness center and paid for more "stripper classes" because he liked it so much. She is now 60 lbs lighter and has a rock hard body . . . and a great love life! hehehe
For the boxing you will need to have a place to workout that has a bag and you will have to buy about 30-50 bucks worth of equipment (gloves, wraps, etc.). I kick box (for exercise only, I never really fight - I like my bruise free face too much!) and it is a great work out. You have an all over body work out and it doesn't seem like it because you are HITTING STUFF! It is a great way to take out your stress from the day too! If you want more advice on how to get into kick boxing without joining a club just msg me. There are a couple of things you may want to know about before you start this . . .
good luck!
start off slow. do a little a few times a day. i know i am motivated first thing in the morning. i get up, have coffee then exercise. i know that if i dont do that same routine in the morning im probably wont exercise the full amount during the day. set a small goal each day. get a pedameter (sp?) a nd set goals like taking a certain number of steps each day. then gradually increase the number. i hope this helps some!
I feel your pain. I really do. :)
The trick to becoming physically active is simply to find something that you actually ENJOY doing!
If you hate jogging, running, going to the gym, or whatever, then don't do it!
If you like swimming, playing tennis, walking your dog, riding your bike, playing with your kids, etc, then that's what you need to be doing. It's also more fun if you have a buddy who will go with you (although they shouldn't hold you back if they flake out.)
Since you dislike the outdoors, maybe get an exercise DVD, like a yoga or pilates. Eventually, you may actually feel like going to your community center (cheap!) and seeing if they have one available that fits into your scheudle.
Just tell yourself that you're worth it, and that you can do it. Set time aside for yourself for just 20 minutes a day! Think of what you might waste 20 minutes on now... surfing the internet, watching tv? It might be difficult to do at first, but it will get easier as time goes on and the weight comes off.
Best of luck!
not that it helps... but I can TOTALLY identify with ya... in fact I was about to post a similar question before I saw yours...
if the above answers are any indication, we must find something we enjoy...but when we don't enjoy exercise, that's hard.... What had worked for me in the past was having a workout buddy... because (1) there's a companion (2) there's some added accountability as well... my workout buddy moved away and I haven't found another... Sorry I can't offer more advice, but I'll be checking back often to see if there are any good ideas I could use.
Thanks for posting the question.
ok the best way to get execise is to work it into your daily routine. how do you get to work? could you make walking part of your commute? I walk 1 mile from my school to the bus stop everday, thers some minor exercise, and for a purpose. thats what you need - a purpose. not a far off goal "i need to lose weight cuase i'm unhealthy". that wont cut it, you need instnat gratification. you agree? you say you want to experience that high that people get from intense exerrcise. great goal. what you need to do that is work up to it a bit. then you need to do something vigorous like running for about 12 minutes ( about a mile) before you feel it. then you feel like you can run on forever! its great. i hope you get there :d
Start off with the "wobble" board. $15.00 at Walmart. It's a round heavy duty plastic balancing board that strengthens your core muscles which attach to your spine. They're the teeny tiny short muscles that keep you standing erect and they burn calories all the time because they're constantly firing. The wobble board is a great start! All you do is balance on it for as long as you can.
Since you don't know what you enjoy then you may have to try most things first! But you've already established you do not like outdoors so the next thing is to find out what you can do indoors. I too recommend DVDs. Watch them and they'll usually tell you what equipment to get sometimes a weight equivalent household item will do.
Then start off slowly. Please do not expect miracles. I did. I got despondent when things weren't happening fast enough.
Sorry to say I also never get that high as some experience, (maybe it's yet to come), so it is WORK for me but if you want it bad enough stick at it.
Hope that helps!
Nobody actually likes exercise... if you said.. "Oh let's exercise" .. that's not nearly as appealing as "Oh let's have a game of basketball"... whatever.
Fact is the first month to 6 weeks is just really hard. In that time your body, muscles, heart, lungs is adjusting to the workload and additional stress and it complains about it. Your mind tells you to stop... and you really do want to stop.
After that... you think.. I want to stop.. but I will risk wasting every effort I put in over the last 6 weeks.
After about 3 months you notice significant changes. You want to exercise and your body wants you to exercise. This leads to over-training and extra stress on teh body and injury. You have to be careful not to over do things.
In fact .. after 4 -6 months you have an adiction to exercise. Your body craves the dopamines that are induced on completion of a routine. If you fail to feed your addiction you actually get depressed.
For weight loss, exercise accounts for about 20% of your effort. Diet really contributes to the rest. No amount of exercise will make you lose weight if your daily calorie intake is higher than your daily calorie burn.
Personally, I am addicted to the exercise bike. I do 6 x 45 minute sessions a week of high intensity training on a bike. If I don't do it I get depressed. I also swim and do free weights .. so I suppose I'm doing 12 hours a week in total. I started out a year ago.. just doing 3 sessions a week on the bike. I prefer bike classes.. they are hard.. but funner than doing it on your own.. and you get encouragement from cycling in a team.
I have a "BOSU" I use at home for exercise.
EDIT:
The key to success is to make exercsie a habit... make it a part of your routine. This requires repetition. Exercise at the same times every week for example.
Good luck to you.
You have to start off with something you like. Once you find what works for you, you can then expand from there. You said you liked yoga? Give it a second effort. Dancing is a good cardiovascular workout or maybe even swimming. What ever it is try and make it as fun as possible. The more you enjoy it, the more you will stick to it. Also, if you know a close friend or someone in the same boat as you, invite them along. Having a workout partner is great motivation.