Inconsistent exerciser

Zosia · Mon Apr 02, 2007 1:49 pm

Hi all -
That's what I am- an inconsistent exerciser. Even before SB ( and I just started Phase 2) with all the best of intentions, I would start an "exercise program" that would last a couple weeks, then peter out. I joined a gym to take advantage of their water aerobic program and bailed after about 3 weeks because ??? I can even make excuses about not walking the dog and god knows she needs it as much as me.

I was always pretty active - tennis, biking, martial arts, hiking - and didn't really have to think about making time to exercise - I just did. Now it always seems there's something else to do - demands of work and home - that get in my way.

My question to those who are what I want to be - consistent exercisers -how do you stay motivated and find the time?

Thanks

luvs_torun · Mon Apr 02, 2007 2:18 pm

Zosia...

It CAN be done!

Be honest...on your list of priorities, where does exercise fall? Some people don't exercise because they think they don't have time. They're waiting for their schedules to ease up, for school to start, or some other future event. The truth is, there's never a right time to get moving. It's now or never........

Why We Don't Exercise-----

We all have excuses for why we don't exercise. Recognize any of these? :D

Exercise is boring.

If you don't look forward to your workouts, it's no wonder you skip them. People often force themselves into activities that don't interest them which, of course, increases the quit-factor.
There are no immediate consequences to skipping a workout. It's not like you'll gain 10 pounds or suddenly get heart disease if you miss one day.
But, it's easy to let the time get away from you until, pretty soon it's been a month since your last workout. Then come the consquences- weight gain, low energy and more.

You're waiting for things to calm down.

Haven't you figured it out yet? Life doesn't calm down as we get older. Jobs, kids, family, social obligations...they're never going to go away. If you're waiting for a clear schedule, you're fooling yourself. Find a way to do it now.

You're waiting to fall in love with exercise.

Think you'll suddenly wake up one morning, itching to get to that workout? It just doesn't work that way. You have to work at it every day and find that motivation wherever you can.
You get frustrated by lack of results. Are you a scale-watcher? Remember, it takes time to see results. If you're obsessed with the scale, it's that much harder to stay motivated. Focus on what you're getting NOW--energy, stress reduction, satisfaction, etc.

You don't have huge chunks of time to do all this exercise.

You're in luck--you don't need lots of time. Just 10 or so minutes throughout the day and you've got yourself an exercise program!

Finding fun in exercise:

You may not think of exercise as being fun, but maybe you should change your perspective a little. Working out offers a different kind of pleasure. No, it's not sitting-at-the-beach-sipping-a-tropical-drink kind of pleasure, but a wow-my-life-is-better kind of pleasure. Sound cheesy? Perhaps, but it's true that exercise gives you:

--Satisfaction.
Admit it--does anything feel better than finishing a workout? Is there anything that makes you feel better about yourself?
--Relaxation.
If you do it right, a good workout will leave you both energized and relaxed. You're alert, but not stressed and you're able to accomplish more.
--Weight loss. (Duh. :D )
Better health. There's no better prescription for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and other conditions related to overweight.
--Confidence.
There's no better confidence builder than exercise. You become comfortable in your own skin and you typically become more graceful, balanced and agile

Find a time most convenient for you.... and just do it!

toese · Mon Apr 02, 2007 2:43 pm

Zosia wrote:
My question to those who are what I want to be - consistent exercisers -how do you stay motivated and find the time?

Thanks

I make it into a habit or a daily routine. First thing in the morning I get my fat booty to the gym and I do 2 classes. Summer time I like to run outside. It's just something I feel that should be in my daily routine like brushing teeth or even taking a shower. It's something that I must do almost every day. If you can't do it in the morning then try to workout right after work right before you get home. I used to do that too when I was working.

maltby_gardner · Mon Apr 02, 2007 3:28 pm

This is from one (former) inconsistent exerciser to another. What I have done differently this time is discipline myself to be patient, that is, to not push so hard that something hurts or I get cramps or I'm so out of breath that I'm really uncomfortable. Instead, I've tried to push hard enough to get a real benefit from the workouts, but not so hard that it discourages me from coming back to it the next day. It helps me keep a positive attitude about the exercise. Obviously if I were to dread it, I would be much more unlikely to stick with it. I have been at it now since just before the New Year and I have only missed four days and three of those were with the flu, not just because I didn't feel likt working out or I let other things push it out of my schedule. I have read that the vast majority of people drop out within the first 90 days, so I have hope that I will continue to be successful with it.

Krismiss · Mon Apr 02, 2007 4:16 pm

I can't really say why I approached it with a different attitude this time, but I did.

I always liked the idea of getting benefits from excercise, I just never followed through with it. At all!

Now, I get up at 5am every morning to work out before I get the kids up for school. I started trying to do some exercises on my own. Then I got a Get Ripped DVD. Then I started riding my recumbent bike (after asking DH to carry it to our loft and PROMISING I would use it!) I've since bought hand weights, a club step, and have some Leslie Sansone walking videos and us the step videos that came with the step.

I'm now in the place where I do strength training every other day, and cardio of somekind (whatever I'm in the mood for when I wake up) the days in between.

I didn't so much start it for results, but as part of the changes I was making. I'm now a person who watches what they eat, tries to eat healthy balanced food each day, and exercises.

Keep thinking, and figure out when you want to do it, and whether you wanna do it from home or at a gym or whatever. Find what's gonna work in YOUR life, cause it'll be different than anybody else's here. Then just go at it a day at a time til it becomes a way of life for you.

Cyster · Mon Apr 02, 2007 5:12 pm

"Peter out". :lol: I've never heard that expression before! :lol:

I think I am what you want to be. :wink: I workout first thing in the morning. I am up at 4:50 AM and at the gym by 5:30. I find that there simply are no excuses for missing a morning workout and that for me was key. If I missed one, I missed 15.

That's the other thing I did for myself. For the first year, I made myself go to the gym every morning no matter what. Once I really was too sick to go, but I went anyway. I walked into the locker room, got a drink, and walked right back out. :lol: But I kept that routine of getting up and going. If I missed just one workout, my body realized it could and then I would miss a week's worth and probably quit altogether.

Now I'm a bit stronger, but it's still true that if I miss going just one time I start a downward spiral. I'm fighting it right now. I've got this nagging voice in my head telling me that it's no big deal if I don't go. But it IS a big deal because I know the next step is to stop altogether for a few months.

OldGreyBob · Mon Apr 02, 2007 7:45 pm

Cyster wrote: "Peter out". :lol: I've never heard that expression before! :lol:

I think I am what you want to be. :wink: I workout first thing in the morning. I am up at 4:50 AM and at the gym by 5:30. I find that there simply are no excuses for missing a morning workout and that for me was key. If I missed one, I missed 15.

That's the other thing I did for myself. For the first year, I made myself go to the gym every morning no matter what. Once I really was too sick to go, but I went anyway. I walked into the locker room, got a drink, and walked right back out. :lol: But I kept that routine of getting up and going. If I missed just one workout, my body realized it could and then I would miss a week's worth and probably quit altogether.

Now I'm a bit stronger, but it's still true that if I miss going just one time I start a downward spiral. I'm fighting it right now. I've got this nagging voice in my head telling me that it's no big deal if I don't go. But it IS a big deal because I know the next step is to stop altogether for a few months. I too have found the way to be consistant. Just like Cyster I am up before 5:00 AM for a 5:30 AM class. I have learned to love the exercises, love the mental release in exercise, and really love the social environment at the gym. The 5:30 AM BodyPump'er, BodyStep'ers, and BodyFlow'ers is really a large group of very close aquaintances. We care for each other, miss them when they don't show up, and help each other along. The only time I don't go is upon Doctor's orders, when the gym is closed for a Holiday, or on a trip to visit grandkids. It just starts my day and preparing for the next day finishes my day.

BTW, as with Cyster, when I was stopped last week from working out because of a medical condition, I still went to the gym to walk and shower. I am afraid to even consider breaking the habit...

Zosia · Mon Apr 02, 2007 7:59 pm

Hey - Thanks all!
I dragged my fat booty off the couch and went for an invigorating walk. Then pulled the weights from under the bed and actually worked up a sweat working out. I set up an exercise schedule for the week, combining cardio, weights and stretching. Its taped to my bedroom mirror with copies in the bathroom, kitchen and family room as reminders. Im trying not to go over board with exercise then burn out quicckly - so I may be going a little slow - walking insstead of running, lightedr weights.
I figure if I had the willpower to stay with Phase 1 totally I should be able to muster the willpower to add exercise as aprt of my daily life. No cheating! There's that old adage - the longest journey starts with a single step. I feel I made my first step.

A-Rod · Mon Apr 02, 2007 8:08 pm

good for you for getting out there, and for developing a schedule! that really helps.

i have ALWAYS been an inconsistent exerciser ... i was going strong for a few months until a few medical setbacks, but now that i'm back at it i feel great about it. the hardest part is the beginning when you're still working up the motivation. the more you do it, the better you feel about it.

one thing that i find really derails me is not having an appointed TIME to work out - i have to make a date with the gym or else it's too easy to get distracted, make excuses, and put it off completely. if first thing in the morning works for you, great. if it's right after work straight to the gym [what i do] that's great. if it's once you get the kids off to school and that's the very next thing you do ... well, you get the idea. but having an appointed time makes a big difference.

Krismiss · Mon Apr 02, 2007 8:24 pm

And if you haven't been diligent about exercising before, it's just like South Beach Diet....the longer you do it, the more you learn and the better you become at it. Be willing to change things up if what you're doing isn't working for you.

You'll be amazed at how effective you become if you just make the commitment to stick to it until you learn what you need and when you need it. It's awesome!!

Zosia · Tue Apr 03, 2007 1:14 pm

So far so good! Thanks again for your words of encouragement!

But can you tell me if there are exercise buddies or exercise challenges on this site? I once did a virtual walk across America on ??site - got as far as Missouri and didn't make it to Kansas. (I really did treadmill and park walking with pedometer and multiplied real distance by 10 for virtual distance.) Measured my progress on mapquest and read up on places to visit in the states I was walking through - I'm ready for jeopardy if the category is little known state facts.

skinnypeep · Tue Apr 03, 2007 1:19 pm

The virtual walk sounds really cool!!

Challenges crop up all the time on this board. You'll see a post usually towards the end of the month to sign up for next month. Right now some of us are in the middle of an Extreme Challenge that has 3 more weeks but I'm sure someone else will decide to do one. Or you could start your own. Maybe a version of the virtual walk? I'm sure you'll get takers.

Zosia · Tue Apr 03, 2007 2:10 pm

Thanks skinny -
How does the challenge work? Rules? I looked at the extreme challenge and it looked like you get points for specific activities. Who compiles the numbers and how do they keep track? Sounds interesting!

(Sorry if questions are stupid - I'm new.)

skinnypeep · Tue Apr 03, 2007 2:40 pm

Nope- they are good questions.
This particular challenge is run by Pookiebear and Kirian, simply cause they came up with the idea and decided to do it. Nitroit used to do a Boot Camp challenge which was a lot of fun. Whoever starts it usually does the scoring just by default.
Just decide you want to do it, post a thread asking if anyone wants to join, and go from there. Once you get a couple of people you can also ask them what they think in terms of scoring. Often there is a food component and an exercise component. (ie. one point for every Beachy day, one for every workout) Or some people don't want the scoring, just the accountability and a group to chat with. It doesn't have to be too complicated. Just something to get people motivated to get their exercise in.

ECS · Wed Apr 04, 2007 12:44 am

Personally unless you are one of those rare crazy people who love to exercise (which I think I might be a borderline one) you have to look at the positives, not really the actual exercise.

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