If you’re just joining us, we’re talking about getting my health in shape, which is on my life list. Here’s Part I where I outline the obstacles, and Part II where I advocate for acupuncture, Part III is an ode to my teeth (Also, check out all the tips in the comments of this post on overcoming fear of the dentist. Nice!). Please join us for this installment of My Body Thinks My Joints are a Disease, wherein I outline my aversion to exercise.
Let’s talk about the gym. Yes, let’s. Go get a pint of ice cream and meet me back here.
Now. Say you’re hurting and feeling fat. OK! Let’s put on some shorts and go somewhere public. Great. Are there lots of men here? Perfect. Now do something that makes you sweat. You’re all sweaty? Now stop, lay down on the floor, and contort yourself in ways so lewd you would blush to adopt similar positions while having actual intercourse. Great, great. See how every man in the room is openly gawking at you? Ignore that. Consult your copy of Kama Sutra and assume the next position in your floor mat routine.
So motivational, right? I know!
I Have Not, Historically, Enjoyed Exercise
Until the last six months or so, I’ve never understood people who like the gym. I mean I thought they were maybe a different species, in that I could never mate with one. When my weight, and later my health, made it necessary for me to get off the couch, I just… didn’t want to. It ran counter to my self image.
I did it anyway, but mostly whimpered while exercising and slept afterward. This is perhaps because my body was storing toxins in my muscles that were released when I moved in new ways. Or perhaps because I was weak like a hairless mewling kitten. Aside from acupuncture though, building the muscles around my joints has had the greatest impact on my day to day life. It mostly started with Tracy Andersen.
Exercise DVDs
If you don’t like the gym, but you can manage a bit of self discipline, I recommend exercise DVDs. I’ve come to love Tracy Andersen, despite the rocky start to our relationship:
“The next part of the abdominal series is the piking series,” Tracy Anderson says. What? Oh, it’s on Tracy Anderson. Through this section, I punish you by whimpering in disapproval. “This is the most difficult series for the abs” Tracy Anderson continues. I whack my right hand against a miniature xylophone, and glare at Tracy Anderson through narrowed eyes. Her tiny dancer body still fits entirely within my millimeter of vision. I stub my left toe on an abandoned Tonka truck. My millimeter of vision begins to swim.
Tracy is Gwenyth Paltrow’s trainer (free video clip). The videos are low impact, and really focus on strength:
I had resolved to try it for seven straight days, but by the second day I couldn’t rise from a reclined position. I also couldn’t hold my head upright, and my tongue felt all achy. I stopped after the second workout in self defense, but a strange thing happened, dear reader. As my stomach fibers began to recongeal, I could see a difference! After two workouts! Bryan concurs that I am not hallucinating.
After this year, I can make it through the post-partum DVD and her mat workout. That’s because last year I finally figured out how to convince myself to exercise regularly. Here’s how.
Self Discipline
As I mentioned above, exercise isn’t social for me; I prefer to keen on my hands and knees in the privacy of my own home. Also, getting to and from the gym eats up a lot of time. Unfortunately, the routine of the gym really helps me stick with regular exercise.
I desperately needed some self discipline, so last year I put a chart up on my wall — really it was just a small sheet of grid paper with a square for every day of the year. I decided I would move, at home, for 15 minutes each day and then check a box off when I did. I chose 15 minutes because it seemed like the bare minimum. Not doing it was the same as admitting I wasn’t willing to do anything at all.
The truth is, many days I’m not willing. On those days, I put a dot on the square I skip, and continue filling in boxes after it. Here’s my current chart, complete with typo, and a severe lack of motivation in the last few weeks:
But! I will eventually fill in all those dotted squares, I promise. Here’s the trick.
If I do an hour-long exercise DVD at home, which is what I often do, I get to check off three boxes — that day’s, plus two days I’ve skipped or two days I want to bank. That means, instead of punishing myself for skipping days, I just let myself make them up guilt free, as long as I do a few minutes more work than I’d have done otherwise. If I do an hour of something like walking, which doesn’t really get my heart rate up, I let myself check off two boxes.
Last year I went from sitting on the couch to working out about three times a week.
Results
Well, obviously I have muscles I didn’t have before. The first time I could hold a plank position for more than five seconds, I was completely shocked. That’s been the biggest surprise for me, the sense of accomplishment when I see evidence that I’m getting stronger.
As for the pain, exercise reminds my body that I need it, and so far my body is rising to the challenge. If I don’t exercise, my knees, hips, and shoulders start issuing death threats. If I do exercise, they stop complaining after a few workouts, which is a pretty good deal.
I had non-injury related surgery on my knee when I was 25, and the plan is to avoid doing that again. So I’m choosing to exercise in hopes of maintaining my ability to walk until I’m 100 or so. And if fifteen minutes a day keeps the wheelchair away, that’s some excellent motivation.
Next, we’ll talk about what I’ve been eating. In the meantime, I’d like to hear your tricks for convincing yourself to exercise.
Mighty Girl 
These days it’s easy to exercise because it’s the quickest way to get warm in our very old, very uninsulated 1912 Craftsman house. The trick will be to stay motivated when it’s no longer 45 degrees indoors…
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Before I started grad school, I was a nanny and had free time after 6 pm every week day and went to the gym most evenings Monday through Thursday. Thanks to the helpful machinery that counts things for you there, I would write down miles ran / calories burned / steps climbed. I liked to get competitive one week or month to the next, and I especially liked adding up my year-to-date totals. I would do the same thing running outside by tracking my routes on Google Maps and adding up the miles. Sometimes I would build in rewards – like a new pair of fancy running pants, expensive jeans, or a massage after 50 or 100 miles, depending on how much I needed some more motivation.
Ah, but since I started grad school, my exercise regimen has seriously declined (I go running maybe twice a month now). I’m holding out on jump-starting in May when I graduate…but I’m also looking forward to inspiring suggestions that just may convince me to begin something regular earlier than that.
Thanks for the great posts, Maggie!
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I definitely recommend exercise DVDs–they are the only option where I can’t say, “Oh, not today, it’s raining,” or, “It’s too late, the gym is closed.” The living room is always open and temperature-controlled.
On days when I’m really not interested, I cut myself some slack and exercise at a really low intensity. We bought a used elliptical on craigslist, so I’ll just walk for a while with the TV on. No puffing and sweating, just enough to get my heart rate elevated a little. Exercising at low intensity is really good for your heart, too (it improves its efficiency when you keep it about 120 beats per minute, which is far from a max heart rate).
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I make myself go to classes (although lately I’ve been canceling/skipping). I find that actually going to a class is more motivating than slogging it out on the treadmill by myself (but I have had to treadmill it lately too). Also? Friends. Making plans with friends is hugely motivating.
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The cocktail dress hanging in my closet that I’d like to fit back into.
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I don’t work out. I don’t run. I don’t go to the gym. I’m with you, Maggie, I just can’t do it.
However, since last summer, I’ve found myself at the gym one day a week, almost without fail. Why? Zumba. Zumba is a high-low latin-dance-inspired interval class. It’s a like a latin dance club and a step-aerobics DVD had some hot, sweaty sex and created a calorie-busting, booty-shaking baby.
Even though I hate the gym and don’t “work out”, I’m the type of person who, given the opportunity, will dance until my feet fall off. The last wedding I went to, strangers were asking the bride and groom about “the dancing girl” (not even kidding). Zumba taps into my love of dancing (however uncoordinated I may appear). I found an instructor that I adore, and I go once a week. Even if I can’t figure out a treadmill and don’t touch weight machines, I go dance once a week. The instructors are trained so it’s not just dancing, it’s a series of steps and routines that are designed to keep your heart rate going and to tone your muscles. And I LOVE it.
Everyone always says that you need to find something you love, and really, it’s true. I have been going since July, and I love it. Next up: trying the Zumba for Wii to see if I can do it at home, too.
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I love this series! I am a kindred spirit in the dental department and it’s great to read about the changes you have made. I have been trying to make some changes to my activity level this year. I started doing the couch potato to 5K training program right after Thanksgiving. I go with my husband to the gym and we both run, but not together. I also meet a friend there, so it’s like double accountability. We run on an indoor track and it’s nice to just move my body in a warm place, since it’s super-cold winter where I live. I have two boys and they run with us too sometimes or play with their friends while we run and walk.
I also discovered Yoga Today videos that you can download or stream and I think they are really well-done and effective. I alternate yoga and running days and I find myself looking forward to the next morning when it’s a yoga day.
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This made me cry. I’ve been struggling my entire life with my weight because of my lack of exercise. I just hate it. I do. People say I couldn’t possibly hate all exercise but I do. You add to it my need to be the very best exerciser to ever have exercised and I fail quite easily. Feeling like a failure is never motivating. Reading about your struggles with exercise and how you set yourself up for success got to me. If you can do it 15 minutes at a time, maybe I can too.
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I too am traditionally exercise-adverse, but have just started Bikram yoga and I love it! It’s done wonders for my carpal tunnel, achy hips and holiday pudge, plus it’s all about mind exercise, too, and I think ties in nicely with acupuncture. Highly, highly recommended.
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I’m horrible at exercising… but I definately need to start exercising regularly. When I do exercise – usually riding a stationary bike – I make myself stay for the length of a podcast. I find a really interesting podcast to keep myself interest. If my mind isn’t focused on how much longer or how long I’ve been doing the task, the time passes much quicker.
I really like your idea of 15 minutes per time and paying yourself back for days missed or paying yourself forward for future lazy days. I think I might impliment that.
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Buena Vista park + two small dogs who won’t take “let’s not climb that staircase today” for an answer. It’s all that stands between me and utter sloth.
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My motivation for working out is that it’s my primary means of fighting off depression. Meds have never worked for me, but working out does keep the dark thoughts at bay. The added benefit of feeling healthy and strong is also nice. After burning through 2 elliptical machines at home, I finally joined a gym. I do like a gym, because I love the fancy equipment.
I run 3-4 miles 4-5 times a week, usually using an elliptical. I’ve added strength training. I am by no means all skinny minnie, but I’m proud of being tough.
When I take off more than 2 days in a row, I feel unhappy. So the gym is my prozac and I love it.
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I started running 10 months ago, using a couch to 5k app. In the beginning, I did it because the app said I should. It’s a 9 week program, and I figured I could do what I was told for that long.
After that, it became something of a habit. Not a habit I liked, but one that I felt bad about if I missed. I’m also a huge fan of keeping track: my weight, time and mileage. If for some reason my iPod doesn’t record a distance, I almost feel like it didn’t happen. I’ve recently added a few days of Jillian Michael’s Shred, and I also use it to replace bad weather days.
Even though no one reads or keeps track, I post my results on Twitter and blog weekly. I pretend like someone would care if I gave up.
I won’t lie, weight loss is a motivator, too, although no a good one since I’ve been working out for 10 months and have only lost 3 of my 10 pound goal. I console myself by searching for muscles that may have never before seen the glow of the sun through my skin.
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i joined a crossfit gym after wasting a pre-paid year long Y membership. I literally went 4 times in that year – $100 per visit – not smart. now, i love crossfit and go at least 3 times a week. a few months into it and i can left heavy weights over my head, run faster and farther than i thought i wanted to, and i’m really close to doing a pull-up unassisted! i didn’t know i wanted to be able to do these things – i just knew that i needed something motivational to help me get active and stronger. this is doing it for me. strong people are harder to kill and generally more useful. i want to be strong and now i know what works for me!
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Oh man, this hits close to home. I just bought almost all new clothes so that I wouldn’t have to exercise to fit into my old ones.
Sad, sad, sad.
15 minutes a day doesn’t sound so very terrible. I have dogs to walk and stairs to climb.
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I don’t go to a gym either. I walk or run along the Hudson River path. Since I never know what the weather is going to be like, I walk 2-3 miles every day, telling myself I have to save up miles for the day it rains. Or snows. Also, if I run instead of walk, I will only do 1 1/2 miles. If I choose to walk, it’s a minimum of two miles. Once a week I go to a boxing gym and work out my arms. Nothing crazy, just some bag punching and drills, just so I remember how to lift my arms higher than computer keyboard height.
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I love your redemption system. That would totally allow me to not feel like an utter failure at working out.
In college I used to work out in the mornings – I’m not really a morning person, but I felt good in that routine. I usually didn’t have anywhere to be before 8:30 or 9am so it wasn’t too painful.
Now I have to be at my job by 7am and not look like a homeless person, so my morning workout doesn’t really fit. My new strategy (which kind of works) is to do relaxing or healing yoga a few nights a week. I can do it at home late in the evening without ruining my sleep (or social life) and it really helps with the stress I bring home from the office. It doesn’t raise my heartrate much, but I’m on my feet most of the day so I burn plenty of calories, I just have no muscles.
I get my yoga tapes off of Netflix Instant. They tend to rotate the options, but there’s a whole fitness section where (if you are already a Netflix user) you can try out the vids for free.
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i go through fits and starts with exercise– sometimes I’m super dedicated, three days a week. sometimes, getting up to find the remote seems like too much effort. but last year i began working from home and I just felt like a lump. I used to at least walk to the train, walk to my office, and then repeat that to get home. home based? i walk to the fridge. to get another snack. so when i actually started to feel like a lump with back pain, i signed up for a package at my local yoga studio. I knew that if I didn’t go once a week, I would be losing 15 dollars a week. I hate losing money, so this was a strangely effective way to get me out. It has been working so far, both in getting me to exercise and in feeling better physically.
Love this series. get my health in order is on my 2011 list.
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Maggie, I think your point about finding the MINIMUM that you’re capable of putting forth is key. A thing that is most basic and accessible and gets you over the hurdle of going from the “nothing” column to the “something” column. For my Mother, it was a Fitbit. But it’s the first, biggest step. And you SHOULD make it easy on yourself.
I started with 20 minutes of running or walking every other day for two weeks. By then the results were already so blinding I just couldn’t continue to ignore them. Namely, with my anxiety & insomnia, because working out makes me sleep like a passed-out frat boy. Now I feel like the excuses (wrong weather, no time, too annoying) are easier to bypass because I am a tattered mess if I don’t make myself do it anyway. I can’t afford NOT to anymore.
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I am currently in a ton of pain, when I allow myself to admit it, I know with 100% certainty it is that I have not done any restorative core work since having 3 daughters in 4 years. I look great but the strength of my abs is weaker than cotton candy.
Sigh. Must overcome the pain and realize that it is the working out that will make me feel better, not the couch.
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I, too, can relate to this. Growing up I was short-sighted, uncoordinated and completely bookish – no team sports for me! Which meant no exercise for me either, until in my twenties I discovered Les Mills fitness classes.
I started off with BODYCOMBAT, which is martial-arts based. I loved all the kicking and punching – great stress relief, and made me feel kinda like a ninja.
Then I fell in love with BODYBALANCE, which is a mix of yoga, tai chi and pilates. At the end of an hour I felt like I’d strengthened my whole body, ironed out all the kinks and was left feeling calm and energised at the same time. (Bonus – this class includes a relaxation at the end. They actually make you lie down and rest for 10 minutes!)
I loved it so much I actually became an instructor, and now this short-sighted bookish girl gets up onstage twice a week to teach other people. I can’t even begin to express how revolutionary this has been for me – I never expected to do this in a million years. Now it’s one of the best things I do.
I’m not alone in loving these classes – they’re done in 13,000 gyms around the world.
http://www.lesmills.com
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Well, I’m sort of a gym junkie. That helps 🙂 I have a monthly planner in which I keep track of what I’ve been doing, exercise-wise, so I’m accountable if I’ve been slacking off. It’s easiest to motivate myself, though, if I’m training for a race or if I’m going to a class – I *love* spin classes. It’s so cold outside right now that I can rarely drag myself out for a run, so I’ll probably register for an upcoming 10k or half marathon so that I’ll have to run anyway.
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You’re one of my exercise inspirations, Maggie! Your Life List gave me a kick in the pants – I’ve always wanted to run a 5K, and after my friend did the Couch-to-5K program and ran in one, and I saw your Life List, well, I put it on mine. (Actually, I put on to run a 5K BEFORE I turn 40… and as another item, to run one AFTER I do.) So I started last February & ran in my town’s 5K in July. And then I ran in another local one in October!
So, between running outside to music when it’s nice and watching Buffy (up to season 3, ep 6!) or TV while running on the treadmill when it’s not, I’ve been running pretty regular 2-3x a week for almost a year now! Thanks, Maggie, for the inspiration & also for these posts, too!
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The ideas of losing weight, losing fat or changing my body do not motivate me, and, in fact, make me feel like I’ve failed before I’ve even begun.
I do know, however, that it’s important for me on a near-daily basis to heat up my own internal furnace. That sounds kind of dirty when I type it out, but hey, that image works for me, and I do not want to question it. The concept of losing weight is too tied in with the punishing/deprivation part of my brain, while the idea of getting stronger and become more capable, and, the now kind of embarrassing furnace metaphor, inspire me in an “I’m taking control of my body” kind of way.
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Grew up HATING all exercise. I have the same colouring as you, and I was the palest person I’ve ever seen. Things changed about five years ago when I met (and am now marrying) a man who lives on his bike and is one of the fittest people I’ve ever met. Not surprisingly, that’s made a difference to my fitness!
I’ve found that the trick for me is that I have to be *going somewhere*. Exercising for the sake of exercise, despite the fact that I know it has a point, always feels utterly pointless. But if I’m getting on my bike to go somewhere? Well, I actually need to keep going, don’t I, to get to where I’m going, so I can’t pike out after five minutes and sit on the couch. At first riding my bike terrified me – I couldn’t stop picturing myself with horrific injuries. But you pass that point eventually, and it becomes fun! Last week we did a 50km bike ride together, and my body didn’t even hurt the next day. (I was so proud.)
Also, running and pilates. I don’t do much running but I try to make myself do a couple of k when it’s a nice day, because we live by the beach. And pilates just makes me feel strong and happy and relaxed, and more toned than I’ve ever been.
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The thing that has really worked for me is the social aspects of the gym- once I got over my self-conscious fears, I found that I really enjoy classes and have made some incredible friends in them. Regardless of how tired I am, I’m at 3 or more classes a week simply because I’d really like to see my friends. I’ve found gym people to be some of the most accepting and encouraging people I know- they’re just as proud of me for my successes as I am, no matter how small they might be.
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I just finally got into exercise, after baby #2, and one of the main reasons was for the alone time. I know how sad that sounds. Now, though, the lovely alone time is also making me feel better mentally and then the weight loss and increase in energy are snowballing to make me crave those 3 nights a week at the Community Center. I’m never going to be thin, I no longer aspire to thinness, but man do I love feeling healthy – mentally & physically.
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I’m a hyper lady. If I don’t exercise, things go very badly for me and everyone else who has to share space with me. I used to teach a yoga/pilates class, and nothing motivates you to work out like getting paid. But my class was canceled (boo) so I’m back to my own devices for working out.
I have a stationary bike, and just found that if I plant it in front of the TV and put in an episode of Mad Men, I’m a pretty happy camper. Or biker, if you will.
I really enjoy walking with my best friend…because we’re both trying to save money, we’ve replaced lunch/coffee dates with long walks because they’re free and we get to feel all good about ourselves on all fronts when we’re done.
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My husband and I share a car and since he works out of town, I am stuck having to figure out how to get to and from work in a city with an inefficient bus system…
So I bought a bike!! I ride 6 miles a day at about 12 mph which I learned burns about 400 calories. Now that’s not a lot but it’s a start!
I guess that my motivation for exercise is that I need to get to work and I don’t want to buy another car.
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I have always exercised. I have done different things at different times in my life. Now I go do weight training three times a week, go to yoga class about three or four times a week, and run about 8 miles. On the weekend I hike and ride my bike. Sometimes I don’t want to exercise but knowing it my body toned gets me there.
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BIG GOALS. My motivation was my life-list dream to run a marathon. Two years ago (at the age of 44), I announced (after several glasses of wine ahem) to a table of friends that I was going to run a marathon. Nevermind that I hadn’t run at all in YEARS. Over the next few days, I told EVERYONE I knew, so that I would be held accountable. At first I couldn’t run a mile without stopping to walk. Nine months later I ran 26.2 miles in the Portland Marathon.
Find an exercise you love (don’t worry about what other people do that works; YOU have to love it or you won’t stick with it). They say it takes six weeks to form a habit, so just keep doing it, no matter how little you can do at first. *Gradually* increase your distance/time and soon you’ll be hooked on improving. It is so, so worth it!
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Duke and Rocco, my two 75 pound Golden Retrievers. those cheery haircovered beasts are way more fun when they are entirely exhausted, and the only way to achieve this is by running. so about two and a half years ago, I officially became a runner. I am now FORTY and my body looks like that of a 25 year old.
so yeah, also, vanity is an excellent motivator.
keep up the good work Maggie!
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I’ve always, always hated intentional exercise, especially gyms. I never minded going for walks or other more passive exercise, but rarely actually did it. Needless to say I’ve gained a few pounds each year since my mid-20s, and it shows. I tried the DVDs and Wii-based exercise games, but really just didn’t have the personal motivation or self-discipline to do it regularly. After my father in law died of a sudden heart attack (in our living room!) last April, I got the motivation I needed to get my health in check. I’m still working on the Dr’s appts, which I’m also behind on, but I did start going to a gym regularly. For me, the key was finding a gym that didn’t totally intimidate me or gross me out. They can be very different. Our gym has a very low-key, all ages clientele, and honestly even when I started I was in better shape than half the people there. I never felt like anyone was staring at me, which is important. There are 3 sources of motivation that have worked for me:
1) I go with a friend, so I know that someone is expecting me to be there, and since it’s a very chatty friend it makes the time there go by much more quickly. When she’s there, I can easily spend an hour getting vigorous exercise, and enjoy it. Most of the time I barely notice I’m exercising. (I really notice when she’s absent.)
2) Now that I’ve been doing it for 6 months, I’m definitely seeing results. It took a few months, which was discouraging, but now not only am I stronger, I look better. My clothes are looser, my face is thinner, and I just feel… healthier. Seeing results is good motivation to keep at it. Now that I know it works, I want to keep it up. I’d like to get back to the size I was when I was 22. I’ve lost 15 pounds, but I have another 20 or so to go. They’re not going to disappear on their own.
3) I’m a stay at home mom, so I try to go when my daughter is with me. Winter days can be long when we’re home together, so it gives us both a break from each other – she has fun in the kid’s room there, and I get to have an hour or two to myself. It’s basically childcare that I’ve already paid for, so I might as well take advantage of it! Making it part of my routine has made it easy to go even when my friend can’t, and my daughter enjoys going to play and do her “exercises” too. Bonus: I get to feel like I’m setting a good example for her.
Thanks for sharing your health trek with us, I’ve found it very inspirational. I don’t have any longstanding health issues, but I’ve been neglecting my own health pretty much since my daughter was born – I was working, my husband was finishing his PhD, and everything was just so crazy and overwhelming. Now that things have settled down a bit I’m trying to get back on track, but once you get behind it feels pretty overwhelming! Reading about your struggles has helped me approach this as a process, one at a time – I have an ob/gyn appt this week, and once that’s done I’m going to try to make appts with the primary care and chiropractor too.
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Also, is it wrong to put “baby” on my motivation list?? I’m not terribly overweight but I have another 20-30 pounds to drop to be a healty BMI and I’d like to lose it before have a baby…
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I find that if I stop thinking about it like exercise, and start thinking about it like “playing games,” it’s totally helpful. It’s way easier to play tennis with pals, challenge myself to HORSE, play tag with my dog, or just play catch with my sister. Admittedly, I like the gym, but “playing” is way more fun.
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I too have fought the idea of exercising and the gym. But now that I’m four years shy of my 40th birthday I realize I need to take control of my health. I’ve been trying out different exercise dvd’s through the library, hulu and youtube. On days that I don’t have much energy I can usually find a ten minute or low impact video online. This way I feel I’m doing something even if it’s not as intensive as other days.
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Nia is an excellent technique, because it is cardiovascular exercise that emphasizes experiencing pleasure rather than pain. In Nia, you actively seek out the joy of movement, laughing while you dance, punch, kick, etc. It also has a mind/body component and can relieve stress and focus your attention on making mental and emotional, as well as physical changes in your life. I have always danced, but Nia has helped me to love my body a little bit more, which I would have thought an impossible feat. It’s pretty fabulous, (and there are hardly ever any men in class).
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I think I’m a member of that weird species because I just love exercise and being active so very much. For whatever reason, I have always had this mindset, and goes way beyond wanting to look thin. It has more to do with the fact that the feeling of moving and using my body in ways that challenge it is absolutely exhilarating and empowering.
Of course, some days I wake up and don’t want to exercise, so sometimes I’ll just take the day off, or sometimes I’ll just say to myself, “do X amount and that’s it.” After I do, I never ever feel worse; always better.
For those who don’t love exercise but think they should, I suggest doing what you did–commit to something reasonable at least 4-5 times/week (otherwise you will make up constant excuses about why you can skip yet another day). Make your the goal the ACTION (i.e., an exercise DVD), not the number of pounds or inches lost. I’d also say to really think about the kind of movement that best suits you. For some, it’s dance. For others, yoga or home videos. Maybe it’s hula hooping or jumping on your kid’s trampoline, or maybe it’s a martial art. There are so many great possibilities.
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I’ve always *hated* exercise. It comes from hating sports, which hasn’t changed since I was the slowest and most uncoordinated kid in first-grade PE. Team, competition, speed = I’m on the nearest couch.
But I’ve turned myself into an exerciser. How? How did this happen?
* In college I started swimming laps. I love swimming laps. Peaceful, quiet, meditative, and solitary. Plus you can get out of breath, but not really sweaty.
* Ten years ago I discovered Spinning Classes. I like bike riding, but sometimes the weather and the gear and my phobia of flat tires… Spinning is AWESOME! Loud rock’n’roll and a killer work-out. (Different from swimming in every way, esp. the sweaty part, but you have to have balance.)
* At some point, with a lot of determination and frustration at my aging-and-weight-gaining body, I started running. The hardest activity to get used to. I think I turned 30 and suddenly my clothes from the previous summer didn’t fit, and I got pissed and jumped off the couch. Ten years later I still run, though I break no records for speed or distance. Half an hour is enough for a good self-pat on the back.
By now, the guilt of not exercising is far worse than exercising. I’ve discovered that I’m grumpy on days that I don’t, and happy and proud on days that I did. I try to make it all about *that feeling* — not my weight, not how my clothes fit, not what my friends are (or aren’t) doing. I just want to be happy about who I am and what I do. Smug self-satisfaction or healthy confidence, either one, it’s working.
And yes: Zumba is awesome!
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No tricks, just vanity issues. My EX-boyfriend had an aversion to arm flab, which he referred to as dinner-lady arms. Nice, huh? Well, it stuck. Now, thanks to a perverse SPX workout, I’m rockin’ some nice guns!
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My motivation is my own health and this unattractive belly I’ve now got going. I could blame the two children, but we all know that became untrue about two years ago. I recently began using livestrong.com’s Daily Plate to track my calories and exercise and we bought a treadmill right before Christmas so I could stop going to step class at the gym and work out at home. It’s more convenient, I do like doing it and I don’t feel like I’m neglecting my family to do it. I’d love to try Zumba though, it looks so fun, but I know I wouldn’t stick to the DVDs if I bought them. I will drop these 20 pounds and I will keep using the treadmill. I WILL not be embarrassed come pool time this summer. I refuse.
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The only thing that consistently works for me is finding the money in the budget to hire a personal trainer that I see once every week or two.
I instruct my trainer that the first thing they are to do every time we meet is ask how many times I’ve worked out in the interim. If it hasn’t been frequently enough and I don’t have a good excuse then they are to kick my ass extra-hard during that training session.
This way when I’m having one of those days where I don’t feel like working out I ask myself “Am I so ill/tired/busy/whatever that skipping today’s workout will be worth the ass-kicking trainer will give me next time I see them?” And, frequently enough, I find the motivation to get the workout in.
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Working out at home is definitely my style too. I have an elliptical machine and I have lots of yoga videos and I alternate between the to disciplines. I too have a time minimum: 20 min. What motivates me is it’s my “me” time. I can turn off my brain during yoga or watch DVR’d TV while on the elliptical. The other motivator for exercise is food. I cook and write cookbooks so, the longer I’m exercising the bigger plate of pasta or cake or glass of wine I can have!
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1. I have a workout buddy, and we are committed to showing up to two classes together, same time every week.
2. Classes — so much easier for me to feel like it’s out of my hands when I’m in a class, as opposed to relying on myself to get on the treadmill and punch it to 11
3. On my online dating profile, I said I have a “firm Danish ass” (I wrote this well before firmness was achieved).. sounds silly, but this motivates me a LOT
4. I do not focus on a single (or particular) day — whether it’s a success or failure, or whatever. I try to let the workouts get done without too much mental fanfare, because it takes a lot of workouts and a lot of time to pass before the effects get seen/felt.
5. Mix it up. Zumba, step, pilates, yoga, walk, NIA. I get bored easily. In addition to my Y membership, I take yoga at an awesome-yet-expensive studio, with whom I barter flyer design for free classes. I am poor so this works for me.
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I’m sorry to say that I have absolutely no tricks for exercising other than I know that I’ll be in less pain if I do it. Um, that being said, I haven’t done it in 5 months (the shame!).
But I just wanted to add that I can relate so well to what you’re saying – I have a condition called Hypermobility Syndrome where the connective tissue around my spine is too loose and causes chronic pain unless I’m really good about exercising the small muscles.
I’ve been wanting to try Tracy Anderson forever, so maybe your grown-up version of a sticker chart will do the trick!
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stop complaining or making excuses and state what you’re going to do about it.
complaint: i’m a pretty committed runner, but even i had to admit i was schlepping around the same 3 miles and getting smushier.
solution: so i hired a guy to provide a training program.
complaint: i’m travel a lot and could easily slack.
solution: the training guy makes me enter in all my workouts, including miles & time, on a website that i send to him every week. travel is no excuse.
complaint: it’s too cold here to run outside.
solution: cute new running clothes!
complaint: i have no idea how far i’ve gone.
solution: check out my new running watch.
whatever your complaint about exercise is, commit to stating the solution as well.
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Just a quick “thank you” for doing this series about getting your health in order. It’s been at the top of my list as well for the last year or so, and I’m slowly (slowwlllyyy, I tell you) making progress. I loathe the gym, so I’m forever trying to figure out something that will allow me to get moving most days without making that dreaded trip. Loving this whole chart thing, and I’m going to give it a try. Thanks again! 🙂
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Sleep was the first motivation for me. The more I exercise the better I sleep. I started burning off stress on the elliptical at the gym for 30 mins 3 times a week. No weights. No goal other than to actually fall asleep at night.
Eventually I got bored and tried Zumba on a whim. New. Found. Love. Great work out, so much fun, and even just going once a week, I had people asking me how much weight I lost. Highly recommend a Zumba class.
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I do the three words thing. I think of three words to describe how I feel as I drive to the gym, usually: tired, stressed, cranky, etc. On the way home, I think of the three words and they have changed to: energized, happy, proud, clear-headed, etc. Always. Simple, but it keeps me going back for more.
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I do crossfit. It’s a really hard workout, but for the first time in my life I feel strong. I’m thin, and though I am pretty sporty, I always felt like I was weak. Not any more! The strength I’ve gained has kept me motivated to keep it up.
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