I made it to the gym 3 days this week. That is an amazing feat for me. I hated just about every second of it, like usual, but I went. For me, exercise would be just fine if it was enjoyable in the slightest. I have the wonderful advantage of having a free gym with lots of great machines and a track just down the block from where I work and it's free even. Just one of the benefits of working for a university. You think I would just jump all over the chance to utilize this service, yet I do not. Here are my excuses,er, reasons:
1. It's very overpopulated by students (granted they aren't bopsy little blondes like in the old IU days, but still)
2. The machines I want to use are rarely available
3. Most of the time I have to go alone (although having my lovely and motivating sister-in-law with us some of the week helps tremendously with that!)
4. Most of the time I have to go at the end of the work day when I'm tired, cranky and just want to be home
5. I get so unbelievably bored out of my mind 5 minutes into anything I do at the gym. Even with my jammin' Ipod.
And lastly and most importantly, I hate to be out of breath and I hate that my body just will not move the way it should. I hate the way it just screams at me when I try to push it. In all, if the act of exercise didn't have the majority of all of the above, I'd probably love it! At this point, I'd settle for a workout routine that doesn't bore me to tears. I tried Zumba for awhile and really enjoyed it. I went steadily for most of the time, got sick one week and missed and just couldn't get back to going regularly again. Now, it's too expensive. This is the problem I'm running into with most things. Weight Watchers is great, but it costs money, Zumba is great, but it costs money and finally, eating healthy from what I've experienced is super expensive. I need to find a way to eat right and workout for very little cost to me. Any ideas? Send them my way! I'd really like to know how others find a way around loathing exercise.
Enough with the excuses. Physical activity is just something that we all need to have daily in our lives. Period. If it means I need to make a little checklist of things I can do each day like park in the farthest spot away from my work building and take the stairs every time, then that's what it's going to take. I'm going to put a booklet together of some sorts. Something I can take to the gym with me to look at and check off things I've done as I go. I need some help to fill that baby so I'm going to be researching over the next few weeks to build it up.
Hey Ashley, great to see you on here. I too have a blog to keep myself accountable and get advice from others. So I like that you are writing. But take it one step further and have a plan for when you go to the gym. Not just I will do 30 minutes on the elliptical, but I will do 5 minutes warming up, then I will do 30 sec sprint followed by 1.5 min slow. Give yourself more of a purpose for going to the gym.
ReplyDeleteSomething I would do for the work place, is to give yourself an errand to do. Once an hour, or half hour get up and walk around the office. Compliment a co-worker across the office or just get up and stretch a bit. You will find that moving around will make you feel better at work and you get to move around some.
Random assortment of thoughts (apparently I have a lot of them): Music while exercising never does it for me, either. It might get me going for a song or two, but 30 minutes? Never. Reading is definitely my preference, which means I am more likely to use a bike than the elliptical because it's easier for me to read on the bike.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I have always preferred to exercise outside. I used to hate tracks but now I find there's something oddly meditative about walking around them. No idea why I think that :) I've always found that the time goes much more quickly when I'm outside. For whatever reason, it feels less forced.
Is there any opportunity for you to go at a different time of day? I used to work out before work and always liked that better--less people, and I could go straight home after work. Another thing I have done (when my schedule was busier and my motivation was down) was to take a 15 minute walk right before work and a 15 minute walk before going inside when I got home. I had a several block loop that I could complete pretty easily, and it was a nice way to get myself moving without feeling like it was a huge chunk of time.
Some of the fitness magazines (Shape, Self, Fitness) have free videos that you can use if you're not feeling the gym but want to do something at home. Does the university offer any free classes you can take?
One of my mentors makes a deal with herself that she only has to stay at the gym for five minutes, but she needs to go. Once the five minutes are up, she says she generally feels more motivated to keep going. But, there are days when five minutes is enough, too, and if she's not feeling it, she heads home.
Last thing, and I know this sounds corny as hell but so be it: shift from thinking about it as an obligation to an opportunity. You have a body that allows you to do incredible things. Think of exercise as a chance to be good to yourself and take care of yourself. And, be kind to yourself, too. You won't get anywhere by beating yourself up!
Hmmm. I read your post and the comments before mine. First of all, I want to say that: I totally feel ya, girl. Secondly, I don't think it's going to matter what anyone says to you. :) I'm working on writing about this and have been thinking about it a lot. I'm quite convinced there is no miracle diet or exercise program out there. I don't think any program is better than any other program or method and I've done them all. This is what I'm discovering, when diets and exercise work, they work because the people are finally ready to put in the effort to lose weight. I have ALWAYS struggled with my weight, but now that I'm at my heaviest and can't just fix it by not eating for a few days, I'm realizing that it's going to take a lot of work. And I want to fix it for my health this time, not for looks. I want to do it for my daughter and me not because I don't want people thinking I'm fat. Totally different than before. Sooo... you probably just need to sit down and think about whether or not you're ready. It's going to suck for a while. It's going to be really hard; you'll probably go through withdrawals; and (again) it will just flat out SUCK. :-) But if you're really ready, you'll do it.
ReplyDeleteNow, having said that, during the summer after our freshman year, I took a mild diet pill, didn't eat a whole lot, and worked out every single day. It was really hard at first, and I HATED working out. The first day, I was on the elliptical for maybe 3 minutes and thought I was going to die. The second day, I went for 5 minutes but was still crazy sore from the day before. I've found that 3 days is the turning point. If you can make it 3 days, you'll be ok. Anyway, I eventually became obsessed with working out and felt so much better. That was the smallest I've ever been. I even wore shorts that summer which I NEVER do. At one point during college, I had a lot of success with weight watchers. I know you said it costs money, and it does, but you could do it yourself for free if you don't mind missing out on the group stuff.
Also (I'm going to write about this in my blog too once I have some significant success), I'm trying the new Atkins. If you Google it, you can find the official site and get a free info kit. I know just eating meat sounds gross, but it's not really like that. I'm not a big fan of meat, and I don't think it's that bad. The first 2 weeks are an induction phase where you supposedly lose up to 14lbs. I made the mistake of starting the week of Halloween while aunt flow was in town. Can we say candy?? So I only lasted 2 days. BUT in those 2 days, I lost 3 lbs and I didn't exercise. I can't go to a gym here. I just walk. You can find creative ways to satisfy the sweet tooth and not ruin your day. If you get really crafty, you can even make carb free brownies. I like to cook up a little polska kielbasa with some onion and drizzle a smidge of honey on it while it's cooking. Totally satisfies the chocolate addicted sweet tooth in me and still complies with the diet. I'm going to start again on Monday and not cave in this time. Hopefully, I'll do better. By the way, the significant other lost 13lbs on this and wasn't even sticking to it. I hate how much easier it is for guys.
I know you CAN do this. It's just a matter of mental strength and will power. Trust me, I completely understand. I'm bigger now than I was when I was pregnant. :( I hate it, but I hate trying to fix it even more. It just kills me when I try to play with Emma and it hurts to get up and down. What will it be like when she's 5? I have to fix it now. I know you don't have your own baby yet, and it won't sink in until you do, but imagine having to tell your kid you can't play because you can't move the way you want to. That's my motivation.
Hope this helps a little.
Thanks very much you guys. This is all stuff I need to hear, be thinking about and writing down. Jen, I'm right there with you about doing this for my health for the first time instead of wanting to get hot (even though that would be a nice side bonus). I'm going to write about my primary motivation in the next blog: becoming a mom at some point :)
ReplyDeleteFor the excuses not to go to the gym - I tried going to the gym after work when I first started and it blew. I always had meeting or just wanted to go home. I know it sounds horrible but go before work! 1) you'll burn more calories throughout the day by starting your day with physical activity - keeps your metabolism running at a higher level 2) you'll get to go home after work 3) you'll start the day off feeling great and you'll have more energy throughout the day 4) the gym will be less crowded.
ReplyDeleteAs far as cheap ways to lose weight/eat right. First thing you need to do is measure what you're eating. I grew up eating healthy food but just a much larger portion then what my body needed. It'll save you money because you'll be stretching your food further by eating less and saving money. Plus you'll be losing weight because you'll be consuming fewer calories. Healthy food can be expensive but is worth it for your health in the long run. If you want veggies but don't have the money and are afraid that they'll spoil before you eat them all buy frozen. They're just as good for you as fresh and often taste better since they're picked when ripe and frozen instead of picked before they ripen so they can last until the get to the store.
Also, walking doesn't cost anything. Before Greg and I got jobs we would walk together 3 times a week. And not your casual walk, we looked like the mall power walkers. But it was free and it got our heart rates up, and we had scheduled time to talk. Even though we live together we're often not really giving our full attention to one another but we definitely did when we walked.
Boone I have full confidence that you can lose the weight if you put your mind to it. Feel free to ask me as many questions as you want. And feel free to call if you need someone to complain to. If I can lose weight on a tight budget so can you.