OK, this is a whiny post...but I'm really trying to get myself motivated to exercise. I know that the standard excuse is that I don't have time, but I really don't! I'm too lazy to get up at 4:30 in order to exercise!! And in the evenings, by the time everyone is taken care of, it's 8:00, and I don't want to exercise then. Oh well, I know that I have to make the sacrifices somewhere.

I was just wondering if anyone else feels this way sometimes. Just balancing everything is so hard. Also, when you see yourself losing weight without exercise, it doesn't motivate you to get up and do it!!!

Oh motivation---where are you????

I too have a hard time motivating myself to exercise, but here are 2 quick ways to add a little exercise to your day.

While waiting for my coffee to brew in the morning I do 2 quick sets of upper body exercise with my 15 lb free weights. You better start with small ones like 5 lbs free weights if you are just beginning.

At 2:30 in the afternoon at work - I take my 'power walk' in the parking garage of the building where I work. I change to jogging shoes and I walk up the parking ramps for about 15 minutes. This is a low energy time for me anyway and it clears my head to do some serious work for the rest of the afternoon.

I do more exercise on the treadmill or stairmaster when I get home - if I have time, but at least I get a little bit of exercise in every day and it adds up.

Karen

I agree that exercise during the day is a great way to have an instant energy boost and also stick to the program. I have had so many gym memberships, and half-hearted attempts at getting fit over the years, that I've found that exercising during the day has been the only thing that has really worked for me.

Rather than taking a lunch break I go for a brisk walk, or jog, or to a gym class. It is impossible for me to get up early in the morning for exercise, and it was just as hard for me to do anything when finishing work (let alone for those of you who have munchins to contend with ).

Anyway, I've been doing this work day ritual now for about ten weeks (this is my first week LCing), and now, for the first time ever, I'm addicted to exercise!!! This means that I can now motivate myself to get up early or to go after work - because (and I can't believe I'm saying this) I really enjoy it! Something about my day just doesn't feel right unless I do something physical.

I guess all the standard advice applies... start small, and do something you enjoy. Most of all (if you can, and at least initially), find a partner in crime. Often we are more reluctant to let others down by cancelling a planned walk or game of tennis, than we are ourselves.

good luck!!

Sus
sus

I know how you feel about finding time. I unfortunately have only a few minutes free during the day and I spend it here. (I have to work through lunch so to be out in time to pick up kids from Daycare, sound familiar??)
Once I'm home I am non-stop taking care of husband, children and such and by 9pm, I'm tired!
I just got a bicycle and I was going to ride it a half hour in the morning... I did it once and I was freezing! (I'm in New Hampshire, USA). Brrrrr!
I tried doing my "Sweating to the Oldies" Tape but it wakes my son (What can I say, small apartment) and he is too distracting.
I've thought about the gym but when could I go is my problem.
What I'm doing now is taking all the stairs, walking to the drug store for things I need. I walk to appointments ect..

I started to exercise for the first time in my life, when my youngest was a baby. That was the point when I decided I didn't want to be fat anymore. Since she was still an infant, the only time I could squeeze in was very early in the morning, before DH had left for work and could watch the kids. I would walk 3 miles every morning. Sometimes it was a pain, still dark out, cold, snowing or raining (Hey, I could be mailwoman!) Anyway, what seemed like a sacrifice at the beginning turned into something that I enjoyed, something that was mine.

This year I started to lift weights. I kept putting it off and finally decided "OK, on March 1st . . . I start" . . . and I did. I have heard that method works for quitting smoking . . . pick a date in advance and just do it. So that would be my advice to you, make an exercise plan, pick a date & just do it. The absolute hardest part is just getting started! Good luck!

When I quit smoking in May, I decided I would start training to run in races. 2 things I never imagined I would ever do, but I know I needed to move forward with life. The MAJOR motivating factor was to tell everyone I knew what I was doing so when ever they asked, I could tell them I was doing great. It was so amazing the love and support I got. Whenever I thought about not exersizing, I thought about having to tell someone that I didn't do it. I know it sounds silly and it is really what got me going, but what keeps me going is how I feel. Exercise clears my mind.

Finding time - it's more like MAKING time. There will always be the joy, laundry, bills, etc.... but I know my girls would rather go for a bike ride with me than sit and watch their favorite tv show.

Make goals - tell yourself you are worth working for and make goals accordingly. Even if you are walking 1 mile 3 times a week or doing 100 jumping jacks a day, it is worth it.

Find a partner - exercising with someone helps pull you up off the couch.

Good luck!!

Boy I can really relate to this thread, Actually I am a closet couch potato and can find the easiest of excuses to not get off my fat butt

What fixed it for me was geting two dogs. They have to be walked regularly otherwise my life is a misery, they go completely stir crazy. Hybby and I share the duties, him in the morning and me in the afternoon. It reallyturned things around for me.

Lesley

Whew!!!I'm glad its not just me. I work a rotating shift schedule and even when I do "get started" by exercising in some form daily, my shift changes and throws the whole thing off.

I do agree that when you have someone to walk with (or whatever your choice of exercise) it's alot easier to stay moving.
Lately both my "exercise friend" and myself have both been too busy/lazy to move. (I'd say too busy, but I do always find time for television

You guys do make me want to get up and go for a walk though!

Maybe we can start a new club called CPWWTE (couch potatoes who want to exercise)
I'm moving furniture around so I can do some floor exercises while my son watches TV (I got headphones for him - aren't I sneaky). Wish me luck.. Let me know how you all do!

Well guys...I decided that I am going to make "little" changes until I can do big ones
I woke up a little early this morning and did my 8 minute Tae Bo tape and I'm trying to take the stairs more at work (11 flights, so I'm just going down for now!!)
My problem is that I have a 16 mth old daughter and a hubby who works the night shift. So I can't leave the house to go for a walk or anything. We have a treadmill but it wakes my daughter up if I do it in the morning. So the only other option was doing that in the evening or doing some type of aerobics tape. GRRR!!!
The good news is that they are building a women's only gym by my house, a block away from my babysitter's house. So I'm thinking maybe when they open I could get a membership and if they have child care, I'll just go before I go home. Sounds like an appointment that I will MAKE myself keep!
Let's get going guys!! I figure even just a little bit of exercise is more than I was doing!

How about getting a dog? Even exercise haters will get up and walk the dog.

I know I may be the one voice of satan here, but I must reply. Starting out a little and working your way up is a good method of starting to exercise, but just like stopping smoking by cutting down on cigarettes doesn't often work, this approach often fails as well.

I exercise 45 minutes, 4 times weekly. Hard end cardio and muscle fitness. I started doing this at 321 lbs, after not exercising in the least for over 5 years. It was hell, it was painful, it was agonizing. It has helped me lose a hundred pounds in Seven months!

I believe that the human spirit is what helps us diet and lose weight. Without the determination to say " it" and go, nothing will work. There have been times when I nearly wept at the thought of working out for the day, but I did it anyhow. Most of my slender friends, also feel this way. . . the difference between them and what I used to be is that no matter what, they make sure the work gets done.

I guess what I'm saying is no matter what happens, plan an exercise program and stick to it, and make sure its challenging. If its not you wont find your true potential. Class oriented programs often work well because they add the element of peer pressure that gym memberships and at-home videos can't match.

Mike

I'm curious, Mike. Do you enjoy the exercise now? Or has that not changed?

Nat

Yes I do Nat. I picked an activity (Tae Kwon Do) that I love. Now don't get me wrong, sometimes I would beg God for an amputation to miss class. . .but. . . I force myself to go anyway. Even when my shoulder was so badly messed up that I couldn't do a pushup I altered my routines and still went.

I think picking something you want to do is a big step up as well. If I didn't like Tae Kwon Do as much as I did. . . I wouldn't be exercising or still on my diet. They are inexorably tied together. Though it was enormously humiliating to be standing inside a dojo with fifteen fit people wearing the biggest uniform they had (which still didn't wrap around my enlarged torso), and not being even able to run around the room once without collapsing in agony. GRIN.

Mike

I really got off to a great start sprinting stairs early in the morning. It did give me a whole lot more energy but Keeping it up is what I find really really hard.

Right now I am thinking okay so I did a few days of great exercise then stopped completely and gave in to total lethargy. Would I have been better off just doing what I was doing originally? It took a lot of effort to just do my normal chores today.

Take care.