I have a terrible attitude toward exercise.

In my mind, when I get hot and sweaty and my heart starts going fast...I get scared...terrified even..like something is deathly wrong with me. My mind can't seem to convince my body that it's OK to feel that way, that I'm safe.

No matter how much I remind myself that it's a good feeling...a feeling that will lead to health, I always quit and give up on it because I just can't shake that feeling.
It's silly and ridiculous, and it's holding back my entire prospect of success.

Twice now, I've lost 40 pounds with diet alone...and twice I've gained it back.

I need to hear anything and everything from you about feeling this way...how you fought it...how you overcame it, or if anyone even feels this same way!

I also need help with a BEGINNERS plan for exercise...I am so out of shape it is ridiculous.

Help my friends...I need you.


Linda

I think that exercise beginners do get put off by exercise programs. I think starting slow is the way to start especially if you have had many false starts.

Something to get you started towards lifelong exercise might be something like this:

Week 1: 10 minute walk, 3 times and 10 minute of weights (light weights), 3 times
Week 2: 15 minute walk, 3 times and 15 minute of weights (light weights), 3 times
Week 3: 15 minute walk, 4 times and 15 minute of weights (light weights), 3 times
week 4: 20 minute walk, 4 times and 15 minute of weight (light weights), 3 times

Basically start slow and build up. You can increase your time or your itensity during your workouts. To increase your intensity for walks, walk faster or find walks where you can go slight inclines. To increase your intensity for weights, increase the number if repetitions, sets and/or weight.

Yup, had that feeling and didn't like it either. I was almost 50 when I started exercising so it was pretty scary because I had high cholesterol and had no idea what shape my heart was in. I started out walking around my neighborhood. Then I graduated to aerobics for people over 50, then I got a trainer, and now I can run a 5K and leg press 250 lbs.

Start out with whatever is comfortable for you--right now it's the movement that you need. If you have flat areas, start there and walk until you start getting that feeling you don't like. Eventually, you will go the same distance and you won't get breathless so start going farther. As you lose weight, you'll find that you will be able to walk faster and go farther, and soon (maybe--everyone is different!) you'll actually enjoy the feeling that now scares you. It's okay to ease into exercise--most, if not all, of us have had to do that.

While diet is the most important part of losing weight, exercise is a huge component, and you're so smart to recognize that you need to start doing it now. You may never like exercise, but eventually you'll get comfortable doing it. I promise!

Many of us started out feeling the way that you do. Take the baby steps that Nelie and Sheila suggested ... and don't be surprised when you realize that you feel like a million dollars after you exercise.

I was older, like Sheila, when I started to exercise. At age 46, I was convinced that I hated exercise and probably was allergic to sweat. At first, each session in the gym felt I was going to have a stroke but I stuck it out anyway. And gradually I became aware of having more energy, needing less sleep, and just feeling so GOOD! Plus I really liked the weight loss results too.

Now I'm a personal trainer - isn't life strange??

Just try a little bit ... then add a little bit more ... and I'm betting you discover that you love it - or at least love the results.

Think of your heart as a muscle. Did you know the heart is actually NOT an organ, but a muscle. You dont shy away from working out your biceps right? So dont shy away from working another muscle...like the heart.

Put me strictly in the never-liked exercise camp. Maybe it was because I had asthma growing up and exertion really did make me feel like I was going to die sometimes!

For whatever reason, I've never been good at keeping to an exercise plan. I often like how I feel AFTER, but I dread it before.

I guess I decided it didn't matter what I liked and didn't like, I knew exercise was important and decided that I WAS going to do it. I started small -- as the others have suggested. Pretty early on I made a commitment to it -- I just set goals for the number of minutes a month I exercised. Start small, and then build. Tell yourself it's like paying the bills. You HAVE to pay the mortgage or they will take your house. You HAVE to exercise. That's it.

And try to make it FUN! I listen to my music everywhere to help make it fun. I set little mini goals for myself. A little longer, a little faster. It all helps!!!

and keep coming back here for ideas!!

Maybe an alternate form of exercise like yoga or water aerobics wouldn't cause the same reaction?

I struggle to exercise (it's always the first thing to go - "oh I'm too busy today") so I've started driving the kids to school with my exercise clothes on so I have to go to the gym because I can't go anywhere else lol. I also broke down and signed up with a personal trainer to get me going on my strength training. I'm no spring chicken (41) and I had a serious break in my left leg 18 months ago and don't want to injure anything. The trainer is great - she is taking it slow and it motivates me to keep with it.

So, get out there and experiment and do whatever it takes to make it more enjoyable.

For me it was a great help to join Curves. I knew I needed to be doing some exercise that was more strenuous than walking, but I was too intimidated to join a co-ed gym.

Going to Curves has practically turned me into an exercise junkie. The employees there are so kind and motivational. Plus they keep an eye on you to make sure you're not in any physical distress. And they're used to dealing with women who are overweight and/or older.

Have you ever tried Yoga or Pilates? I've never done Pilates but it seems like a very calm way to exercised compared to something more aerobic. Walking's great too if you're able to do it, weather permitting or indoors

Try different things that you're comfortable with and one day you might have that moment of "oh my goodness I love this!" Good luck Linda!

Try walking with a friend - chatting away may take your mind off the fact you are doing exercise!

All great advice, Linda. I hear where you are coming from. During my mispent youth , I did excercise (swimming) mostly because my friends did. It was never a love affair (at least at first), but as I started to improve and win at swim meets, I started to enjoy. Later in life, I found I needed to find something that I LOVED to do. That way, if the weather is icky, I would still do the excercise. Nowadays, with a very active dog, I do not have much choice, but I have noticed over the years of walking and then doing hikes that I really enjoy it. Find something you love, and even at first it may be hard (I never got the high right away, it comes later after you have been doing it for awhile), but as you improve you will see your body change and become stronger.

May I recommend a yoga class?

It's not aerobic exercise and you shouldn't expect it to give you the same benefits of aerobic exercise BUT it has been shown to be linked with maintaining/ losing weight because of it's direct link with body awareness! (See my post on Yoga and Body Awareness).

Plus, once you start associating something like yoga with exercise, it's not nearly as hard to get into another form of exercise because you're already a yoga geek!

Don't overdo it. Do a cardio machine that measures heart rate. Once your heart rate starts getting too high.. slow the machine down. You know that you are going at a good rate when you breath faster.. feel comfortable and don't feel your heart pounding. Once you get to the point where you can't talk because you're breathing too hard, slow down. This always works for me. Find the speed that best suits you. ANY exercise is good exercise. Good luck!

Hmmmm, exercise........what is that? I hate even thinking about it. I walk the dog and thats about the most active I will ever get. My body probably thinks I'm running a marathon since for many years I thought walking to the car was a long trip.

Just try to incorporate activities into your daily life instead of doing exercise for exercises sake. Sometimes I make it a game for myself. Can I walk from my apartment to the store? How about the farther away store? How about the 7-11 that is on the other side of that huge hill?

Just work more activitiy into your daily life so you don't have to go to the silly gym and run on a treadmill to nowhere.