InnerChild I probably could have written your post myself. I don't like exercising. I never have, and don't know if I ever will. Even when I was 135 lbs, weighing less didn't make me want to run out and exercise. It's not something I really enjoy.
However unlike most folks where losing weight is 80% diet and 20% exercise, I have found that for whatever reason, I have to exercise a lot. Have to. No way around it. I can't just eat better and magically lose weight. I wish I could. But, my body needs to really burn the extra calories from exercising in order to lose the weight. So, hate it or not, I *have* to do it.
I don't like the way exercise makes me feel (physically) and I had to get over being self conscious by going to the gym, especially when I had a bad experience with a personal trainer there. At any rate, what exercise does do is *help* my emotions. The pp was right in saying if you feel a certain way, use exercise to your advantage. Nothing relieves my anger and stress more after a bad day than hopping on an elliptical or cross trainer or even lifting weights and releasing all of that tension through exercise. Excercise is proven to boost your "feel good" chemicals in your brain. I have an anxiety disorder and nothing helps as much as exercising consistently. I have a more positive outlook on life.
Additionally, I sleep so much better at night because I'm physically tired. There is a big difference between a day that I lay around watching TV and a day that I work out.
Does exercise help with the weight loss? YES. It does. I like not getting winded every time I walk up the stairs at work. I like being able to keep up with my athletic husband every time we go on a walk. But when I started looking at *other* benefits exercise can give me (better mood, better sleep, all around feeling better in general), it was something that really made it worth it for me.
I will probably ALWAYS be more prone to wanting to be lazy than wanting to be active. That is just my nature. So the key is to use exercise in a way that speaks to you.
By the way, being anxious prone, I have been TERRIFIED of having a heart attack while exercising.
Often when I'm going full force on a crosstrainer I think to myself "hmm, what if I just keeled over? how embarassing and scary!" But the cost of
not exercising is much higher than the cost of exercising, IMO. Given that heart disease runs in my family, it is really vital that I have a healthy heart, and nothing gets it healthier like cardio. I do use a heart rate monitor, not because I really care about what my heart rate is during exercise, but because it tells me how many calories I burn during exercising, and it's a great motivating factor. I like getting home from the gym and seeing I've burned nearly 500 calories! It gives me a sense of accomplishment like I wasn't torturing myself for nothing.
and my experience is pretty darn similar
