what did you end up doing?

Every time I join a gym, I get sick of it to the point I stop going. Lots of wasted $$ over the years.

Walking bores me. Team sports are way too intimidating.

Everyone says "Find something you LIKE to do." I've wracked my brain and come up with absolutely nothing.

Funny though... I raked my yard (with a real rake!) for 3 hours straight and didn't bat an eye at it. My husband asked, "How could you do that for 3 hours when I can't even get you to take a walk?" My answer - I got something out of it: A clean yard. Makes me wonder if I should give up my IT job and work for a landscape company instead.

So, I just want to poll everyone. If you ever hated exercise (or at least the "traditional" forms of it like the gym), what did you stumble on that you liked well enough to stick with it?

i have always been able to do some belly dancing moves ( in my blood) lol and a couple of months ago, i bought a belly dancing belt and dancing with it on to some middle-eastern drum music is so much fun and i dont really consider it exercise. I think thats the most important of getting a workout - not actually working out lol cuz i hate the timed and scheduled stuff...too boring. BOOOO!!

Actually I don't HATE exercise, but I do find it hard to just get started.

However, someone said to me recently, "Think of it as something you just DO. You get up in the morning, you brush your teeth, you get dressed, you go to work. There are other things you just "do" automatically as well, for yourself. You wouldn't go to work in your pajamas without your teeth brushed and your hair all over the place would you? No. You NEED to move, so you just DO it."

This really resonated in me. So I just started. You know, if you just start and you DO it, like you would brush your teeth, or even BREATHE (you have to breathe to stay alive, right?) you will make a habit of it.

I decided exercise (any form) was just something I do, for 20 minutes minimum per day. Now, I'm on Day 8, but I can guarantee you 100% if you check back with me in a couple of weeks I'll still be doing it every day. As I'm walking, or at the gym, or on my elliptical at home, I use positive self-talk and my iPod to keep me going. I FEEL fantastic! I have a huge change in my outlook right now! I'm concentrating first on the things I DO to be healthy (eating right, exercise, water) and THEN the numbers on the scale will move too.

Really, it's a simple theory, but it's working for me. I hope that helps you a little bit!

Renee said it really well for me!

I've been loving the RESULTS of exercise, and sometimes I even enjoy it once I get going, but I frequently fight with myself about getting going, and I've been doing it for a year and a half. I think I will always fight with myself.

- I do enjoy walking more when I'm going somewhere (walking with a purpose), and music helps, even when it's just me and the treadmill!
- I like what weight lifting does to my body... same with yoga.
- Find other movement with a purpose (like the raking or walking somewhere).

But in the end, it's what Renee said, you have to commit to it and see it as an important part of your life. I don't always WANT to do it, but then, I don't WANT to pay the bills, either...

1. Music
2. If you aren't feeling the gym, experiment....roller skate at a local skating rink! go for a hike somewhere you haven't been (walking with purpose)! Find a video you can do at home, or if you have Comcast, use the workouts on demand to do something different.
3. If you watch TV, consider buying a rebounder. Its a little mini trampoline. Get on and bounce while you watch your favorite show...and if you really need to "get something" out of your workout, make it a rule that you can only watch X hours or minutes or whatever of TV unless you're on the rebounder. If you're extreme, buy an entertrainer...it monitors your heartrate and shuts off your TV if you aren't working in the range you set for yourself.

Alternative exercise is a great option. You raked the yard for 3 hours. What about planting a garden? Doing yardwork and housework is certainly a form of exercise.

Personally, I'm a wicked dancer. Ballroom, salsa, hip hop, folk - sweat is pouring off of me and I love it. Yoga also gives me excellent body awareness and some mental moments that are worth it. Swimming is my once a week mermaid session. It makes me feel like a real athlete and I enjoy that feeling.

Finally, if you're not motivated by the exercise itself, you might consider a goal. For instance, walking may bore you to tears but if you know your goal is to walk a 5K race you might be more active to reach that goal. I competed in my first triathlon last year (at 276 pounds) and I know that the reason I continue to swim is that my brain is secretly thinking about competing again. (But shhh, don't tell my body).

I kind of agree with the others. I look at exercise as something I must do. Like the dirty dishes and the laundry and all those other boring, yet ESSENTIAL tasks I do day in and day out. I don't love the exercise per se, but I sure as heck love the pounds and inches coming off of me and the muscle I have gained.

Having said that I do think it is important to find something that you can at least tolerate if not all together love. I am not a member of a gym - yet. For the time being I walk, do stretching exercises, sit ups, leg lifts, use a resistance band and DANCE. It's a great way to work out and burn calories. I pump up the music and that's it. Very doable and the time practically flies by.

Hi Pretzel!

I am a non-athlete in a family of athletes! I ALWAYS was uncoordinated, clumsy, NOT fit. Compared to everyone in my family I was a ...C-L-U-T-Z! Notice that I said WAS.

When I began walking seven years ago I huffed and puffed and sweat. These feelings were very new to me, BUT, after losing 15 pounds and a whole pants size, I WAS HOOKED!

My oldest son said the other day that I'm probably in better shape than HE is! As I picked myself off the floor I asked him how on earth he could ever SAY such a thing! He said, "Mom! You have lost 74 pounds. You walk, you do yoga, you do step aerobics, you work your abs on your exercise ball, you do circuit training, you lift your five and eight pound dumbbells every other day! Come on! I'm just running. YOU are doing all this extra stuff! YOU are a well-rounded ATHLETE!"

Well, I gotta tell ya...Hearing those words from my son really got to me! At 55 I AM in the best shape of my life, and I started this all JUST SEVEN YEARS AGO!

I hope that this will show you that even a VERY non-athletic person can do athletic things! As Robin said, I don't always LOVE sweating and working out, but I LOVE how it makes me feel, how it makes me look, and how doing it can get an amazingly precious comment from my son, THE ATHLETE!

Good Luck!

Cheryl

I don't love exercise, but I do love the results! At 42 years old and in full menopause, my weight doesnt budge unless I exercise. I've just started swimming again and I do love the water. I don't love the treadmill, but my
MP3 player is full of upbeat fun music and that keeps me going. I'm not sure you will find something you really like. Maybe you will find something you can tolerate for now, and maybe, you will love it later.

I always used to think that I hated exercise, but I didn't. That sounds odd, but I'll try to explain. I used to try, but I was rubbish. I was always the keen fat girl at school, but somehow in my head not being very good at it got mixed up with not liking it.

I didn't do much exercise once I left school, and I didn't want to start again. It took me a long time to realise that it wasn't because I didn't like it, it was because I didn't want to look stupid if I tried and failed, even if it was only me watching. Once I got over that fear and gave myself permission to fail, as long as I tried, I realised how much I actually liked exercising. I bought a 6 week gym membership and told myself that as long as I stuck to it for 6 weeks I could walk away with my head held high, and I never looked back. I'd made the decision to sign up for a year well before my trial expired.

My sport is running now. Obviously that's not for everyone, and different people find different things, but it's changed my life. I'm currently training for my second marathon, I finished just outside the top 20% of women in my last half marathon (my 5th), and I'm a member of a running club. Even better, I'm one of the faster women at my running club. I started off as slow as you can get, but a couple of years of hard work has really paid off and I can't imagine living without exercise now.

Good morning Pretzel,

I agree with everything that was said before me. As for what I had to do, I had to listen to my vet. I have a 2 1/2 yr dane/lab mix who I thought was pretty healthy until my vet said she was carrying about 5 extra pounds (which translates to about 20-30 extra pounds on a person). Walking her was something I had to do for her and my exercise was an added bonus. Skylar (my dog) is such a motivator also. If I'm not right up when the alarm clock goes off in the morning she's there to remind me that I have to get up.

I've also noticed now that I've dropped a little weight through my walking and changing my diet I'm a lot more likely to get involved in other little things... like jumping rope with my 6th graders at recess. I even taught them how to do lunges and mountain climbers (left over from my younger soccer days). The boys were so impressed that I got down and SHOWED them how to do the exercises.

Basically, like everyone else has said, you have to find a reason and JUST DO IT (like the nike commercials).

Good luck!

Yoga, pilates, stability ball work, these are things I LOVE. I also like belly dancing, hip hop classes and turbo jam! I think if you find something you like to do, there's usually a class/dvd/downloadable work out for it somewhere, you just gotta look.

Try giving yoga or pilates a try- I haven't been in a few weeks, but I LOVE it. My arms look great, and it really helps me manage my mind..

Like Renee said, thinking of it as something that you just DO is helpful sometimes. Before I got into the gym grind, I'd walk to do errands.... if I felt like getting a cup of coffee at Dunks, I'd walk, if I needed a gallon of milk, I'd walk to the store... every little bit adds up.
EDIT: YOU SHOULD INVEST IN DDR!!! It's so much fun. Hours can go by and you won't want to stop. My mom loves it, and we play against each other. A little bonding time if you will.

Mandalinn, what kind of rebounder do you have? I've been thinking about getting one, I don't know if I'll be able to afford to go to a gym when I go to school and I want as many alternatives as I can get! It looks like so much fun.

I agree with everyone on this thread, but what Helen said really resonated with me. I don't know if you'll have the same experience, but this happened to me too. I went very quickly from being the skinny little girl who couldn't play sports to the overweight teenager who couldn't play sports to the obese adult who rarely got off the couch. I've had phases where I made an effort to exercise and even had times when I enjoyed it for a while, but it never really stuck with me until now. I think for many of us it's just one of those things that you believe you hate because you never had a good experience with it, but when you make it a habit and see results and feel your own strength (which is an amazing feeling for someone who never felt it before), then it becomes something you love. It doesn't mean it isn't still difficult, obviously.

I also agree that in the beginning you really have to look it at as something you simply HAVE to do, like brushing your teeth. And even when you love and crave exercise, some days it will still feel like a chore. Those are the days when I do it because I HAVE to. Most days now, I do it because I WANT to. And trust me...I never imagined I'd say that in a million years.

As for the boredom factor, I think you have to push yourself a bit to make sure you don't have a chance to be bored. So many people say that running is boring, but now that I do it I think -- how on earth could I be bored when I'm doing something so challenging? If it's not challenging enough to be interesting, it may not be doing that much for your fitness anyway. But yes, some people will never want to run or walk and would prefer dance classes, kickboxing, etc. I try to mix things up so I can have fun, but I also kind of like that meditative state you can get in with typically "boring" exercises like running and walking. I like just being with my thoughts sometimes -- other times, I push myself and listen to my iPod to get through it!

Ok, I've rambled a lot and haven't really said anything new, so I'll stop!

If you like exercise that moves you toward a measurable goal, try Taekwondo or another martial art. Great exercise and cameraderie, yet very individual and supportive and you are working toward a black belt.