Why can't I get back in the swing of exercising???
Last June I started walking on the treadmill and walked religiously 5 times a week, at 4 miles per session. Now I can't get my butt on it once a week. It's not really a treadmill issue it's exercise in general.
I'm a single mom of a 2 1/2 year old son so I have the usual scheduling issues. I know I should get up at 5am so I can walk before he gets up in the morning but I'm so exhausted all the time that I can't seem to do it, even when I have every intention of doing so.
I need someone (or several someones, lol) to kick me in the butt and remind me that diet alone won't help me lose the last 90+ lbs I want to lose. HELP!
Thanks everyone for being here to let me vent, if nothing else.
One thing to keep telling yourself is that exercise will help you to have more energy. The hardest part is always taking the first step. As the Nike ad says, Just Do It!
Don't look at exercise as a chore, but as a gift. Imagine all the paralyzed and handicapped people who don't have a choice.
Plus you want to set a good example for your young son.
when you become lazy as we all do its the hardest thing in the world but you just gotta force yourself to do it and after a week or so it will be just like a normal routine
Try and pick something you will enjoy, first off. And secondly, do it for a short duration each day. Walking 4 miles is a huge task when you are doing nothing now. Carve out 15 minutes a day for cardio. Build that into a routine. Increase your time by a minute or two each week. Do some core work with your son, or even put him on your shoulders and do some squats or lunges....include him in your exercises! He will enjoy it and it may give you an extra push of accountability.
I don't have any advice, but I empathize! I've been having trouble getting it in, too. The last 3 weeks I've only worked out 2-3 times a week. For me to exercise, I do have to get up at 5 a.m., but lately my 1-year-old has been waking up with me, and by the time I get him back to sleep, it's too late. My husband had agreed that this would be "my time," and he would handle our son if he woke up, but he's been so exhausted (he doesn't get to bed until about 1 a.m. after work), he hasn't been hearing him wake up. (Sorry--I felt the need to vent, too).
My only suggestions would be:1) if your son goes to sleep earlier than you, do some exercise at night, 2) try to be as active as possible within your day (when you clean, turn on the radio and really move, walk during lunch if possible, walk to do errands), 3) put your son in a stroller and walk with him outside, if weather permits, or at a mall, 4) hire a baby sitter or ask a friend or relative to watch your son a few times a week while you exercise (this might not be feasible, but I'm throwing everything out here). For me, there is no substitute for my regular exercise routine, but we do what we can!
I'm lucky that my dh drags my butt out of this chair because I don't think I would do it otherwise. I love the net except at times like this. It would be great if you were next door and I could drag your butt out too.
My suggestion is Walk Away the Pounds. We do it with the little kids around. Sometimes they join in and sometimes they just play in the same room. Just have to watch out not to step on duplos.
I became an exerciser believer last year when dh got me out walking. The first week I was so tired but after a while I found I had more energy and just felt better. Its amazing.
Something shorter and a touch more intense might be easier. The WATP dvd did that for me because it uses the arms and 1lbs weights. I ordered the 1 & 2 Mile dvd through ebay from Lasercorner.com. It was cheap and quick. Sure Leslie gets annoying but it works.
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I too kept finding myself in that same vicious cycle. I stopped exercising, lost all my energy, etc. I tried to do it in the evenings after I put the kids to bed but I was still too exhausted. I finally decided that the only way I would be able to get in my exercise was to get up before everyone else in the mornings--this from someone who early is a dirty word in my vocabulary. So I moved my alarm clock across the room to keep me from hitting the snooze. And I force myself to get up each morning at 5:30 to get in an hour of walking. I have to tell you that this morning I would've been ready to just go back to bed but I'm really, really ready to get out of the 250s.
there are many mornings where I still feel extremely tired. After my trip to the bathroom, I put on some hot water and have me a glass of hot tea and sit and watch the news for about 5 minutes and then get in my exercise. Afterward I enjoy a very light breakfast, get up my stepson for school and go take my shower. Afterward I get the other two kiddos up and ready to go to daycare. You know what? after a couple of weeks I found myself with more energy in the evenings and sometimes I will workout on my exercise ball or even do tae bo in the evenings. I just do walk away the pounds tapes in the mornings (tae bo still seems a bit intense to do before the sun comes up )
I too have had thoughts along these lines. My head knows that I need to exercise to lose this weight ~ that eating right alone just won't get me there. I was reading that thread about guidelines for americans in 2005. It talked about 60-90 minutes of exercise a day is what is needed. I don't know why it is that I know it is good for me, and I feel better when I do it, but it is like somehow in my mind, I keep thinking of the other stuff I have to do or want to do and am not getting done (or not as much of it as I would like) that I could be putting that 90 minutes toward. I was trying to explain this to my mom ~ it is like I get some satisfaction out of the time I spend doing other "stuff" that I want to do and I don't get the same sense of satisfaction out of that same amount of time put toward exercising. I don't know what the answer is to getting my thinking straightened out. I guess I am still trying to find a routine that works for me.
Oh, I liked what a broad said about thinking of exercise as a gift instead of a chore. I will try to remember that .
the one thing that bugs me is i'd make up a plan of attack and bottle it after a few days cos it was to much effort then say 6 months on i'd think imagine what i could look and feel like now if only i could be bothered
I've got two of my own (5 & 8) and have just gotten back into the habit of getting up at 4:30 to head out to the gym and then come back and walk -- because by the end of the day, I'm just too tired and I don't want to waste what time I have with them. My mom wants to get into the habit, too. So what we're going to work out is that I'm going to call her and we are going to walk on the treadmill together -- she lives in Arkansas and I live in Missouri and we're going to walk and talk the same way we used to when I was a kid.
Is there someone who you could have call you at 5 a.m. (maybe somebody like a friend and/or one of us who lives in CST or EST) to remind you that you should be up now and walking? Just for a couple/few weeks until you get back into the habit. Or visualize yourself getting out of bed, rested and refreshed, and the good feelings you'll have once you've re-established the habit and getting energy from your morning workout.
Why can't I get back in the swing of exercising???
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