Well hopefully you will find something that you can do. What you may need to do is get some of the weight off through just dieting and then when you become lighter you will enjoy exercise more? I know when I was bigger I would have rather taken a beating than exercise.. it was so overwhelming, I was like man no amount of exercise is going to put a dent in this blubber. So I lost some weight through just dieting.. and did that until 70lbs later, granted it took a few years where as if I would have exercised it would have came off faster, but it came off none the less. Then I was like bump this.. Im gonna (as we say in the south) "Git'ter Done" Thats what I am doing currently. It feels great. Just work on positive affirmations and I think you will be ok. Losing weight is TRUELY more mental than it will ever be physical. The physical is the easier part, its getting over the mind block that is the true challenge. Good Luck, and you will do this! Im glad you dont walk like a snail means somewhere along the line you have been nice to your body.
if you want to lose weight, you have to do some sort of exercise. i am sure you could just watch what you ate and keep up with incidental exercise and the weight will come off eventually - but not in the same time frame as if you exercised. not to mention all the other health benefits from doing cardio of some sort on a regular basis.
don't get me wrong, i am not a gym junkie. i don't go to a gym - i work out at home. i get bored very easily and feeling like a big, fat slob is not motivating at all and it takes alot of pushing to do that extra bit of exercise that will make the difference (fingers crossed).
with all due respect, whats the big deal with having to have a shower? i work out in the afternoon when i get home from work and if i haven't the time to shower directly afterwards, i don't. however, i will have one before going to bed. a quick 5 minute shower never hurt nor did it make that much of a dent in my day time wise. all in all, it wouldn't be more than 15 mins out of your day would it? its not just that i might be a little smelly, but i know i don't want to get all pimply and breakout from not showing off the sweat.
for me, the way i see it is that i have to make exercising as routine as brushing my teeth in the morning or loading the dishwasher at night. if i see it as an additional chore, it puts me off. that voice in my head saying "oh, but you've had a rough day, why not just watch tv and take a load off for the night" or "what difference will it make anyway" is a constant battle that i need to get over. i agree that you must change your thinking towards exercise and just move. i don't think i hate exercise, more like i hate the idea of exercise. but once i get going and get it over with i feel like i have accomplished something and then to feel my muscles a little bit tight the next day is a reminder of how hard i worked the day before.
how about yoga or tai chi? i don't really sweat doing yoga, but geez can i feel it the next day.
the only thing i can suggest is that you find something that can be fun instead of old, dreary, repetitive workingout. perhaps team sports like volleyball, softball, netball or even tennis, squash, etc. yes you will get sweaty, but hey, that's seems to be part of the gig with exercise. you might not notice as much if you are distracted with the competition of the game or the people you play with.
alternatively, how about breaking your exercise up into groups throughout the day. do 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes in the afternoon and then another 10 in the evening. before you know it you have done 30 minutes of exercise for the day.
or a workout buddy. someone that you can talk to while working out might distract you from what you are doing a little bit.
you are just under the weight i am currently at and i know what you mean when you say that you don't fit the mold of a gym bunny and just feel drained afterwards. i think alot of us feel that. you have to remember that it is not a quick fix and it will take time and effort to reach your goal. you didn't put the weight on overnight, and it won't come off overnight either. think of the long term reward and not the short term ones. this is a constant battle for me too.
you know that you have to exercise and that is the bottom line. exercise = calories out, which is essential to weight loss.
Lena: I'm with you! I absolutely hate working out. I hate gyms too. I used to belong to one years ago and I went faithfully 5 days a week for maybe a year or more. I did like the step aerobics, not b/c I could do them but b/c they had great dance music to it!
But even that wasn't enough motivation for me to keep going. I don't get the exercise "high" either. Exercise actually makes me very tired and sleepy.
I started working out at home about 4 weeks ago (using a Norditrack Eliptical), I do 20 mins in the a.m. NO WAY I can work out in the afternoon. After work I'm dead tired, I go home and cook dinner, and after that I just want to relax. I get home around 6 pm and go to bed around 10, so I don't have time for a big work out production either. I'm probably half asleep when I get on the machine in the morning (5:45), but somehow I manage not to fall from it...lol. It makes me feel better after b/c I got it done & out of the way. I do that 5 days a week, which for me is a HUGE step.
Elisha: I absolutely love your visualization thing, and you're not a weirdo, I think that's a great idea and I'm gonna try it too!
NotTheCheat: You just made me have a realization, maybe I hate exercise so much b/c I've always been overweight and my parents were always pushing to work out so I'd lose the weight. Plus I'm tall 5'10' and in high school they "made" me play basketball b/c of my height, nobody thought to ask if I'd enjoy it, and I hated every minute of it. I also saw it as torture! No wonder I hate it so much!
I guess it all boils down to finding something you enjoy. I went to ME (Acadia Natl Park) last year and I went on big hikes w/my husband every day and I loved it and wanted to keep going. But I have no nice mountains around here. A walk in the park is not the same. I like climbing on rocks and enjoying the ocean view. And I've always tought about martial arts, I'd love to join a class but I think I'm too out of shape to do that. Maybe once I get in better shape.
Fikustree: You're right, attitude determines a lot of things, but that's not something easy to change. Especially when you feel like you "have to" do things. But you're right on the money about evaluating what kind of person you are and figuring out what motivates the person. I guess that is the key to enjoying exercise. I gotta sit down and evaluate myself! THANKS!
Ready2Shed: Absofreakinglutely! Health is my biggest motivator right now. I went on a cruise in Feb, woke up in the middle of the night with bad pain in my arm. I immediately thought blood clot, heart attack, I was in tears and I was alone. I honestly thought I was going to die right then and there, ok I'm a little paranoid about that kind of stuff too I admit, but let me tell you, what a horrible feeling, I was so scared! I WANT to be healthy, vanity has moved so much lower on my list, not b/c I don't care how I look, of course I do! But health is such a precious thing that we have to take care of it. Once that's gone, nothing else seems to matter!
Wow.... sorry for the long post, I guess I had a lot to say!
Friendlykat4u, Don't feel like you need to be in any sort of shape to begin martial arts. I joined taekwondo in January and hadn't been very faithful about exercising up to that point. Since then I have lost 14 lbs (slow I know--but I am not in any particular rush) just by going to classes and watching my portion sizes. You can work as hard as YOU need to, not as hard as anyone or everyone else. There are women of all ages and sizes and abilities in my program, and that is really what inspired me to join. I love the goals of achieving different belts. There is a cameraderie that develops. My muscles are stronger and leaner (and I can do real pushups now!) Everyone is very supportive of everyone else (kinda like here!). I love exercising in my bare feet, although others wear special shoes. In general, I dislike wearing shoes...
It is a great workout, that is true, but you start with what you can do and go from there. I can do a lot more now than I could in January. If you are thinking about it, maybe watch a class or two and then do a class or two...you'll start out as a beginner...just like everyone else in the school did! Those fast powerful blackbelts started out brand new one day...just like you!
Oh, and did I mention it is fun? An hour flies by and I am sorry it is done and time to go home. And then I look forward to the next day and the next class.
Ready2Shed: Absofreakinglutely! Health is my biggest motivator right now. I went on a cruise in Feb, woke up in the middle of the night with bad pain in my arm. I immediately thought blood clot, heart attack, I was in tears and I was alone. I honestly thought I was going to die right then and there, ok I'm a little paranoid about that kind of stuff too I admit, but let me tell you, what a horrible feeling, I was so scared! I WANT to be healthy, vanity has moved so much lower on my list, not b/c I don't care how I look, of course I do! But health is such a precious thing that we have to take care of it. Once that's gone, nothing else seems to matter!
Wow.... sorry for the long post, I guess I had a lot to say!
I know what you mean about that.. I used to have anxiety attacks all the time, which can be misconstrued as heart attacks.. I went the hospital alot because of it, they would shoot me up with demerol and send me on my crazy little way. It wasnt until I started exercising that they are almost no exsistance, I used to be able to count on them everyday. I lived my life in fear of one. Now.. I still get them from time to time, usually when I have been dealing with stress, but not like I used to.
First, I don't think you need to wait to lose weight to exercise - bigger people can definitely exercise, they just need to modify things to fit their level. I am still over 300 pounds and I am at the gym usually at least 4 times a week. When I exercise at the right level, I really enjoy it. I am VERY careful not to push myself too hard (but enough) and to not compare myself with others.
Second, you do not need to exercise to lose weight. One of the biggest losers (in the nicest possible sense ) on this site is Howie and he wasn't able to exercise because of his back: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/show...94#post1186694
Exercise helps in many ways, but it is not an absolute for losing weight.
Midwife: How often do you go? Is it expensive? Unfortunately I'm on a very tight budget. But I've always thought about it, and funny how the mind works, but I never think of it as "exercise". I think that I'm interested in it b/c it's a mix of spiritual/body thing. Right now I'm doing WW and doing my 20 minute work out in the morning. I've lost 15 lbs in 5 weeks which is great. But I'm not in a rush either, as long as I'm moving in the right direction and changing my bad habits into good ones. Plus health is my main motivator right now. So the more things I do to improve it, the better. Do you have any recommendations as far as what things to look for in a place?
Ready2Shed: Make matters worse I also got very seasick! That was my 1st cruise ever, and probably the last one too! I'm glad you're doing better with the anxiety. It's terrible what stress does to you!
NotTheCheat: Thanks for the link, I'll have to check it out. I know that weight loss comes down to what you eat and how much you eat, and that exercise is a very important compliment, but working out alone won't get you results either. That's why I'm trying very hard to combine both b/c I'm an exercise hater...lol. But it's b/c I haven't found the right work out for me. I'm going to follow Midwife's advice and look into a martial art class. I think I'd enjoy it a lot.
My membership is about $50/month...but that includes unlimited classes...and there are a TON of classes. I attend on average 5-7 classes a week, so 20 to 35 classes a month. The more I go the more of a bargain it is! My studio offers taekwondo, kick cardio, ju jitsu, hapkido, weapons and pilates. I go to taekwondo, kick cardio and pilates (I could do more, but I limit myself so that I can get other stuff done!). My "uniform" was included when I signed up, but the top has long sleeves so I bought a t-shirt. Now that I am moving along through the belts (barely, but it's there!) I bought a "hogu", which is protective gear for sparring. I bought it because my son also does it but is reluctant to spar so I wanted to get out there and show him how it's done! Haha! However, contact sparring is not required at my studio to move through the belts.
I also have a testing fee of about $45 per test, but most people only test 2-3 times a year, so that expense is spread out.
All of this applies to my studio, of course, but it is very close to the other martial arts studios in my town. There is one woman who takes taekwondo, weapons, hapkido, and kick cardio. She probably is there 15 or more hours a week. And she pays the same I do.
I figure about 2 bucks a class ain't too bad! Regular gyms in my town charge $99 a month.
If you want, PM me and I will send a link to my studio. Mine is family owned, and I love supporting local family owned businesses. Adult class members range from moms and dads of kid students, to college students, to single kid-free adults, to a guy who qualified for the Olympics. There is a wide range of talents and physical fitness! But the moms who have been doing it for awhile have ALL shared that they have lost weight, whether it was intentional or not. It just really works to bounce up and down and kick and hit things.
Seems like finding the "right" form of exercise is as much a matter of trial and error as anything else. Lots of good suggestions from folks here of different things to experiment with.
Finding something that's both enjoyable AND can fit into one's lifestyle can be a challenge, though. Example: as I mentioned in a prior post, I enjoy golf even though I'm not very good at it. I'm willing to tolerate the sweatiness it creates because I enjoy the game. However, even a 9-hole run (about 80-90 minutes of actual play-time) takes a good 4 hour chunk out of the day when you factor in driving time, set up, driving immediately back home and showering up after. I don't know about you, but I just can't afford that more than once or twice a week. And we aren't even talking about the financial hit.
Today, I took several short walks (trying to hit that 10K mark). Nothing long enough to get outrageously sweaty, so no extra showers necessary. I also did some lifting. Nothing a trainer would be impressed by (they'd probably just yell MORE MORE MORE!!!!), but some.
I don't want to throw in the towel. I just want to get a (realistic) payoff commensurate with the effort expended. You see that 19 pounds lost in my ticker? It's been there for over a month. It's been fluctuating up and down by about a pound and a half in half pound increments since mid-March. That's not motivating in the least.
Oh, and Daisy, no offense taken, dear! But I do challenge you to take a shower, dry off, completely lotion up from head to toe (skipping lotioning more than once or twice a week isn't really an option for me), get dressed and clean up the bathroom in 5 minutes or even 15 minutes. And I'm not even talking about doing hair or makeup. I've timed myself and I can't do it, and I think I'm pretty efficient.
The only thing I can say is that you have to decide what you hate more. You have to decide that you hate being overweight more than you hate exercise.
I made the decision eight months ago that I was going to change my body for good and that it would mean sacrifices to get what I wanted. I knew it was going to be a long and frustrating journey, but I was determined to get there.
While I may not "looove" exercise, I find that I am addicted to it, or more specifically, addicted to the benefits it brings me. I love how good I physically feel, the energy I have, and I love my sleeker body. It may take some sweat, but boy, is it worth it!
Lena, I love love love love weights and when I lost around 70 lbs the year before last, it involved very little cardio and mostly weights. All stuff you probably already know but muscle burns fat, muscle helps define your shape, etc etc. I can understand your frustration, I've been watching my food and exercising for over a month and the scale hasn't budged. I stare at it in disbelief as it mocks me. I have to use other things to measure my improvements such as my clothes fit looser and I notice my endurance is better. How do I go from not watching my food too carefully and irregular exercise to watching the foods I eat and my portions plus adding in regular exercise but yet nothing from the scale? I don't know. Usually you lose weight and then hit a plateau instead I hit a plateau without losing weight.
I am the same way. I hate walking, I hated cardio after a while, I hate kickboxing, I hate hate hate the dance cardio videos, I hate dancing (which explains the former) and probably just about anything else in the same group. I do love Swimming though, but the pool here is always crowded by the time I get up.
My solution was DDR. Dance Dance Revolution who don't know it, is a Video Game where you try to hit some arrows on a pad with your feet to music. I have always been a Gamer and always loved DDR, so when I was looking for a solution for getting in my workout, I thought of it and it works great. The arrows distract me enough so that I don't notice how much my body is tired or hurt, and there are so many songs (and mixes) you can choose from that it doesn't get boring. You can also unlock songs, characters, and etc.
You just have to keep looking untill you find something right for you. My problem was mostly that the pain ended up distracting me too much, so I got something that was distracting! It's not too costly either, around $100 for the game and a good pad (2" foam, don't get the little cheap thin pads that are $10.. get a nice one for $40). That's very good considering I don't have the money to go to a gym every week.
I've been excersizing only since january this year trying to get in 3 runs a week, and although I really like running, just getting myself out the door is still hard. It's like a mental game with yourself and eventually I just force myself to, but I know it's worth it.
Honestly, the only thing keeping me going everyweek was signing up for a race, that way I had to do the training in order to do the race. Now that it's over I'm looking for a new one to keep going.
Now working on strength training is another story lol, maybe in the future...
means somewhere along the line you have been nice to your body.
) on this site is Howie and he wasn't able to exercise because of his back: 
It's terrible what stress does to you! 
