Bodies are made to move. But you don't need to do zumba or p90X or Blast Away Your Buns or anything like that.
You can just start with a morning walk and an evening walk. Maybe 15 minutes. Maybe a half hour.
Everything gets better when you move your body. And stop calling it exercise. Just call it "I'm going for my morning walk." or "I'm going for my after dinner constitutional."
Haha Thank you for your post. Constructive critique noted! I actually have a WATP vid.
This is how I feel.
I came into this wanting the very last time I dieted to be as easy as possible. I have lost weight twice before and each time have slipped into obsession and compulsion. Now I aim for 70% of what I am capable of and a lot of mental martial arts in an attempt to starve out crazed-WL-bizarro-Sunday.
I just have this thing about taking it as slowly and as easily as I can now. Some would say the lazy way out. But these are the dregs of years of disordered thinking and this is how I am trying to deal.
Food first!
I know the value of exercise and fully intend to introduce a baseline for maintenance. I'll probably have to have an upper limit on that though, because I want to make sure I never become neurotic about it, and it becomes as natural and unremarkable as can be.
One of the reasons that I developed such unhealthy eating habits is that I turned to food unthinkingly to help myself focus & to bring down my stress levels.
Exercise has worked out to be a better way of dealing with my feelings of agitation, and helps me burn off a sort of restless, unfocused anxiety. When I'm done, my head feels like a room that's been cleared of clutter.
Also, it seems to have helped with regulating my sleep habits, which were unsettled & unsatisfying, to say the least.
And the exercise goals have helped, now that the scale goals aren't there.
(But I'm not one of the people whom you really want a response from, since I'd be out there running marathons, if my feet & knee joints weren't in such bad shape from carrying around more than 100 pounds of excess weight for a couple decades.)
I did not exercise for the first month or two, and when I started exercise, I started very, very slowly. I looked at that exercise as an investment for the future, because I think regular exercise is much more important for maintaining your weight than for losing it (I mean, an extra 1000 calories a week makes all the difference in the world just in terms of being able to function in society).
So my exercise early on wasn't to burn calories. It was to develop a lifestyle and to learn how to exercise. For me, this was as much mental as physical: I found it so BORING, soul draining--I resented it. I could only go about 5 minutes without getting angry. So I did 5 minutes as a time twice a day, then 7 minutes, and so on, creeping up until I was up to an hour twice a day. I've sense backed that down a little.
Now, I know how to amuse myself when I exercise. I don't feel like it's a burden. It's just something I do. I'm glad I started that transition early, because that let me take it slow. I think waiting all the way to maintenance would have been a mistake for me: I want maintenance to be about expanding my options, not further restricting them. I want to celebrate it, not resent it.
I'd be out there running marathons, if my feet & knee joints weren't in such bad shape from carrying around more than 100 pounds of excess weight for a couple decades.
Ahhh, me too! I hear of all these people who become runners and I envy them. That will never, ever be me thanks to hauling around so much extra weight for so long.
Sunday, I hear you loud and clear.
But gosh, I'd love for you to start out now, even if it's at a snails pace. You spoke of making this journey as easy as possible. Exercise would make it that much easier. So, umm, yeah, you know where I'm going with this, so I won't go.
I will say this though. Your *method* is much better, IMO, than the ones we hear of who work out like crazy, don't change *much* (if anything) of their eating habits and wonder why they're not losing. Or they focus on their water intake. First and foremost, it's the food, it's the food, it's the food.
Don't rule anything out. Just be open to changing and tweaking as you go along, okay?
You can certainly lose weight without exercise but you are losing muscle along with fat. It takes more calories to maintain muscle, so when you reach maintenance you won't be able to eat as much as the one who exercised.
I'm 69 years old and do water aerobics 3 days a week, weights, 3 days and Silversneakers 3 days. I've never felt better or slept better or had less cravings.
There are all sorts of things that you can do to exercise. As long as it gets you moving and raises your heart rate, it counts. The rule of thumb is 30 minutes a day for health and 60 for weight loss.
I did not start to exercise until 6 weeks into this whole thing. It was tough a first, and lets face it, some mornings it is STILL tough. (like this morning when I should be working out and making hubs to be breakfast and lunch for work) but, I ALWAYS always always regret not doing it, and always am glad that I did.
Sure, there are parts that "hurt" or are uncomfortable. But, I figure that comfort got me here, and that did not work so well. Besides which, exercise feels GOOD. Like REALLY good for hours. and hours.
I get not doing everything at once, that sets me up for failure. But do not wait until maintenance.
Just my suggestion
I started exercising the very first day when I originally started. I loved it at first. It made me feel happier and less anxious. I got off plan for a while, and now I have been back on plan since October 24th. I have not been exercising as much as I could. The weight is coming off steadily, but it came off a lot faster when I was exercising.
I guess my point is that I understand how you feel. I do not always want to exercise. I make excuses, I run out of time in a day, etc. Some days I just do not feel like it.
This thread has motivated me, though. I think I am going to hit the gym early Monday morning. Because exercise can be fun, and it can make you feel good.
I hope you start to incorporate small amounts into your day as well.
I don't exercise at all. I keep saying that I'm going to start, but I never do it. Last December, I did the 30DS for about a week. I'm just so lazy! I've lost 94 lbs and have about 10 more to lose. My plan is to really make myself start once I hit goal.
I've been off the exercise wagon. I was nursing a ton of injuries over the summer and in October I got the go ahead from my doc to resume exercising. But I just am not ready for JM dvd's. So tomorrow I'm planning on starting back with WATP. It may not be as intense as JM, but it's a starting place to build from.
Exercise is I think more important than for weight loss. Stress reduction, strenthing up bones, heart and lungs. It is vital for our overall health.
I haven't been lately, even though I should. I might be joining an athletic club soon and if it works out that I can, I'm going to commit to exercising more. When I had membership at a gym before I did very well and went 6 days a week for about 3 months. I hardly lost any weight but I toned incredibly. I'm looking to tone AND lose more weight this time.
Thank you for the advice, support and comments everyone. I have to say you have me reconsidering waiting until maintenance.
I guess it doesn't make a lot of sense to wait... I mean nothing bad will happen physically and I have always planned to make peace with it at some point.
I just fear becoming obsessive about it. Maybe that's hard to understand if you haven't abused exercise before. But the first time I dieted, I genuinely enjoyed exercise for a month or two until one day I just burst into tears while doing a tape. I felt under so much pressure to keep up my routine and I wasn't enjoying it at all anymore. The disordered thinking set in and made me feel like if I wasn't strict I'd get fat overnight.
I did get fat again, because I was so overwhelmed I threw in the towel. Started eating and didn't stop for nearly four years.
I did my mum's old WATP video last night btw, robin. Not sure where to go from here though.
I did my mum's old WATP video last night btw, robin. Not sure where to go from here though.
Where to go? Where ever that is, just go s-l-o-w-l-y.
Since you've got a *past* with exercise, why not set tiny goals for yourself? 30 minutes 3X a week perhaps? Or even 20 minutes? In two weeks or so, you can increase by 5 minutes. Nothing major. Just get used to the feel of it.
Things don't have to be the same as last time. In fact, make certain that they are different. Hopefully you're a little older and wiser and you can take the good from the past, leave the bad behind and create something new and better for your now and for your future.
I'm glad to see you're giving this a try. Because it's necessary and important. You spoke of making weight loss easier and in another thread you spoke of plateauing and of sloooowww losses. Really, exercise is a no brainer. But again, it doesn't have to be like exercise of the past.
Keep us updated. We wanna know how fabulous (no pressure ) you're doing!
(and if you're struggling, we're here for that too)
First and foremost, it's the food, it's the food, it's the food. 
