Hey Everybody

People keep telling me, "Just do it, get off your ***" Its SO easy to say but for me so hard to do. I feel incredibly lazy, unmotivated and just plain blaaaah!!! Why can't i just get up and do it withouth talking myself out of it and thinking that tomorrow is a better day??? HELP ME!!!

What got me moving was exercise tapes. I started with Slim in 6. Phase 1 is just 25 minutes. That's basically nothing. I did that until I could do it really well, then moved on to other phases.

Once you realize how strong you'll feel, you'll WANT to do it and you'll feel weird if you haven't worked out. Sounds crazy, but it's true.

Also, my other motivation was getting one of those waist rubber belts (it goes around your entire abdomen) that help you sweat while you work out and hold in your stomach. For some reason, seeing the sweat drip from that thing when I'm done is one of the biggest satisfactions ever- it's like I can see the pounds melting off exactly where I want them to!

I made myself an 'exercise' box where I keep everything I need, and prepare it each night so I have no excuses. Sometimes that really helps you to get over the mental block and start getting the workout that your body deserves!

I know how you feel. I'm a "tomorrow is the better day" kinda person.

I'm always the most motivated when I have something at home to exercise on planted right in front of the TV. I just ordered a new elliptical today and it will be here in 2.5 weeks. I can't wait!

For me, the only thing that works is group exercise classes. I don't have to think about it – I put the class on my calendar and I go. That also helps me try new things. There are a lot of inexpensive options around if you look. The YMCA and hospital wellness programs are two of the less expensive options I found. Meet up groups are another possibility.

I generally exercise a lot but I still have those days/weeks where I want to do NOTHING. I have NO energy and NO motivation!

On those days I just make myself do one of two things: a very gentle 20 minute yoga routine or a 20 minute walk. I may do my yoga while listening to a podcast or the Daily Show online to make it more enjoyable (I love love love yoga, but on the days I have no motivation I need a little incentive). I will walk to a podcast too. I won't even change into workout clothes- it's just a casual walk.

On the days I lack motivation and energy, a short walk or a short yoga stretch doesn't seem as daunting or awful as a trip to the gym or other structured workout. It's something I can do and don't dread.

Plus, if I listen to podcasts or a tv show it doesn't seem like work, just something I do while doing something else I enjoy

These tiny little steps yield HUGE rewards. It's amazing how little exercise can actually bump up your energy and your resolve to stay on plan. After a few days I feel better and better and eventually get back into the swing of things

I hear ya I was the same way. I thought ok I'm going to just be kind to myself and if I have stop a zillion times, rest and drink water then that's just where I'm at right now. So I started twice a week, seriously, just twice on Tuesday's and Thursday's with my Wii. LOL I figured it could be fun. I did the sports first, then I did the fitness test, then I got the fitness coach. Bit by bit I realized how good I felt afterwards. Getting going was ALWAYS hard cause I concentrated on THAT feeling, the feeling of getting out of my comfort zone. So I changed the way I thought about it and tried to concentrate on the feeling after I was done. I started to relish in that feeling and reminded myself constantly of it when I was feeling lazy, really concentrated on that good feeling when I didn't feel like moving and the more I thought about it the more my body wanted to move.

Seriously when I started I couldn't even do 1 jumping jack. I couldn't even jump. My feet hurt, my legs hurt.....ughhh it was just awful.

Start slow. Remember the feeling after your done working out and keep that a priority. Take your breaks when your tired and drink your water....it will happen much more quickly as you start slowly and be kind to yourself and before you know it you will feel so much better!

After I did the Wii Fitness Coach for awhile I moved onto Turbo Jam, then I recently joined a gym at the end of September.

Baby steps, be good to you! You can do it!

I lost both my parents last month and am having an incredibly hard time getting back to ME--my exercise, my eating and my sleeping. I think this must be part of the grieving process but really, I MUST do something and not let this get the better of me.

Uh-oh, tough love time!

OK, you said it yourself - you ARE "lazy". How can WE (how can ANYBODY!) HELP you?

We can cheer you on, give you suggestions, pats on the back, etc. But ONLY YOU CAN DO THE WORK. And I won't lie or sugarcoat it - the work ain't easy! - but if YOU want the REWARD, then YOU have to DO THE WORK.

This is true of everything in life. You want the paycheck? YOU gotta do the job. You want the grade? YOU gotta do the studying. And isn't that the way it is in life, in general? Should things always be "easy" for a person? What does "easy" teach us? Look what being "lazy" gets you. NOTHING. It doesn't make you feel good. It certainly doesn't do your body any favors. Muscles atrophy, fat accumulates, bones and joints suffer, nope! - just no good all the way around!

You don't have to get out & run a marathon. You don't have to "drop 20 pounds right now!" - You don't have to make huge sweeping strides in order to get off your *** and do something GOOD for your body. So that in return, your body can do something good FOR YOU.

Nike says it best... JUST DO IT. I promise, the more you do it, the easier it is to continue doing it. Baby steps! - those are fine! - Go for a walk for FIVE minutes. You can do anything for 5 minutes. You might find that once you're out there, 5 easily turns in to 10, or 15 or even 20. And before you know it, you're really digging it.

But DO IT FOR YOURSELF. Believe that you are worth it!

You have to stop telling yourself that you are lazy. It's just an excuse. You've lost about 40 lbs, so I would venture to guess that you aren't lazy at all!

As others have mentioned, start somewhere. Walking, a DVD you are comfortable with, a fun group class (my personal favorite ). Do the best you can, don't judge yourself, know that you will get better with practice.

I have found that the unmotivated, lethargic, blah feeling completely disappeared once I started exercising. Don't wait to feel better to start working out. Workout to feel better! Trust me, your body will love you for it!

What works for me is doing something I find really fun. I love playing dance dance revolution and play it every day. It doesn't feel like exercise because it's so much fun for me. You don't have to go to the gym or anything. Just find something that you like that gets you moving. Once you start, you'll start feeling more energetic and motivated. It's just the initial hump.

Something else I do is to tell 3 or 4 of my close friends my plans. So I'll call or text them and say "I'm going to go on a 90 minute walk with my dog and baby today." In the evening, they'll check in to see if I did it. This helps my to stay motivated because I feel sheepish not doing it after I just told everyone I did. If I haven't done it yet, they usually gently goad me into doing it right then and there.

We all have those days, but we all have to learn to tune into our body and figure out what is really going on. Are you actually physically exhausted or is it a mental game your playing? If you think you are lazy your body will react and feel that way.
When I am having an off day I tell myself that even 100 calories on the treadmill is better then nothing. After I am done that first 100 calories I usually feel so great I go on and do a whole work out! But if after that first little bit I still feel sluggish then maybe you really do need a day off.

If you really can't get yourself to do anything hard then just do something you enjoy. Go for a walk with your husband or even by yourself with your ipod, a bike ride or swimming. Whatever you enjoy that gets you moving is a good thing

I know what you mean. I generally hate formal exercise. However, I've been walking for more than two years now because I had my husband build a tread-desk for me (Google it). I do a lot of work on the computer, and I'm such an efficient person, that I like multi-tasking, so I'm able to walk 3-6 miles a day while getting my work done.

Even if I have no computer work, though, I still try to do activities that burn calories and get something else accomplished, too. For example, sometime this week, I plan to start raking my yard, and I'll burn about 250 calories for an hour of doing that.

Since I've started multitasking my exercise, I have been more consistent with it than I've ever been, and it has seemed almost effortless.

Lazy is a handy label, but it's virtually meaningless, used to describe everything from clinical depression to social phobias, to a host multiple factors both physical and mental.

The problem with "lazy" is that it implies you can just wake up and decide not to be lazy (or conversely that it's outside of your control, and is just a personality trait).

I saw a very good television program on obesity several years ago in which they featured obese people and their family members. The family members all thought their relatives were "just lazy."

They took the thin relatives and gave them a taste of their family member's obesity. They weighted them down so that they carried the same amount of extra weight. If the family member had arthritis, they wrapped their fingers, elbows, and knees in tape to simulate the stiff joints of arthritis...

And then they sent them out in the world with their fat relative to see if they could "keep up" with their "lazy" family member - and they couldn't.

The host of the show pointed out that it wasn't even a very good test, because the people weren't spending 24/7 in the fat suit, and therefore weren't also experiencing things that contributed even more to lethargy - such as sleep apnea and other sleep disorders or the social stigma against being fat (not to mention the stigma against being fat and active. Because in our culture a fat person exercising is often at best considered odd, and usually is considered funny - to the point that open ridicule isn't terribly rare).

The doctors on the show pointed out that the physical handicaps of obesity, make being obese a lot more work than being thin. And so blaming us for being lazy may be part of the problem (especially because we often become what we believe we are).

The show really changed my life, because I stopped calling myself lazy. Instead of thinking "why am I so lazy," I thought "Wow, no wonder this stuff is so hard for me - I'm not really lazy. I'm doing pretty well considering (and not in a way that made me think I couldn't or shouldn't do more). Instead, I realized that I had to make smaller changes. I wasn't going to be able to run a marathon or even walk a mile just be "deciding not to be lazy."

Instead I had to build up stamina. When I started, I couldn't even take a shower standing up. My balance was too poor, and I had to use a shampoo conditioner product because I only had the strength to hold my hands over my head for one lather and rinse.


You can choose to think of yourself as simply lazy, but I don't think it's true, and I don't think it helps to think so. I think it makes more sense to take the labels out of the equation and decide what you want to be doing. Then set goals to get there, and if you can't meet your goals, make smaller ones.

I started with doing house chores (very light ones, I was pretty sick when I started) during commercials. I bought a step-counting pedometer, and every day I tried to "beat" the previous days record - even if only by a few steps.

One place I've never felt "lazy" is in the water, because I've always been able to do much more activity in the water than on land (because fat floats it works for us rather than against us in the water).

At first I could only use the warm-water pool, because my joints would freeze up in cold water, and I'd hurt too badly. Recently we were able to joing the YMCA and the water is cooler, but still warm enough for me to use comfortably. I've also added in treadmill, eliptical, and recumbent elliptical work, and am now exercising 45 - 60 minutes 3 times a week.

It's taken me several years to make this progress, but I have to say that when I thought of myself as lazy, I didn't try very hard. When I thought of myself as someone who COULD achieve - I did. But I didn't set myself up for failure by expecting to be able to keep up with thinner, fitter friends - or even keep up with "old" versions of my self.

I started with what I could do comfortably, and just kept adding in relatively small changes in activity. When those changes became habit, I made some more changes.

I think if you take away the "lazy" label, and just focus on "doing a little more" than you usually do, and keep doing "just a little more" you'll be as active as you want to be, but it will take time.