Former couch potatoes... how long did it take you to make your lifestyle permanently active?

natruallycurious

My shift was when I found something I was passionate about (CrossFit), around eight months after I started. Before that, I did couch to 5k, and since I was training for something, I went consistently. After that I got a puppy, and played with him a lot, but my gym habits got worse. Switching gyms and starting a lifting program helped me transition into CrossFit, and now I don't see myself ever stopping.

Meaganinsardinia

Ive been active since October 2016. I moved from a house to a yacht, game changer. I didn't want to pollute the water in the marina so I started taking my shower every day in the gym. It was a small gym so I felt obligated to work out prior to the shower.

After that I started a half marathon training plan and swimming regularly and Ive found that really sustainable. I have a dog now too and if she doesn't get a daily run she behaves badly and seems anxious.

MikePfirrman

Mine started with calorie tracking and I like to eat. So I would hate working out but love more calories in my daily budget so it motivated me. I honestly started working harder and harder because I knew if I worked harder I could eat more. Then something just clicked. I tried jogging and spinning and liked them both. It took a devastating knee injury for me to get up off the couch and when I lost, I was initially just rehabbing the knee and trying to lose a few pounds. Once I found calorie tracking, I became obsessed with how many calories I could burn in an hour (most of my workouts are at lunch).

I used to die burning 400 calories in an hour. Now, it's pretty typical to burn 800 to 900 an hour and I'm in better shape at 53 than I was in my 20s, though that's not saying a whole lot! I went from the guy embarrassed to be in the gym to a guy that the trainers at the gym admit they aren't in the shape that I am. This was gradual over probably 5/6 years. Now I need my "fix" daily or I feel awful about not getting a hard workout in.

mamashakesit

I had quit drinking in June (3rd time in 15 years). I spent the first 3-4 months really wallowing in depression. The last time I had quit I had really started to organize my life, but it wasn't happening for me this time. I had tried exercising a few times in the last couple of years, but always stopped shy of 30 days. By late October, I felt over the initial quitting hump and started a workout video I had bought about a year ago.

I really knew something had changed in my attitude when I was able to take a day off without quitting entirely. I also realized I loved working with my dumbbells! About two weeks in, I quit smoking cigarettes. Three months in, I signed up for a women's weight lifting class at my local rec center and walked into a gym for the first time in my life at 40 years old. The night I did 45 minutes of running/walking intervals on the treadmills AFTER lifting in the weight room, I knew I had changed my lifestyle significantly. If you had told me 6 months ago I'd be running half of 45 minutes on the treadmills, I'd have told you to check your meds.

For me, I realized that it was about finding something I loved, and creating (small) new challenges and goals. And also variety. When I started, I thought that I HAD to do my home workouts or my gym workouts, or I would stop entirely and ruin everything I'd accomplished. Not true!!!! My workout a couple weeks ago was learning to cross country ski at the nearby state park with my 7 year old daughter...and we had a blast! As a "fat" thin person who lived off junk food, I still struggle with my diet, but I will slay that sooner or later, too. Good luck!

noblsheep

I suppose I got lucky.

I was pretty sedentary for the first few years after graduation. Couple of false starts of c25k. A wasted gym membership. Gained plenty of weight.

Then, I moved to a place in town with really bad traffic. Took forever every day to get to work and then another eternity to get home. One day when I was stuck in traffic for an abnormally long time across the street from a bicycle shop, I just said *kitten* this, jumped off the bus and bought a bike.

The fitness came slowly, but a few months later it had turned into a pretty pleasant commute. But then winter hit and I stopped. And I felt like *kitten*. Needed some other thing to do, if only to move my body around every day.

So... I got out some shoes and started again on c25k. Miraculously I was running 5k in no time. I was also lucky because my sinuses were acting up that year and waking me up at night. Running was the best way I knew of to clean them out and ease the congestion. So even if I wanted to give up due to laziness, lack of good sleep would by driving me to run again in a few days.

And then I got wheedled into a 10k race. Oh my good kittens that was fun. All of a sudden I started identifying as a runner. And that was that.

Rawr1978

usmcmp wrote: »

I'm still a couch potato, I just have a standing appointment with the gym. There are still days where I get to the gym, walk inside, then turn around and leave.

I thought i was literally the only one who has done this. "Oops, forgot something that isn't essential to my workout, but we'll say it is, can't workout now" and leave.