How to get motivated

Ladyloraella

Hi, I've joined this site and I know I MUST add excersise to lose weight plus I know it would help my mental health immensely,
I'm on medication for deppression but really don't want to rely on it but I am SO LAZY. I don't hate excersise as I lost two stone last year by pointing and excersising but I don't love it either and the less I do the less I want to do.

I just got an xbox kinect and bought dance central, zumba and the uber expensive fitness trainer (well I will do when it comes back in stock!) do you think if I did an hour a day of this it would be enough for now?

I would love to get into jogging/running but I find it so boring when I'm doing it although if I'm being honest with myself its just because I'm so unfit its quite hard and as I'm lazy, I don't like hard work!

I would just love to know if anyone was in the same boat as me but now run all the time to stay in shape and how you motivated yourself to do so? I'm not asking for any quick fixes or 'secrets' I know it is going to be hard to get into exersising again but any tips I'd be grateful.

Thanks x

CarolHudson11

I don't think you have to do an hour a day right now. Do 30 minutes. I hate to work out. I hate to get out of the bed or stop what I'm doing to work out. I'm lazy, too. But, I feel so much better after I do, that I make myself do it anyway. I started out at 20 minutes minimum, 30 minutes max. And now I do an hour. Any exercise is better than none. Just go for it.....you can do it! :flowerforyou:

superiorkelli

I started running about a year ago and in 2010 I completed 2 5k races and a 1/2 marathon. It's fun to have a goal so start by signing yourself up for a 5k and try it. There is a plan that is called couch to 5k which is really easy to follow. I can't go longer than a week now without running it is such a stress reliever for me! Also it is good to have support so see if you can train with a friend. Good luck!

craigdean

I use to be in the same boat as you. I hated exercising. But what I found is doing something that you might find fun or at least not torture. Just start doing something. Keep up the calorie counting and add in whatever exercise you can and then you will start to see results. Next thing you know, you are exercising a little more because you are liking the results and then you want more. Next thing you know you might be running with someone else to make it not so boring. Or at worst you are doing something you like to do but more of it.

The Kinect is a great start. Play the adventures game and just get active.

Good luck and keep up updated.

sallyLunn

I lie to myself. I lie like a dog. I tell myself that I'm just going to walk and then I go running. It's true. I can't trust me as far as I can throw me.

saiello22

I also trained for a half marathon before my wedding and it worked like a charm. I used Hal Higndon's training regimen, printed it out and hung it on my fridge so everyday I knew what I had to do to reach my goal. When I crossed the finish line, I had lost more weight than I hoped for and had to have my dress altered to a smaller size twice before the big day. I would try a 5k first to get geared up for the first 2 and 3 mile runs. I hated running all my life, but once I got into the training I craved doing it and now, 3 years later, I still enjoy it! Good luck! Set a small goal for this month and focus on that, rather than the big picture. Even if its just to cut a certain thing out of your diet or to drink more water to get going in the right direction... you can do it!

katevonr

In addition to all the other advice in this thread, keep in mind that research shows it takes 21 days to develop a habit. So motivation will be hard for a couple weeks, but if you keep at a diligent routine, you'll begin to get into things more easily!

kettlewitch

I'm not a great fan of exercising in the gym so I'm just aiming to walk. I live in the south of England and there are some beautiful areas around me which I don't properly appreciate so I'm going to put together a list and try and do a long walk each weekend

kt2007

If you got a Iphone or a android phone get on the market and get the RunKeeper PRO app. Its free and it will track your cals and distance and other things. You can use it for a lot of different activities. You can connect it to your Facebook or Twittter plus you can get friends in your area that are in to getting healthy also. It seems to make it easier for me when I would see that I have gotten better at running in 2 or 3 weeks plus they have fitness classes also if you need them. They can help. But the more tracking I have the more I try. My friends can see it than I feel more motivated to get out and show them I can do it. If you cant get RunKeeper get something else that can track you.

bambier

I would say start with just 20-30 minutes a day. Once you done that for a couple of weeks you'll have kicked those endorphins in and you'll be "used" to the idea of doing exercise. Then you can start trying to extend your time if you want -- and maybe eventually do 3 of the days as an hour workout. I've always been told an average of 30 minutes a day of exercise... once I get into he routine, I've always had the best luck with doing 3 days of an hour each, and then one day of just 20 minutes. The funny thing is that a lot of the wii games that I do for exercise, I do them for the planned 30 minutes, but i'm having fun, so I end up doing it an hour - regardless its easier to get myself going if I just commit to 30 minutes instead of an hour... but if the hour happens, I'll take it!

If you really want to exercise every day - one thing I'd suggest incorporating later is yoga - it doesn't have the be the hard fancy yoga... just regular beginners style yoga - I do a PM style one, before bed. It's actually really relaxing and reportedly helps with depression as well. You can actually buy yoga dvd's that are specifically suited for people with depression. The added bonus of yoga is that it helps keep your body stretched out so you don't get as sore the next day after your workouts (believe me, even working out with a video game system will leave you sore if you're out of shape even a little!)

If you opt to go the running route eventually - I would definitely suggest some kind of 'gadget'. You can do a heart rate monitor -- those help you keep your heart rate in JUST the right range for burning fat, I've always found that I try to push myself harder and faster than I really should when I'm just starting out. I forget that it takes a while for your body to get used to the exercise. There are lots of apps for the ipod that were mentioned (I know nothing about them though!). I really like the nike plus. I'm a techno geek - being able to hook my ipod up to the computer when I'm done and see my results and compare them to my last run really keeps me motivated. Plus there are running challenges etc on the nikeplus site and training programs that help you along the way. If you don't want to go the gadget route and you're serious about wanting to be able to run, look into the couch to 5k program, it's a fantastic way to kick start into shape in the absence of a heart rate monitor it tends to keep you paced just right.

Regardless of how you decide to do it - good luck and enjoy it! The beauty of exercise is that it often helps with depression, so maybe once you get into a routine that will help too!!

Ladyloraella

Thanks everyone for your replies!! I'm going to try the couch to 5K challenge superiorkelli suggested and I have a HRM already that I bought last year (and used twice!) so I'll be digging that out again! xx

shakemybooty

I kept telling myself I would start tomorrow and then the next day and then the next day...you know where I'm going with this. I'm 11 days into using my EA Active Sports 2 wii workout and I love it. I can already see a difference in my body. It's only a half hour a day. I make myself do it first thing in the morning and I feel so much better. So so so much better. Getting started stinks but you feel so much better once you get moving. Go get moving!

EJWoolcock

Choose exercise that is fun and that you are excited to do. Can you find someone to exercise with? I used to walk the dog, but got bored with that and now I do group fitness with a personal trainer twice a week (poor dog hardly gets out anymore!). It's more than twice as expensive as a gym membership, but having the trainer there to motivate me makes all the difference, plus in a year we have never done the same session twice! The other thing to remember is it doesn't have to be a full on work out to begin with, anything at all is better than nothing. I do situps and pushups in the ad breaks when I am watching telly. Little things like that can become routine and you are doing some exercise before you even realise it!

midwesthiker

I got Your Shape for my kinect and I really like it, but it will be tough for me since I hate exercising - just hard to get started.