LazyLazyLazy makin me CRAZY!

Biglovelovesme

I swear i must be the laziest woman on this planet. Is it avoidence, lack of discipline, fear of failure, no motivation or just plain laziness? I say i want to be fit, i say i want to be healthier and i really believe myself. I know everything about what i need to do...i just don't do it. When it comes to my diet, i'm good. I stay focused, i log my food i am organized. When it comes to working out or physical exertion, i find any excuse in the book to avoid it.

I haven't been this way my entire life, so it's not like i am a stranger to what i need to do to get healthy and speed my weight loss. I've had a somewhat active and healthy existence including tennis, riding, sailing and regular gym stints. However,over the past 5 years I tend to opt for the couch, the elevator, the convenience, the car and not the walk....the easy least energy expending option available to me is the one i take.

Anyone else overcome a similar situation? Any advice outside of "find something you like" with respect to working out? I am not looking for a magic bullet or an easy fix, just something that might trigger me to get up off my butt and actually do something physical...and keep it up.

Thanks. I appreciate the help, shared experiences and the tough love.

Cheers,
The slug

ishtar13

Yes. I've been there.

I've known for years the things I need to do, and just couldn't make myself do them.

Mostly, I was emotionally exhausted from my life.

But, for me, I had to accept that it was also fear of SUCCESS.

Every time I do start to lose weight, I'll celebrate a loss and then within a few days, I'll either be stuck in front of the couch or go on an eating binge.

Obviously, part of my psyche is holding on to the weight for some kind of protection. I'm pretty sure I know the roots of that, and I'm trying to use positive self-talk to push through it.

lmurphy210

Don't give up ! I know how you feel. I HATE excercise. In fact that is one of our big jokes at work. When people talk about excercise or sweating I say "you know I don't do that" and everybody laughs and laughs. The fact of the matter is my life is stressful and I feel like I deserve my "downtime" to watch TV or whatever. I am turning 42, am overweight and have a terrible family history-I need to excercise! I just finished my first week and my goal was excercise 3 days /week for 30 minutes. I did it! Mostly walking and some on-demand excercise video (i was by myself and still embarrassed). Next week I am going to shoot for 4 days. Set very small, achievable goals and give yourself a pat on the back if you do it. Then try for more the next week. Believe me ther are lots of people like us that haven't even gotten to the point of addressing the problem.

redcat17

Start small. Buy a walking or yoga DVD and just start doing it. Like you, I was active when I was younger, and turned into the laziest person in the world. Two months ago I started with a walking DVD and now I go to the gym 4 nights a week and have personal trainer.

You may not believe this right now, but once you start exercising again, you're going to have tons of energy and feel oh so much better!

Every journey begins with one step, so get off the couch and do something. Anything. You can do it!

piratesaregrand

I'm the same.

I bought a second hand cross trainer online ($40) and have parked it in front of the tv. So now I can't sit on the couch without feeling guilty if I haven't used it that day. It's working well.

I've started on the couch to 5k program, instead of running I use the cross trainer. Starting week 2 tonight!

misty0413

You are not alone. Hell I have been so bad I won't do laundry or the dishwasher until I run out of something. My husband is working out of town so I have gotten really sloppy, but my diet is perfect. Just don't feel like exercising.

palfijozsa

Yes, I can relate to your experience.

When I was in high school, I did jazz dance once a week, marching band in the fall, and walked EVERYWHERE. In college, I walked even more, if possible, and took various classes like ballroom dancing and fencing. Then I moved in with a roommate who was a great cook and liked to watch TV. We didn't have room for a table, our apartment was so small, so we sat in front of the TV. Overtime, I put on about 80 lbs. and stopped exercising. Now, several years later, I found that as a teacher I claimed to "not have time" to exercise, yet I had time to play silly Facebook games. It made no sense because there are a number of things that I LOVE to do: dance, walk, swim, etc. Knowing myself, I probably felt for some bizarre reason that I did not DESERVE to take the time for myself; I should always do for others. But you know what? I cannot help others if I have not first helped myself. First thing they teach you in CPR/First Responder First Aid is DON'T BECOME A VICTIM YOURSELF. That means, make sure that you are safe first before helping others. In the case of exercise, make sure I take the time for myself. It definitely helps my stress level and makes me a nicer person!

Some things that helped: SCHEDULING a daily walk with no other errands, even if I only did 15 minutes inside the school building. I also started taking a belly dance class, something I have always been interested in but never did. The dance school where the class was held offered the class on a month-to-month basis. I could either pay $15 each week or pay for the whole month at a rate of $12 for each week. I started to make excuses about the money, blah blah blah. I found that if I committed to the month, I was MUCH more likely to go. I made it a point to congratulate myself if I did even a tiny bit of exercise. Lastly, find someone who is trying to lose weight and get healthy. That has been huge for me; my husband is also on My Fitness Pal (MFP) and he has become something of a gym rat. The guilt and peer pressure that I feel (he doesn't do anything to make me feel bad, he always encourages me) is entirely internal, but it has been helpful.

Hope that has been helpful! Not alone!

dad106

I don't mind exercise when I have a set plan.. problem is coming up with a set plan involves work and thats where my laziness kicks in.

Best thing I can say is, find something you enjoy doing.. be it walking, running, dancing, weight lifting, swimming, etc... If you enjoy doing it, it will be less of a chore to do.

The other thing I did for myself was invest in a PT.. someone who could make my programs for me, show me what to do, and be my motivator. That has been the biggest help because then I don't have an excuse. I just grab a program and go!

Kimmer2011

Two things have really helped me. One is remembering that when I go out for a walk, I always come back feeling better and less stressed.

The other is that I got an iPod Shuffle for Mother's Day last year and I've filled it with songs I love that keep me moving. I only listen to it when I walk, so that's also a motivation for me. It's fun to be going along and a song comes that makes me think, "Oh, I forgot I added this! I love this song!" It's usually music that isn't on the radio very often, and (unlike listening to the radio in the car) I don't get stuck listening to songs I don't care about just because my kids love them.

Last year, I rewarded my self for a certain number of miles walked by adding 10 more songs to it, so that was kind of a circular motivation. I need to do that again!

WandaJean1564

up until recently I never exercised in my life...well lots of walking...then I hit 40.. and then weight came...and came...and came...and I got depressed and I ate...and ate...and felt bad..and stayed in...and I did nothing( well about 2 months ago I started a few exercises)...then about 2 weeks ago I was house sitting and I saw myself in a full length mirror after getting out of the shower....so I started walking...I walk...walk..walk...so the weight will come off.
When I was younger I was always underweight and obsessed with my weight...my Aunt told me.."your going to be fat when you get older"...how the heck did she know that? lol

MarincicS

I think i could give you a real run for your money in the "Laziest Woman in the World" challenge. I got a FitBit and i know i average, not 10,000 steps a day, but more like 3,000!!!

I have several thoughts about this. One of the other posters made the point that she always feels better after a walk. So i have a bargain with myself to take a 30 minute walk every day. I'm successful about 80% of the time. But that's better than nothing.

I also work out with a personal trainer twice a week. I paid her up front for 30 sessions. So now i don't go, i lose my money. That's a lot of money to lose.

The third thing, i remind myself when a have a "stay on the sofa day," like yesterday, that i'll still be OK in terms of continued weight loss. You don't really have to exercise. It helps with both calorie burn and overall fitness, but it isn't strictly necessary to lose weight.

And my final thought, because i have been walking and working out for a few months now, as i was sitting on the sofa all day yesterday, i kept feeling my quads because . . . i felt a hard muscle under there!! It was actually kind of amazing. And i liked it. So today i got off the sofa, went for a big walk, then did an upper body workout at the gym, then put in another mile on the treadmill and elliptical machine. Because i want to feel that muscle some more!!

Just don't let yourself get too down. And if you do, refer to point three!

Good luck!

lacroyx

I avoided almost all physcial activity up until my late 20's when I found out in Dec. 2009 I have diabetes type II. Since then I haven't stopped. I reversed the diabetes Jan 2011 after losing a little over 100 lbs. I could have stopped but I can easily get it again if I slack off. At this point the weight loss began slowing down but I don't care about losing weight. I guess my mindset is different. I could stay at this weight forever, currently 313 lbs, and not care as long as I stay active. I don't get discouraged or beat myself up if the scale shows no loss in lbs. or even gain on occasion. However I do feel like crap and guilty when I skip out on a workout. I force myself to not do anything on once a day outta the week.