How did you get into the gym habit?

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Frumpy2Fit
Frumpy2Fit Posts: 137 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I think the title pretty much says it all. I have been telling myself I need to go to the gym for about....2 years now...and I don't go. How did you finally get into the habit of going?
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  • Escape_Artist
    Escape_Artist Posts: 1,155 Member
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    Well, one morning I looked at myself naked in front of the mirror and decided I had enough of looking that way
    I went to work and on my way back I stopped by the nearest gym and took a membership. I started lifting 3x a week from there, and still do :tongue:
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
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    One day I just forced myself to go. I liked it so I kept going. I liked the results, so I went more. I don't know what else to say about it, other than I stopped making excuses and just went.
  • strikerjb007
    strikerjb007 Posts: 443 Member
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    I don't... I never did. I work out at home. :p

    Truth is that you will either work out at home or do whatever until you are fed up with looking the way you do. At some point, the excuses will not be enough.
  • BroiledNotFried
    BroiledNotFried Posts: 446 Member
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    FIND A GYM THAT IS CLOSE BY.

    FIND A TIME EVERY DAY WHEN YOU CAN GET TO IT. IT HAS TO BE ALMOST THE SAME TIME EVERY DAY.

    i go my clubhouse gym every day at 7:30 a.m., after the first kid gets on his school bus. I work out until 8:15, and then get on with my day. I work from home, so it makes it easier.

    No matter how crazy your day is, you try to make a committment to go to the gym. I tell myself I am going 7 days a week, and then if I make it 5 days a week . .. . we'll I'm still doing great.
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
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    I found a gym that was awesome... that's how I started going.
  • JCM1969
    JCM1969 Posts: 141 Member
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    For anything to become a habit... you have to do it first. You just GO.. whether you want to or not. I have NEVER regretted working out... or after a workout thinking.. "Well, THAT was a bad idea". Once you do something for a while (I have heard a month) then it becomes a habit.
  • Salt_Sand_Sun
    Salt_Sand_Sun Posts: 415 Member
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    21 days to make or break a habit!!!

    ~Set a realistic goal and challenge yourself. Such as 2x per week.
    ~Find a friend to go with you. Statistic show that you are more apt to go if you fear letting someone down.
    ~ FInd a buddy here on MFP to help motivate you.


    JUST DO IT. "A journey of a 1000 miles begins with one step"
  • seilidhe
    seilidhe Posts: 1,042 Member
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    My sister offered to put me on her membership so she'd have someone to motivate her to go. I needed the motivation as well. We started going to a couple of the classes, she stopped going as often, I kept on going... and I added a couple more classes. She quit altogether and I took over my membership. I used to be so sedentary.... still am to a point, especially at work. Never, by any stretch of my imagination, did I ever expect to find myself in a gym so many times in a given week. What on earth is this world coming to?
  • jaxbeck
    jaxbeck Posts: 537 Member
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    My husband. He's been going to the gym for about 2 years now. I was always kinda afraid of the gym. All those muscle heads judging me......so I had in my head.
    I also didn't think there was ANY way I could find the time to go. I have 4 kids & have a full time job, after all. So I had it in my head.

    For the last at least 6 months, he has been getting up at 4am to go to the gym before work. After many months of getting fatter, him getting better, and getting woke up by that stupid alarm every morning, I thought, why aren't I going?? I wake up when he wakes up.

    That was it, I told him I want to go. It's been over a month now & I love it. I go 4 days a week first thing in the morning. It's great for me because there aren't a lot of people & I'm in a fantastic mood for the rest of the day :)
  • dcr5452WECHANGED
    dcr5452WECHANGED Posts: 121 Member
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    I channelled Yogi Berra and told myself that 90% of it is half mental. Then I realized about 100% of it was 100% mental--and thats it---start out by telling yourself that 10 minutes is 1000X better than nothing and then build on it from there.
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
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    The first one was free
  • BooBoo1264
    BooBoo1264 Posts: 164
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    You get one or two people to go with you. If you're feeling lazy they can help motivate you to go.

    Once you get in the habit. You just feel almost guilty when you dont go!
  • navyrigger46
    navyrigger46 Posts: 1,301 Member
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    I have a lifting buddy, I don't want to let him down, and he doesn't want to let me down. M/W/F at 8:00 PM, no excuses.

    Rigger
  • Frumpy2Fit
    Frumpy2Fit Posts: 137 Member
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    Thank you all so much for your advice! I had a feeling it was going to come down to just doing it whether or not I want to, although I was still praying there was some magical thing that happens one day where I become uber motivated and just get to it!
  • mdcoug
    mdcoug Posts: 397 Member
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    It's not really a "gym" habit for me, it's more of a routine or a behavior habit. I make myself wake up every morning early and if I'm up early, it's to work out. In order to wake up early, I have to go to bed early. It was just a matter of having a workout plan, going to bed early and then waking up early. I'm almost afraid that I will break the pattern and revert to my old ways, so that keeps me on task too!
  • ginnysaurus
    ginnysaurus Posts: 1
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    I found that I really enjoy strength training and so I'll force myself to do 20 minutes on the treadmill at a steep incline, and then reward myself with 40 minutes of weight machines.
  • flamjam
    flamjam Posts: 4 Member
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    I signed up for a gym that also included tanning. If I make it the whole week without skipping or cheating I treat myself to a tan. I know it's unhealthy for my body... but it works. Sometimes I don't tan for weeks because I am satisfied with the work I did at the gym. Find something to treat yourself with that isnt food (unless its healthy). Its motivation to go and once you're there you feel great! Good Luck!
  • NoeHead
    NoeHead Posts: 516 Member
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    ONE class. I went to spin class and enjoyed it and the same instructor for one of the spin classes did zumba. So I went to spin and zumba. I got approved for PT time 3x a week and it happened that MWF at 430 there was a strength training class. I would change at work, do a mini cardio before strength training and right after there was zumba on MW. MW strength training got cancelled but loved the weight training so i use what I learned from strength training class and do it on my own. THEN the spin/zumba instructor told me about pilates class after one of the spin classes...so now I go to that too.

    So basically because of that one class, I now go to the gym 5-6 days a week for an average of about 1 1/2 hours. Also one of the main things I found helpful was getting to know my classmates so when I wasn't there they'd ask me where I was.
  • james6998
    james6998 Posts: 743 Member
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    I think the title pretty much says it all. I have been telling myself I need to go to the gym for about....2 years now...and I don't go. How did you finally get into the habit of going?

    I want you to try something, walk into the gym with the idea you are only staying for 15-20mins tops. Not much of a commitment. Then see how your body feels from that 1 day. Keep in mind, going to the gym doesn't start as a habit. Trust me when the rush of what the gym brings to you and how you feel gets into your blood, its like an infection. Don't make a commitment to the gym, test the waters, take away any stress of being locked into this. What would you rather do, always wished you would have gone at least to see how it feels or experiencing the feeling yourself and knowing if its for you or not. You just have to walk though the door, thats all it takes to start.
  • magbat1819
    magbat1819 Posts: 13 Member
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    My husband and I stared together. There are days, like today that I just don't want to get up and go. Oh but I need too.

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