Reasons to Exercise!

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ChipChocolatePancake
ChipChocolatePancake Posts: 77 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Sometimes I get caught up in the idea that I HAVE to exercise so that I can lose weight. Which, to be honest, makes me dread exercising, because I view it as a necessary evil. I link it with my self esteem (i.e. If I didn't exercise today, I'm a failure at the weight loss game). It totally makes me forget how much I LOVE to exercise, and that exercise CAN and SHOULD be fun! So, I made a list for myself of (non-weight loss) reasons to exercise. I would love to know your reasons for exercising, your favorite kinds of exercise, and all of the things you can do now that you couldn't do a week, a month, or a year ago!

1) Exercise is FUN! - Sometimes exercise sucks. Fact of life. If you don't enjoy it, don't do it!!! There are so many fun ways to be active, and you'll only make your life harder if you constantly do something you hate. Personally, I hate the elliptical. But running is absolutely exhilarating for me, because I remember being unable to run a mile in middle school and high school, and now I can run 3 miles, no problem. I have also started to teach myself how to salsa and tango, which gives me a great excuse to buy new music :)

2) Exercise provides non-career/educational goals to focus on. - Between undergraduate school, internships, job searching, and now law school, I often feel consumed with looking for the next best thing to promote my career. Sometimes it's all I can think about! Exercising lets me have little goals and little victories every single day. Then, when people ask me what I'm doing with my life, I don't have to just talk about my career. I can proudly tell them, "I'm learning a new dance," or "I decreased my mile time from 13 minutes to 10 minutes!"

3) GREATER. STAMINA. - When I was younger, I always felt like my friends had to slow things down for me. I never really wanted to do things like go ice skating, participate in field day, or play soccer during recess. I felt that I couldn't keep up with anyone, and that I would be laughed at. Now, I pride myself in being able to keep up. Now, I'm the one who suggests going for a hike or doing a bike and wine tour instead of grudgingly going along with it (or worse, saying "Sorry, I think I'm gonna sit this one out.")!

Replies

  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,841 Member
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    My goal is always to maintain my activity level for quality of life. If you don't exercise your body will break down and become less capable overall. Even thing like walking stairs or moving around while traveling become difficult. No thank.

    I still play competitive sports in national leagues, so that is a big driving force.
  • Mrsallen6_11
    Mrsallen6_11 Posts: 416 Member
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    Honestly, I workout because I want to look good. I don't care about losing weight (I did at first but after a few months I realised that that wasn't going to get me the body that I wanted), and I'm not trying to lose weight. I workout because running 4-6 miles is fun to me and lifting makes me feel good (I absolutely love the feel of sore muscles after a good workout). I definitely have more stamina now and I'm stronger now obviously. And of course there are so many other health aspects to working out, which are also reasons why I workout but I really like the way I feel after I workout and the way I look gets better (slowly) over time.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    I exercise because I CAN.

    I see people younger than me in wheelchairs and it's so sad. I tell myself, I'm lucky I can do this!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    I'm 40 and feel more like 30 and most people on the street don't take me for 40...conversely, I have friends who never lift a finger in exercise..same age, but they already look old and haggard and beat up...hell, one of my best friends could pass for late 50s.

    My guess is that by 60 they'll have a hard time just doing nominal daily tasks...I have no interest in that. My goal is to retire at 60 and travel the world for how much ever time I have after that on this planet...kinda hard to do when you can't even walk around the block.

    I've found that when people discover exercise for the sake of exercise rather than a weigh loss chore...this usually opens up doors that they never knew were there.
  • newen
    newen Posts: 8 Member
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    How a bad day melts away. excersise seems to just melt the stress away
  • ataylorgardner
    ataylorgardner Posts: 203 Member
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    I exercise because it boosts my immune system, makes me stronger and healthier and reduces the risk of my cancer returning. I exercise so I can live
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,841 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I have friends who never lift a finger in exercise..same age, but they already look old and haggard and beat up...hell, one of my best friends could pass for late 50s.

    My guess is that by 60 they'll have a hard time just doing nominal daily tasks...I have no interest in that.

    PREACH IT BRUTHAH!

  • katalinax87
    katalinax87 Posts: 146 Member
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    Because it keeps me sane! As someone with a mental health problem exercise gives me so much. I'm stronger mentally and physically
  • AmazonMayan
    AmazonMayan Posts: 1,168 Member
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    newen wrote: »
    How a bad day melts away. excersise seems to just melt the stress away


    Same here. And, I love getting stronger. Knowing I'm making changes helps my mood too. I feel relevant again.
  • CrabNebula
    CrabNebula Posts: 1,119 Member
    edited April 2015
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    I like pushing myself. Setting little new goals every day and achieving them. I enjoy seeing how I am improving over time.

    I have a very sedentary job and getting up and going to the gym during my lunch and/or breaks is great way to release all that pent up energy.
  • Adiemus200
    Adiemus200 Posts: 63 Member
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    Exercise makes me feel better and it helps me sleep better and bring my stress levels down. It also makes me feel more confident with my apererence. Im a very keen fencer I train hard to get good results. I like winning so I train hard so I can win more frequently. Finding a sport you are passionate about really does help.
  • bookworm_847
    bookworm_847 Posts: 1,903 Member
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    Exercise makes me feel more confident and is a great stress reliever. Plus, it's a nice little ego boost when I can do things like move my boss's bookcase all by myself or when a co-worker told me that her New Year's resolution is to be fit like me.

    It's fun to push myself to do things I didn't think possible and see how far I can go. For example, I never thought I'd be able to do Insanity, let alone finish it, but here I am the proud owner of the free t-shirt for completing the program. :smiley:
  • DeterminedFee201426
    DeterminedFee201426 Posts: 859 Member
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    Stress relief ~Fun~Strength ~ *Hot body*
  • pcrucifer
    pcrucifer Posts: 71 Member
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    My reasons have changed over the years. I started running because the 5K events my wife did looked like fun, and her T-shirt collection was better than mine.

    Then I noticed that long hikes did not hurt as much. So I exercised so that I could play outside longer and with less pain.

    Then I noticed that my stress level at work was much worse when I stopped exercising. Sure enough, I now exercise for mental health.

    Then I got an injury and missed running. I now like it for all the above reasons, but also for itself. I just enjoy the outdoors and the rhythm.
  • kristinegift
    kristinegift Posts: 2,406 Member
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    Those are great reasons!

    Mine are: 1) I love running, and I love to see my progress as I challenge myself week after month after year. 2) Exercise is a mood stabilizer for me; without it, I tend to be prone to lots of anger/bitterness (esp around TOM). 3) Exercise is a huge confidence booster; I live in a very wealthy area where people are rich-skinny, so it makes me feel good to know that not being a size 0 is fine because my body can do amazing things.

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