Seriously hate exercising...tips?
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Sure you can lose weight without exercise, but adding exercise to your routine will deliver enormous health benefits. Getting healthy is already one of your motivations, right?
Be honest with yourself. Do you hate exercise or do you simply hate exercise because you suck at it? I surely hated running when I sucked at it, but love running now.
Most people hate doing things they are not very good at and many people lack the ability to envision how slow but steady progress will improve their fitness and eventually make them good at whatever exercise form they choose.
Developing an affinity for staying physically fit (not talking about weight here) can be an important life-long aid in helping you maintain your goal weight when you get there.0 -
I used to hate working out too so i totally know how you feel.
When i first started working out it felt like a torture to my body and my soul:D So i had found some simple fun dance/workout videos and i realized i like them!! So what i mean is that you should try different things until you find what's best for you. I can recommend Keaira Lashae for fun workout videos she's amazing and i'm sure you're gonna love it! Feel free to add me so we can motivate each other and let me know if you liked it or not.0 -
I used to be really motivated to exercise, but in recent years, I somehow can't get motivated. I just seem to be more easily bored. So what I've been doing is taking a 7 to 10 minute brisk walk two or three times a day. That I can handle. Then once or twice a week I walk around the grocery or mall for 30 minutes.
For me the point is to get moving somehow, someway. I truly want to be fit, but the couch keeps calling my name
Best to you!0 -
I know for myself, I struggled to exercise in the beginning. I hated the idea of going to the gym/running...I was very "all or nothing" when it came to exercise. Of course - I would push myself too hard, feel the DOMS in the AM and say "screw this!".
My mom told me about her DVD's. Leslie Sansone. I tried one - and was like "omg - this is challenging, but I can do it!" and from there on out my mentality totally flipped regarding exercise. I love at home DVDS. I do Leslie still to this day, I have done turbojam, now Turbo Fire, and Insanity.
Basically, you have to find what you love. But in order to do that - you have to try new things. My mind now sees a million different ways to exercise!0 -
I started on the elliptical, 20 minutes twice a week. I would break it down mentally into 5 minute chunks. Eventually I realized I felt better the days I exercised. Now I do all different things, run, walk, bike, dance, weight lift. Just keep searching, you will find something you enjoy!0
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I know exactly what you mean. So what I did is I mixed something I like doing with exercise. For example, I really enjoy playing games, so I play games on the Wii or PS3 while I am doing my bike. I can still use the controller while I pedal. You could read, watch your favorite show or movie, knit perhaps, while you pedal.
This might sound weird to some.0 -
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Playing tennis has made me want to be stronger and faster. So I strength, interval and cardio train. Find a physical activity you like--tennis, dance, hike... and become better at it.0
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Dancing or Zumba. It's much more fun than just walking on a treadmill. Just turn on some of your favorite songs and shake what your mama gave ya!
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Maybe do some classes. Do the 5k zombie run app. I haven't tried it yet but it seems like it could motivate you since it's kinda like a game.Hey everyone. I hope I'm not the only one with this problem but I absolutely HATE exercising! I don't get the "high" everyone else does. I just get bored and crabby. I see a lot of pictures of success stories of people running in 5K's, etc. Realistically, I can never see myself wanting to do those kind of things. Even when I was thin, I hated running. Does anyone have any advice to make exercise more enjoyable? I listen to music but watch the clock tick down minute by minute praying that the exercise is over soon. I need help!!!
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There is a massive difference between exercise - which is essential to our health - and performing an activty...which we do for fun.
I've taken a lot of group fitness classes and actually took a rowing class with a young lady that seemed to ban fun. If I was singing along or otherwise just looking like I was enjoying the music, she would turn it down or suddenly start coaching some dumb *kitten* that everybody knows. :laugh: That kind of massive difference? :bigsmile:
Anyway, I do group fitness classes at the gym, OP. If you have access, there may be such a huge variety that you'll find something you like.
Also recently I bought this elliptical for days I can't get to the classes. I do anywhere from two to ten minutes at a time and I can take a billion breaks to drink water or play with the phone or whatever. I do it while watching tv and sometimes while the timer is set and I'm waiting for things to cook0 -
I have tried many different kinds of workouts struggling to find something enjoyable but always ended up giving it up. Finally, what worked for me was this little stair climbing machine that I can stick in front of the tv and catch up on my PVR'd programs or read my book. Before I know it my timer rings and I'm done. I also have learned to accept that I am never going to look forward to excercise but that I always feel better about myself once I have done my workout. I also sleep a lot better so I keep drilling these things in my head to get myself up on the machine each night.0
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So don't exercise. Weight loss is mostly about eating less.0
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when I first lost weight many years ago I would elipitcal to oprah and dr phil0
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I bought a treadmill for my house. I have an iPad. I watch TV shows and movies on it while I run. Boredom gone.0
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Thanks for the advice everyone! It's a personal obstacle that I know I can overcome. I just need to get motivated
I would recommend that you not wait around for motivation or rely on it. Make a habit- stick to the habit- if after a few months you really still hate it- move on to the next thing.
This is a really important piece of advice. Don't wait for motivation, don't wait until tomorrow. I was reading a wonderful book called The Willpower Instinct, and it pointed out that (paraphrasing) we always imagine our Future Self as more disciplined, less burdened by day to day problems, and more motivated than our Present Self. It's very easy to believe that tomorrow or next week, the stars will align and we will feel all kinds of motivation to exercise (or do whatever thing we are putting off).
The truth is that when tomorrow, next week, or next year comes, the person who is there is still our Present Self, not the imaginary Future Self.
So the trick is--make plans that are doable for you as you are today, even if they are small and not grand. Start doing it today, even for just a few minutes. "Motivation" that just, somehow, comes sometime in the future, is--at least as far as I can tell--is a fantasy. Real motivation comes (for me) from doing something small now, and then feeling I've accomplished something. And that makes it easier to do it again the next day and the next.0 -
There is a massive difference between exercise - which is essential to our health - and performing an activty...which we do for fun.
I've taken a lot of group fitness classes and actually took a rowing class with a young lady that seemed to ban fun. If I was singing along or otherwise just looking like I was enjoying the music, she would turn it down or suddenly start coaching some dumb *kitten* that everybody knows. :laugh: That kind of massive difference? :bigsmile:
Anyway, I do group fitness classes at the gym, OP. If you have access, there may be such a huge variety that you'll find something you like.
You can also look for clubs and interest groups. My husband and I recently started Scottish Country Dancing, which is surprisingly vigorous with lots of skipping. There are several clubs in our area that get together and do Scottish Country Dancing once a week (so if we wanted, we could go from club to club and do it three days a week or more). Since it isn't a gym but is more of a social club, it's much more affordable than our other dance classes. $8 will get you three hours of dancing, with instruction, in NYC.
That sort of thing can help develop a good base level of fitness and the habit of being active.
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demoiselle2014 wrote: »This is a really important piece of advice. Don't wait for motivation, don't wait until tomorrow.
I think that's critical. I feel like exercise maybe half the time I contemplate it, at best. But I am happy I did it about 99% of the time after. This is somewhat related to the behavior therapy concept of "behavioral activation."
Re. the question of exercise being "necessary" for weight loss, it's neither necessary nor unnecessary, it just depends. Theoretically, if you've been eating at a relatively small surplus for years and have been gaining weight, simply adding exercise can result in successful weight loss - without changing what you eat at all. I have a coworker who bought a FitBit and started walking more and is doing just that.
In my case, about 20 pounds ago or so, I started running much more frequently (after getting my treadmill) and I didn't change my diet at all. I noticed that I was losing weight, which I actually hadn't intended to do at all.
I joined MFP about a third of the way towards my goal weight (something like that) and added the calorie counting to the mix, figuring I could accelerate my trend even further. So far, it's been working quite nicely.
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