How to make exercise a habit?

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  • buffgrl
    buffgrl Posts: 32 Member
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    First of all, everyone thinks that in order to be fit or to lose weight you have to be in the gym 5-7 days a week. NOT TRUE! What if I told you that you could be slim, fit, and healthy and only go to the gym 2-3 days a week? The more effective your workout is and the more on point your diet is, the less you have to do! If you can afford it, you should consider hiring a Personal Trainer who specializes in getting people into top shape. The Trainer will hold you accountable to your workouts and make sure you're getting the most EFFECTIVE workout possible. 1300 calories is quite low unless you're petite and 5'1. You probably need an overhaul of your diet, maybe some calorie/carb cycling and proper macronutrient ratios. A good Personal Trainer will set this all up for you.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,472 Member
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    I just do it. get it done, its part of my every day life.
  • kieranar
    kieranar Posts: 57 Member
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    Started cycling , got hooked after a month and since then I have dropped 50lbs and decreasing
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    Many people come out the gate with guns a blazin' and go from nothing to all of the exercise and they burn out pretty quickly. Start small and build up.

    Also do something you enjoy doing...mindlessly droning away on some piece of cardio equipment sucks...jumping around to some DVD sucks...riding a bike is awesome sauce. I also found it very helpful to sign up for events which required me to train to prepare for them...this helped give my exercise/training structure and purpose.
  • carltonkd
    carltonkd Posts: 1 Member
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    Get started with walking on your lunch break. Place sneakers in your bag and take in with you as a reminder. Exercise duration according to your mood --- 5 minutes beats nothing at all.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,195 Member
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    I'm 100% in the "find something you love doing" camp. I'm a rower, and I want to do that. Wanting to do it better has, over the years, inspired me to do other things (like swim lessons ;) ) in order to be a better rower. A decade plus on, I find I feel like cr*p - physically, cognitively, emotionally - if I'm not active fairly regularly in some way, so I keep moving. It does take a while to reach that point, though.

    One other thing that I didn't see mentioned above (admittedly on a skim-through) is that for some of us, appointment workouts are effective ways to make sure it really happens. Could be a group class, a workout buddy, a scheduled recreational/competitive thing like basketball or tennis or bowling league, appointment with a trainer, you name it - something where you're committed to show up at a specific time and place.

    It doesn't work for everyone, but it helps some. Heck, I love to row, but I'm certain I'm more consistent because I organize my rowing buddies to row together 4 days a week in season!
  • IM141
    IM141 Posts: 2 Member
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    Ya, what they said! I did it for the tee shirts & finishers medals. I put on a bunch of weight so it was time to take action. Went to the gym and climbed on the treadmill. I was now fat and felt like a gerbil on the treadmill. I hated it. Someone suggested a 5k run. run? really? Bunches of people & energized finish line. Yup, that jazzed me up. I see someone running now, and wonder what they are training for. Plus, now I have a great tee shirt collection. It's all about how much fun you can squeeze out what you like doing.
  • KDar1988
    KDar1988 Posts: 650 Member
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    I started slow. My goal at first was to help with weight loss. I went like 3 days a week. I was seeing weight loss and I felt awesome too! I then started going everyday. A year ago May I added weightlifting (Stronglifts 5x5). Quickly became addicted. It really does have to be something you enjoy or you'll never want to do it. I like to ride my bike on a local trail and do some walking too. I find exercise to be my time to unwind from the day. I do a lot of thinking about things...especially remembering my mom who died 8 months ago etc. Hopefully you can find something you like!!
  • HermanLily
    HermanLily Posts: 217 Member
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    It takes 3 weeks for something to become a habit. Best advice? Keep going
  • Rosemary7391
    Rosemary7391 Posts: 232 Member
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    If you're really only walking 500 steps a day (how!?), perhaps working that number up might be a start? I suspect you might be walking more than that though! You can probably download a free step tracker onto your phone.

    If you enjoy exercise once you get to doing it, it's the getting to doing it you need to work on. Whatever works for you is fine - get a friend to go with you, book classes, do it at home, get someone to bug you into going, put your gym gear where you'll trip over it...
  • RandJ6280
    RandJ6280 Posts: 1,162 Member
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    Just do it! Everyday... do something positive.... nothing more than walk around the block... just do it!
  • aylajane
    aylajane Posts: 979 Member
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    Cheesy, but buy one or two really cool workout "outfits" that look good and feel good. I find if I put the clothes on, I tend to follow through! As a reward, each time you meet some goal (i.e. walk 10k steps a day for a week, work up to 20 pushups, etc), buy one more outfit :)
  • LillysMomma09
    LillysMomma09 Posts: 272 Member
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    I started off with an indoor bike.. so as I'm watching TV I biked. I would set my mind to biking for a whole rerun of Charmed or Gilmore Girls. That turned into walking. That turned into jogging. Getting into competition with yourself is the best advice I can give. Can I go longer? Can I go faster? Can I have less walking breaks?
    All of this turned into kettlebell workouts which I now love! Cardio and strength mixed into one! So now I job and do KB workouts on a regular basis, and I enjoy both. Good luck to you!
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    You have to approach this from two angles -

    One: Long term perspective. Find something you are passionate about that incorporates health and fitness as part of this. Hiking, travelling, biking, playing with your kids/grandkids, etc. You need something that has a deeper meaning that will keep you going over a lifetime.

    Two: Short term perspective. Find activities that feed into your long term passion. No one enjoys running in the beginning. Most start out walking, then find they are good at it and enjoy the benefits more than the effort, then this develops into doing more, then more...

    Small changes over time yield dramatic results.
  • hjeppley
    hjeppley Posts: 230 Member
    edited September 2017
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    I agree wth @HermanLily --I was injured and wanted to get back in the habit of exercising after being off for a long time, so I made the goal of 1 h of some sort of aerobic activity first thing in the morning (or at the latest lunch time). I started with just walking around the neighborhood. After doing it for about 6 weeks, I was able to increase the amount of running and still stay active each day for the same amount of time with a combination of running, walking and water walking. The key was the consistency, so that even when my schedule got a whole lot busier at the end of those 6 weeks, I was eager to make space for the exercise.
  • kelseyllhunt
    kelseyllhunt Posts: 31 Member
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    Ugh. I'm like you and really want to like exercising, but normally never make it a priority. Right now, I use my 30 minute lunch at work to walk around the neighborhood by my office, and try to do 10 minutes of yoga before bed each night. I'm going to try to start working out early in the morning, but I feel like starting small is the best way to go.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
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    I dislike exercise so I do as little of it at the highest intensity as I can, and then it's over. I can deal with anything for 15 minutes. I could live through being waterboarded for 15 minutes. And 15 minutes of HIIT cycling - high intensity two minutes, extreme intensity 1 minute, repeat 5 times - reliably burns almost 300 calories and drops my blood glucose if it's high. I make myself do the 15 minutes every day even if I do nothing else.

    Then I try to add fun things. I find challenges fun. I started with the 200 squats challenge and the 100 push-ups challenge and the 200 squats challenge, then moved on to strength training when those got easy. I'm doing c25k right now. I also enjoy music, so I dance and do Zumba and Bollywood routines.
  • Brabo_Grip
    Brabo_Grip Posts: 285 Member
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    I have always loathed traditional gyms. They bore me to tears and was part of the reason I couldn't stick with a workout plan in my mid-30s. By accident I stumbled on something I love, which became a passion - BJJ/MMA. I dropped 90lbs and am in the best overall shape of my life at age 42. I need my training time like I need breath.

    You can get exercise anywhere. Look for non-traditional methods and find what you love.

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