How do people like exercise??

I find that finding a type of exercise that you just find more interesting helps a lot, it doesn't have to be the most intense or the most popular thing - for example, I couldn't stand running or team sports as a kid and I still have 0 interest/motivation to even attempt them... but I've found that I enjoy going for walks and doing some bodyweight and dumbbell exercise at home. I've had a friend get into rock climbing, one into pole dancing, and a few more into hiking. (we're all late 20s and early 30s women)
It also helps to start slow enough where it doesn't feel like you're immediately hitting a wall or burning yourself out.

This may not be what you're looking for, and not speaking about you personally because I don't know, but I think sometimes people have a too-narrow definition of "exercise" in their heads, and that interferes with finding fun ways of including more movement in daily life. I'm not suggesting that all things are loggable as exercise, but any type of movement burns more calories and supports fitness better than no movement at all.

Some things I think some people don't consider are different kinds of dancing (even just bopping around to favorite tunes in the living room), active video/VR games, playing with kids (there are even actual exercise videos designed to include children, though it's not necessary to be that formal), hobbies like birdwatching or outdoor photography that involve walking around, and more. Some kinds of home activity also contribute: Thinking of gardening, carpentry, redecorating, etc. Some kinds of hobbies contribute: Playing a musical instrument, for example. It all adds up.

It's a myth that movement needs to be strenuous, exhausting or miserable in order to be helpful.

Gradually increasing daily movement can create a positive slippery slope, too, especially when combined with weight loss alongside. The more one moves, the easier it gets to move. The easier it gets to move, the more fun it is to move. The more fun it is to move, the more we want to move . . . and then maybe even do intentional things (formal exercise ) to get even better at moving.

Even the advice you see like "take the stairs instead of the elevator" or "park further out in the parking lot" contributes a little**. I know some of those things are less possible when small children are with you, though!

** There's a whole discussion about that in this thread, plus a cross-link to another similar thread:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1

Best wishes!

I used to despise exercise, so I definitely understand how you feel. It is all about finding something you feel is fun. I tried Jillian Michaels workouts and I found them to be so hard, I really got discouraged. As silly as it might sound, I had no idea that walking could be considered exercise and that's really how I got started on my current fitness path. I was complaining to a friend about how I always get injured when I start exercising and then I just quit. She suggested to me to go to YouTube and try an Ellen Barrett walk that she said she did on days she needed to move, but wasn't motivated. From there, I found Leslie Sansone who has changed my feelings about fitness. Like @FoolishJoy I found Leslie's workouts to be fun because there is a lot of variety in length of time and moves and she is a breath of fresh air. She is very encouraging and if you can't do some of the moves, you just walk in place. It's a very easy way to get started with fitness.

After doing so many of the walking fitness workouts, I wanted to try some strength training. I highly recommend HASfit on YouTube. They have several beginner workouts that start out with only 5-10 minutes of work. Almost every video they do includes beginner modifications unless it's a strictly advanced workout. Again, very positive and encouraging motivation from both instructors. I feel stronger for the first time in my life from consistently using their videos.

Like a few others have mentioned, just put on some music and dance! Anything you enjoy listening to, if you move your body, you'll burn a few calories and hopefully get some feel good emotions! I bet your 2 and 1/2 year old might like to bounce around to some music, too!

Good luck to you!

I have always liked to be outside in nature, so walking and then hiking and later backpacking came fairly easily to me. Otherwise, I don't necessarily like exercise, but I love the way I feel after I exercise. I have done various forms of aerobics, both low and high impact, and yoga and pilates when I can't get outside. I'll second (or is that third) the Leslie Sansome videos. They are easy to follow and can leave you feeling like you had a good workout afterwards. The relentless cheerful chatiness gets to me sometimes, but it is easy enough to turn off the sound and just move to my own music. A few years ago I was challenged by an online acquaintance to do Couch to 5k with her and I ended up as a regular runner. I found I enjoyed doing races, even though I'm not fast. It is a fun atmosphere and I enjoy challenging myself to get better. So I started gettting more serious about training. Again, I don't always enjoy my runs, but I do love the way I feel after a run. There is a relaxation and serenity that I feel after I work hard. Not quite a runner's high, but definitely a runner's mellow.

I can't enjoy exercise unless I'm doing something else I enjoy while exercising or the exercise is just the nature of the activity I enjoy. I'm not the "I love working out" kind of person and pretending to be one or convincing myself that I am one just doesn't work for me. I love watching Netflix, listening to audiobooks, or playing games while on the treadmill, I like playing active videogames, I like some more active activities like laser tag and treasure hunting hikes...etc. One more thing I did is increase my daily activity outside of dedicated exercise, started making more laundry trips instead of carrying the whole pile to my room for folding, I have taken over trash responsibility, carry basket instead of cart at the grocery, no more "bring me X while you're there", strolling around the house when on the phone...etc. Small things, but they do add up.

If "fake it until you make it" doesn't work for you like it didn't for me, all you have to do is think of the things you do enjoy and try to make them more active. For example, I have shows and audiobooks that are dedicated to the treadmill and don't allow myself to listen to/watch these outside of my exercise time.

I was "that" kid at school. Tubby, bespectacled and couldn't catch a ball to save my life. Always picked last for every team. Hated all exercise, bar swimming. Started going to the gym regularly about 15 years ago. Fondly imagined that a 20 minute stroll on a treadmill was exercise. Got fatter and fatter - eventually obese.

Lost a fair chunk of weight in 2013 through diet. Gradually put a lot of it back on. Resigned myself to being fat. However, since I was approaching 50 and hearing of the dangers of osteoporosis as women age, in 2016 I took up an offer of three sessions at a reduced rate with a personal trainer at our gym. I wanted to know how to use weights safely. I was dead scared and expected to hate it. I told the trainer that talk of my bodyweight was off-limits. I was there purely for the exercise.

To my shock, I really enjoyed the sessions, though they were tough and made me red and sweaty, and signed up for more. The gym had a refit and installed a heavy bag. I asked my trainer about boxing and we started that, too. I was hooked. I started losing weight because I wanted to be able to exercise more, and move more freely.

At the time the exercises I most enjoyed were ballistic and power-based. Planks or isolation exercises with weights were not things I enjoyed or did much of. Now I enjoy all aspects of exercise and will willingly grind out some of the slow stuff as well as bash out the power stuff. I like finding things I can't do well and working on them. I'm still trying to do a full push up (nearly there) and pull up (not so nearly there).

Sorry for the wall of text, but for me the key really was finding something I liked - or at least could tolerate enough to know I would eventually like it. It helped that I was not exercising to lose weight.

I didn't care for cardio at all as a teen, young adult. Did football, low level basketball and baseball as a kid but never really cardio. I got fairly obese by 40 and blew out a knee. I literally walked as much as I could (started like just 10 or 15 minutes) and, like Ann said, over time I moved more and started doing long walks with my dogs, then spin classes, then jogging, then trail running, then biking again and now a lot of Rowing Machine and Assault Bike workouts (and still leisure biking and hiking).

Do what you can and stop when it hurts. But be religious about it and what seems to be miniscule improvements will be incredible over a year or two with consistency.

I despised running as a kid but ended my running career doing 8 to 10 mile trail runs. I'd come in near last but loved it. I'm was (until a back injury last year) a fairly competitive indoor rower as well. I row 6 to 7 miles a day on a machine and love it. It's my time for me and I listen to music and do it on my deck and watch birds. If I can't workout, I'm cranky!

So I've certainly gone through the journey from seriously obese to dreading workouts (only saw it as a way to eat more at first!) to being addicted to exercise.

An important component for me was eating back exercise calories as long as your being honest with portions and weighing food if it's not packaged. I saw exercise as a way to earn a small snack or dessert. That motivated me to workout.

I was morbidly obese when I started. I had to rest going up the stairs. I got winded walking across a room. I was too weak to carry more than a single can of vegetables at a time.

“Exercise” was awful. I decided to start running. I could “run” for about 5 seconds at a time. Then I needed about 5 minutes of a very slow walk to recover enough to try to “run” again. There was nothing fun about it.

When I started lifting weights, there were some movements that I wasn’t able to do with ANY weight. Just moving my body through the air was my max ability. There was nothing fun about that either.

But I stuck with it. Slowly the weight started to come off, and little by little I became more fit. I eventually ran my first mile (I’ve now run a couple of marathons), I was slowly able to lift a bit more weight (I can now pick up 200+ pounds off the floor).

But the real change was in the rest of my life. I can go up multiple flights of stairs carrying loads of laundry, I can bring in most of my groceries in a single trip, I can haul the dog food bag with one hand. I can hike a hundred miles over a week - and see things I would never have been able to otherwise see. I can do all kinds of adventuring. I can go for a bike ride just for fun to check out the sunset over the river.

While I do very much enjoy running now, the truly enjoyable part of exercise comes from being “fit” and being able to do stuff-pretty much anything I think I want to try.

If you’re already fit enough to do the fun stuff? Then go forth and enjoy the fun. That stuff all counts.