LazyLazyLazy makin me CRAZY!

Don't give up ! I know how you feel. I HATE excercise. In fact that is one of our big jokes at work. When people talk about excercise or sweating I say "you know I don't do that" and everybody laughs and laughs. The fact of the matter is my life is stressful and I feel like I deserve my "downtime" to watch TV or whatever. I am turning 42, am overweight and have a terrible family history-I need to excercise! I just finished my first week and my goal was excercise 3 days /week for 30 minutes. I did it! Mostly walking and some on-demand excercise video (i was by myself and still embarrassed). Next week I am going to shoot for 4 days. Set very small, achievable goals and give yourself a pat on the back if you do it. Then try for more the next week. Believe me ther are lots of people like us that haven't even gotten to the point of addressing the problem.

I'm the same.

I bought a second hand cross trainer online ($40) and have parked it in front of the tv. So now I can't sit on the couch without feeling guilty if I haven't used it that day. It's working well.

I've started on the couch to 5k program, instead of running I use the cross trainer. Starting week 2 tonight!

Yes, I can relate to your experience.

When I was in high school, I did jazz dance once a week, marching band in the fall, and walked EVERYWHERE. In college, I walked even more, if possible, and took various classes like ballroom dancing and fencing. Then I moved in with a roommate who was a great cook and liked to watch TV. We didn't have room for a table, our apartment was so small, so we sat in front of the TV. Overtime, I put on about 80 lbs. and stopped exercising. Now, several years later, I found that as a teacher I claimed to "not have time" to exercise, yet I had time to play silly Facebook games. It made no sense because there are a number of things that I LOVE to do: dance, walk, swim, etc. Knowing myself, I probably felt for some bizarre reason that I did not DESERVE to take the time for myself; I should always do for others. But you know what? I cannot help others if I have not first helped myself. First thing they teach you in CPR/First Responder First Aid is DON'T BECOME A VICTIM YOURSELF. That means, make sure that you are safe first before helping others. In the case of exercise, make sure I take the time for myself. It definitely helps my stress level and makes me a nicer person!

Some things that helped: SCHEDULING a daily walk with no other errands, even if I only did 15 minutes inside the school building. I also started taking a belly dance class, something I have always been interested in but never did. The dance school where the class was held offered the class on a month-to-month basis. I could either pay $15 each week or pay for the whole month at a rate of $12 for each week. I started to make excuses about the money, blah blah blah. I found that if I committed to the month, I was MUCH more likely to go. I made it a point to congratulate myself if I did even a tiny bit of exercise. Lastly, find someone who is trying to lose weight and get healthy. That has been huge for me; my husband is also on My Fitness Pal (MFP) and he has become something of a gym rat. The guilt and peer pressure that I feel (he doesn't do anything to make me feel bad, he always encourages me) is entirely internal, but it has been helpful.

Hope that has been helpful! Not alone!

Two things have really helped me. One is remembering that when I go out for a walk, I always come back feeling better and less stressed.

The other is that I got an iPod Shuffle for Mother's Day last year and I've filled it with songs I love that keep me moving. I only listen to it when I walk, so that's also a motivation for me. It's fun to be going along and a song comes that makes me think, "Oh, I forgot I added this! I love this song!" It's usually music that isn't on the radio very often, and (unlike listening to the radio in the car) I don't get stuck listening to songs I don't care about just because my kids love them.

Last year, I rewarded my self for a certain number of miles walked by adding 10 more songs to it, so that was kind of a circular motivation. I need to do that again!

I think i could give you a real run for your money in the "Laziest Woman in the World" challenge. I got a FitBit and i know i average, not 10,000 steps a day, but more like 3,000!!!

I have several thoughts about this. One of the other posters made the point that she always feels better after a walk. So i have a bargain with myself to take a 30 minute walk every day. I'm successful about 80% of the time. But that's better than nothing.

I also work out with a personal trainer twice a week. I paid her up front for 30 sessions. So now i don't go, i lose my money. That's a lot of money to lose.

The third thing, i remind myself when a have a "stay on the sofa day," like yesterday, that i'll still be OK in terms of continued weight loss. You don't really have to exercise. It helps with both calorie burn and overall fitness, but it isn't strictly necessary to lose weight.

And my final thought, because i have been walking and working out for a few months now, as i was sitting on the sofa all day yesterday, i kept feeling my quads because . . . i felt a hard muscle under there!! It was actually kind of amazing. And i liked it. So today i got off the sofa, went for a big walk, then did an upper body workout at the gym, then put in another mile on the treadmill and elliptical machine. Because i want to feel that muscle some more!!

Just don't let yourself get too down. And if you do, refer to point three!

Good luck!