Okay. I'm actually gonna make a thread about this... Exercise. Something I really, really wish I liked. I've tried soooo many times to get into the swing of becoming fit; I wish so much that I could. I tried in the summer, I've tried months before that. But it's always the same: I start out strong(ish), and slowly, I just stop. I've never been consistently healthy, ever, and I just wish I could find the internal drive to start and not stop a month in. But here are my problems with the idea/practice of exercise: -Right now, as much as I really do want to be fit, exercise doesn't seem like anything more than a daily chore with a hazy reward. I get sweaty every day, I might look and feel better in a non-set amount of time. -It's hard to fit it in with school. Even sparing half an hour for jogging is difficult when you've got a hefty workload and clubs till 5 o'clock three days a week. -Most importantly: I have no motivation. I have no "exercise buddy" to keep me in check, no one in my family willing to do this with me, nothing. It's hard to do this alone, and I don't currently have the means to go to a gym. Just a treadmill and a potpourri of other exercise equipment my mom's bought over the years. I have no means of support. People tell me, "if you really want it, then you'll just do it." But it really isn't that cut and dry. I don't know, perhaps I'm just trying to think of excuses not to do it cause I'm lazy. But I've tried. There's something that just always stops me from going on once I've started. What the hell do I do?!
For me personally, I have a sticky note on my desktop that says "If you're sitting here doing absolutely nothing productive.. GET UP!" I would honestly say riding a bike is probably one of the better ways of getting into shape. I was forced to ride my bike 10 miles to work, so 20 miles all together for 5 days a week over the course of 2 months. I hated riding my bike in the morning, but the afternoon ride was downhill and very relaxing. In a few weeks (with a small diet change of less red meat, less soda & more water) everyone was saying that I looked a lot skinnier and fit! I think once you get that first notice from another person you just keep doing it. Hope this helps!
I don't know if this will work for you, but what I've found that helps with exercise/losing weight/being fit is to make a list of attainable goals and push towards those. I know I can't trust myself to exercise at the drop of a hat, so I'm taking it rather slowly and starting by limiting my food intake and making what I eat more healthy. Also, next week, I'm going to start taking 3 days and doing treadmill/bike exercise for 20-30 minutes. It's not a huge time commitment, and I think if I get used to the idea that "ok, next week, at this time, I will be doing cardio exercises" then I'll be able to start up next week. Finally, I plan to integrate muscle work outs over two weeks after I get used to the treadmill/bike exercises. Setting up an accountability person is huge though. Find someone, anyone you know, to be a person that will call and ask "Did you exercise today?" Don't let yourself lose sight of the future you want just because you don't trust yourself to exercise. You can definitely do it! Also, I think EC has a shared motivation thread for exercising that I intend to start using once I start my actual exercise.
When I wanted to get into shape I felt the same way but it's all about priorities and attitude. Instead of looking at exercise as a chore or something you have to do, you have to make it something you WANT to do. I set up a playlist of some of my favorite songs and the only time I let myself listen to them is when I'm running. I like to use my runs as a way to just be alone and reflect and just get the stress out. It's actually really peaceful. It's time for me, and me only. Right now I'm running three miles a day, six days a week. I started out really easy though and that might be your problem, you might be trying to do too much too fast and then you get burnt out on it. Whenever someone asks for fitness advice or anything like that I always recommend this program because it's really amazing. It's called Couch to 5k and it's perfect. Cool Running | The Couch-to-5K ® Running Plan Don't tell me you don't have time for exercising though, because I'm a full-time student and I work and I still manage to get this done. I'm not always exercising at the time I want or for as long as I want, but I always do something, and that's the important thing, and I've never felt or looked better.
Everybody can lose an hour of their day to work out. That being said, I have the exact same problems that you do with regards to motivation. I am lazy as hell. I try to make it as painless as possible. Walking uphill for an hour isn't half as bad if you get to watch Dr. Phil while you do it. If you start to feel weak, all you gotta think is, "If I make it to the end of this episode, I'm done." Lots of gyms have treadmills with TVs. One or two episodes on a treadmill or elliptical nets you a pretty decent cardio workout. If you can focus your mind away from the physicality of the exercise, you don't get as bored. (I can't wait for virtual reality gyms.) That being said, I'm willing to be exercise buddies with anybody that needs one. I think there is an exercise thread, but one where people could keep a point score on their progress would be nice. If only exercise was set up like a game, where you could level up or earn badges or whatever. I'm pretty sure you could set up a motivational system like that that would make getting fit more entertaining and less of a chore. I mean, only you are gonna know that you "leveled up" when you did 1,000 pushups, but it might be fun. At least if you're a huge nerd.
60 seconds of jogging? Huh. So, then, what's the average time it would take to jog two telephone poles? Like: T______T______T T stands for the telephone poles.
It depends on how fast you run I guess. If you have a cell phone it probably has a stopwatch tool on it. Take it with you and start the clock right as you get to the first one and start running and then you'll have your answer. ^_^
Sadly, Fitocracy runs on an invite-only system at the moment, and they haven't given out a lot of new ones recently.
