I put on a fast moving CD and "dance". A long playing CD will give you 45 to 60 minutes of good exercise and it's fun!! You can do it in your underwear and no one cares!

Shake that bootie!!! Twist and bend!! MOVE! Anything is better than nothing
PB

I don't care for the gym environment, either. I go out and walk everyday. Briskly and sometimes with my dog. Often this results in me finding myself at Barnes & Noble or Starbucks or Mervyns or a nice cafe for a bran muffin. I like getting out and breathing fresh air and having a destination. Later at home I do my crunches and weights to whatever I want on the tube.

You might check into your local Y. Mine has some of the skinny women in lycra, but lots of people who are old, middle aged and young, just trying to get fitter.

If you can go in the morning or at lunch, you'll find more "regular" people and fewer of the sort you're talking about.

I hate exercise, too. Have never felt the good endorphins, and my body hurts much more when I exercise than when I don't. Still, I persevere. I just think of it as a task, something unpleasant that must be done for my own good. I do a bare minimum, but I do it. At least most of the time.:)

Well I'm working on getting into a routine. I have just discovered that it is possible to read a magazine while using my elliptical trainer which makes it seem a LOT less boring. Also since I've read that if you can get in even 20 minutes of cardio three times a week it helps lots. So I'm working on trying to incorporate this into my life. 20-30 minutes, 3 times a week while reading a magazine seems less awful than just mindlessly peddling away.

-Janet

I hate exercising too. It makes me feel pretty awful, and I just don't enjoy it. My other big problem is that I feel _very_ self-conscious, which makes it hard for me to be in a situation where other people can watch what I'm doing. Once my husband and I own a home, my big dream is to have an actual exercise room (even if we have to convert the garage to do it) so I can exercise in peace.

My favorite thing is walking/jogging on the treadmill -- if there's a TV there, then you can just watch tv while walking, and the time really flies.

I am emailing with a lady... we tell each other what we did for exercise today. Of course, some days, nothing... but, the other one usually tried to pep talk you, and tells you it is ok, lets do something tomorrow.

Works so far.

Moni

Perhaps the problem is that you are trying to "become positively addicted to exercise", and that's probably never going to happen for most people. The best thing is to just apply discipline to your routine every day and do something whether you want to or not. Don't expect to become addicted and actually like it, just make it part of your routine. Apply the "one day at a time" principle so that you are not thinking something like "I have to do this for the rest of my life!". Just for today, take a 30 minute walk. Don't think about tomorrow's walk until tomorrow.

In addition, think about it as something you are doing for yourself. If there is a magic bullet to feeling better and being healthier, exercise may be it. Just 30 minutes a day, most days of the week, can lead to substantial health benefits.

Whatever you do, don't exercise just to lose weight because as soon as your weight plateaus, you will feel discouraged. Do it for your overall well-being, like taking a shower, brushing your teeth, and combing your hair in the morning.

Jen

I have been using Leslie Sansone In Home Walking tapes, its the best thing that has happened to me. I look forward to the walk tapes every day, I ask myself when will I exercise today, and I do, I would highly recommend them. Been doing it since January 23rd consistantly, I feel a lot better physically and mentally. I need to loose about 20 lbs, but right now I am seeing the toning affects of the exercise. Just thought I would share.

I don't like the gym much and I don't work out for weight loss. I work out to relieve stress and to keep my heart in good health.

I take martial arts classes. I did it as a child and did not like it. Now as an adult, I love it. It is a mixed school and I am always encouraged to see the 60year old and older students coming in to learn Tae Kwon Do. I also dance two days every other week because I wanted to learn how to dance. In the summer, I am signing up for a rollerblading class.

I actually have a very busy job and a boyfriend but no kids (germ factories). I make the time to do this. I don't go out with my friends or stay late at work because I have made a commitment to myself to get my black belt by August 2006. I am on track to make it. Maybe after that, I will go into another form of martial arts.

The reason I like martial arts it that you are rarely learning the same thing. If you are, you are just trying to get better at it. It is a fifty minute class and I always hurt like hell when I leave.

I hope you expand your horizons and find activities that you like and that challenge your heart. I am also looking to take a few rowing classes one of these days.

Good luck!

It sounds to me like part of the problem is how you are defining exercise. To preface this, I happen to be one of those thin women, but I've never set foot in a gym to do it. I also HATE conventional exercise. The key for me is having better things to do rather than nap on the couch. Some of my "workouts" are gardening, kayaking, horseback riding, skiing, bike riding, and walking my dog. Some are more aerobic while others involve varying degrees on resistance, ie strength training. The only conventional exercise I've found I like a little is pilate due to its not impact nature and something I can do on a rainy day. If I made exercise a chore, I wouldn't be motivated either. Every movement works some muscle somewhere. Once I'm done with whatever activity I've done that day, I enjoy that power nap all the more. I know I've both gotten things done and gotten a workout in the process. Just find stuff you like to do and the exercise will just become a beneficial side effect.

I think exercise is boring unless doing something like gardening, walking with a friend or doing sports. So I go to the Y gym which offers a wide variety of classes and machines so I can switch off to keep from getting so bored. The elipticals are nice because you can read fairly well when using them.

I joined a gym so I would be able to lift the things my spouse couldn't after heart surgery. After gym contract was up, I bought a treadmill with the electric incline & the thing that measures your aerobic (sp?) output. Hardly ever used it, sold it.

Now I just walk my dogs (Beagle & Mastiff). The hills are so steep, I can barely walk & talk at the same time. My granddaughter rides the golf cart beside me & says, "This is too slow, Granny Liz! Can't you walk a little faster?"

(Gasp, Gasp, Gasp........Noooooo, I can't!!).

Liz

I've always hated exercise. Even as a kid I found ways to get out of taking gym class. And as a very overweight adult I'd force myself to do it until I fell off the wagon. But what really turned things around for me is a personal trainer. While I was pregnant I signed up for the gym offered through my employer. And as a gift to myself signed up for 20 sessions with a personal trainer (a good one with an education not a young person pushed on my by the club). I worked out all through my maternity leave. Something about having Mark work out with me 2x a week changed how I felt about exercise, about the club and about my body. For the first time ever I felt like I belonged at the club - I knew what to do and didn't care about what everyone else was doing or what they thought of me. It's the best money I ever spent on me. I never thought I'd enjoy exercise or feel comfortable at the club but I actually do. Now I just have to get my diet back in line :-).

Britt

Dayenu,

Here is how I would look at it: You are "as fat as I am" 24 hours a day
and you would be working out 1 hour three or so times a week.

168 hours a week hating being fat against 3 hours a week hating
working out a gym, or treadmill, aerobic class or whatever. Do the
math. Good luck.

I'd just like to commisserate and say I'm in the same boat. The few times I exercised really regularly, lost weight, felt much better.......still hated every minute. Even the feeling better and looking better, new clothes etc. was never enough to keep me from falling off the "wagon". Who are those people who love exercise or get good endorphins?
There are those I'm glad exercise. There are a few guys at work I've known that are serious runners, they are also serious obssessive nervous types. I think without exericse they'd go postal. I don't know whether they enjoy it, I think they NEED it or they feel like they're going crazy. When I feel that way a piece of bacon usually calms me down:)

We have to do many things in our lives that we don't "love" to do. But we do them anyway because the consequences for not doing them is greater than our dislike of the activity.

I dont 'love' to go to work, but if I want the paycheck, and the lifestyle that goes with it, I do it. I dont 'love' to clean my house, but to live in a pigsty is not acceptable to me, so I clean. I certainly dont love going to the dentist, but having tooth aches from untreated cavities is less pleasant, so I go. Changing diapers, visiting inlaws, getting your drivers license renewed, that annual trip to the ob/gyn...who loves doing those things? But we do them anyway.

I dont love to exercise. But I hate being fat. I hate being unhealthy. I hate when my knees ache and Im huffing and puffing after a flight of stairs. I hate feeling uncomfortable in my clothes. I hate feeling like the fattest woman in the room, the fattest mom in my daughters school, the fattest wife among our friends. I hate wondering if my husband is disgusted by my body, or if my daughter is embarrassed of me. And most of all, I hate the possibility of developing the health problems my parents and grandparents developed, mostly due to poor living habits. So I'm going to exercise, because the alternative is not acceptable to me.

You dont need a gym to exercise. All you need is 2 legs and a pair of comfortable shoes. Walking is the best form of exercise you can do and you dont need special equipment or a gym membership to do it. Just lace up those shoes and off you go.

You have a right to be turned off. Here's a few suggestions. First of all, get over the stress, guilt and negative feelings. You're entitled to like, love or hate whatever it is, so OWN that and chill.

Next, DON'T put a time limit on yourself, instead find at the library a CD or cassette on self-hynosis. It could be one that is general and various things you want to change or purely exercise. Then...give yourself at least a few months to enjoy it and listen to it. That's all! LEave yourself alone and you will grow into whatever it is YOU, the inner YOU, sees. The outer you will just be a reflection of that. Prayer/meditation is how I begin and I ask God to bless my inner time to reflect His design for me.

Between Him and the inner YOU the outer YOU doesn't have a chance to fail. Be kind to yourself and approach this as "what if" it's true, possible kind of thing.

You'll see! Blessings!

Exercise can be seriously boring and painful. Also, people are afraid of getting hurt and/or being watched while exercising while being big. I've had overweight friends tell me all of this. I breaks my heart when they told me before they knew me,they thought I'd judge them for being "hideously fat and too lazy to exercise"(their words believe me!) How awful! A person who judges peps on their looks is shallow and mean. Would someone want that person's approval anyway? Believe me when I tell you that kind of a person will always exploit another person's vulnerablilties overweight or no and we ALL have vulnerabilities.
Our bodies really aren't the enemy. Pain is an indicator that something is wrong. I also believe boring is a sign that my mind is telling me I'm wasting my time! My time is limited and important,thank you.
Pain=bad.No pain,no gain is BS! Not wanting to be in pain is sensible. Just listen to your body and take it slow and easy! Did you know that power walking to uplifting music is better for you than jogging or running? Does the weather stink? Cruise around the mall early and you'll probably run into others doing the same thing. I'd leave the plastic at home if shopping calls to you tho...
Hiking. Wonderful exercise instead of going around and around on a track.
It's true dancing around in the living room is private,free and good for you.
Personally I do Yoga and Martial Arts because I could do it a thousand years and still learn something new. Not everyone in Martial arts is slim and trim. The higher belts are in better shape than a new student but that's because they liked it so much the practice was fun.
Yoga is also hard/impossible to master. For me that's interesting.
I learned Yoga after a few lessons on the basics at home. Find what interests you that's physical and go for it!PJ

Oh I hear ya!
I joined one of those small "women's" type circuit gym's about 2 yrs ago. Went every day for about 4 mos. and hated every minute of it. I didn't lose alot of weight but did feel better and my body definitely did tone and I felt better which is why I stayed with it. Then they moved about 20 min from me so I quit.
Our local YMCA just had a special (no reg fees) so we joined. I figured it would be good for the whole family to go and participate in something that interests each of us.
I go at least 6 times a week. I love their YOGA classes. I have lower back problems and it really make a difference in my day to day life. I do that 2x a week plus throw in another class either lower body or pilates etc...
The fitlinxx computerized progress monitering really inspires me to do more. Now I don't mind going- in fact I look forward to it. I can do my whole routine on the wt. machines in just under an hour and my cardio (the bike -which I still hate) 3x a week in 15 min blocks- meaning I do 15 before my wt circuit and 15 after and it's not so bad. I can tell you that my mp3 player totally saves me.
When I'm on that Glute machine (again-hate it!)and feel like I can't do another rep I can scan to something hard core on my mp3 and push thru another 5 or 6 reps w/o a problem.
Saying "find somethign you like to do" to a non-exerciser just doesn't do it. I say try something new. Something you don't know if you like it or not. I don't LOVE anything (except yoga) but I'll try something new just to get the idea or see if it's for me.
Now it's fun. I look forward to it everyday and miss it on days I don't go.

try posting a really Unflattering (more frankly, FAT) picture of yourself on the refrigerator door, exercise machine, mirror, or anywhere where you can see it and it can mock you so you can get more encouragement. kinda works for me:)

Ohhhhh gypsyjane - I have to intercede here. The photo idea might work for some people, but I think that most of us who are overweight need to build our self esteem not tear it down further. I am glad it helps you, but I would counsel anyone considering that to be very sure that it wouldn't be discouraging to them.

I have been a lifelong couch potato who morphed into a mouse potato with the advent of the internet. I have been heavy and uncomfortable for a long time, but once I was diagnosed with diabetes I jumped into exercise with both feet. I first had to realize that a long range plan had to offer me something that included some social rewards so I started walking with a neighbor and exercising at the senior citizen facility. I am 20 years younger than the other participants but I have had to work really hard to keep up.

It may take you a while to find something that is right for you. In addition to my group exercise, I also have a stationary bike that is right smack in front of the TV. I tried a less obtrusive location - but it just didn't work for me, so we just live around it and I don't worry about how it looks to visitors.

Great thread.
I just began an exercise program (long over due!).
My wife has one of those cardio glide machines, and I thought I would give it a try. I think it does a pretty decent job working the major muscles...heart, arms, legs, abs.
Also, I felt better after my workout.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone else is familiar with this machine and had any results to share?

thanks,

jasper

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Here is a link that might be useful: Cardio Glide

One sure-fire way is to stop saying you hate excercise. Say to yourself "I love to excercise" and other positive affirmations. Get HOW TO HEAL YOUR LIFE by Louise Hay for directions and guidance about affirmations.