Time to forget the Excuses and Exercise.
There is a word that makes most people who are starting on the road to weight loss cringe, exercise. Ideally, there would be a pill that you could take the night before and wake up thin but that hasn’t been invented yet. Believe me, I would have known about it by now.
Eating healthy is the first step to losing all the unwanted weight but not the only step. The second step and a big step is exercise. If you have been sedentary for a while then chances are your body’s metabolism has slowed down. I think of it as if I am lazy, my body feels it can be lazy. We all know that without speeding up the metabolism weight loss is an uphill battle.
I find that when I add exercise to eating healthy, the pounds seem to melt away. Problem is I can make up all the excuses that everyone has to not exercise. I have been a faithful member of many gyms, going dutifully each day for at least an hour, only to stop one day one to two months after joining and never setting foot in it again. I instead stop exercising completely and in another 6-8 months when I decide maybe I should start again; I join another gym, buy another exercise video, or contraption, and start over. Well, all those videos, weights, stretchy-ropes, medicine balls, and everything else wind up in my closet.
I always have a great excuse to stop. I have problems with my legs so that first time I have some pain, that’s it. I am a busy person; I have too much going on and do not have time to fit in the exercise. (But I always have time to watch my favorite shows at night or go out with friends.)
I often forget how good I feel after I exercise. I find exercise as a way to not only make myself feel better physically but also as a way to destress my life. I tend to exercise by myself. I find that the alone time gives my mind time to wander and that in itself destresses me.
So, why do I stop? I am not sure. But I am not going to stop this time. Any form of activity helps throughout the day. Exercise does not have to be a chore, nor does it need to be hard. I tend to walk most of the time. I have a treadmill in my house and use it three times a week. It gets boring though walking in place even if I have something to watch or read so I tend to walk outside at a local park or in town, the rest of the week.
This is low impact and usually does not have an effect on my body. Sometimes I do have pain but that is because of other issues and usually isn’t aggravated by walking. That is just an excuse.
I suggest that when first starting to exercise take it slow. Exercise for a few minutes at a time, once or twice a day and gradually increase the time that you exercise. Don’t worry about your friend who can run a marathon. Just focus on baby steps. You are more likely to continue to exercise when you have not overexerted yourself in the first week. Do not do what I used to do and if for some reason you were not able to exercise a little one day, do not take it as a break from all exercise for the rest of your life.
Exercise will make you feel better as well as help you lose more weight faster.