Sunday, February 12, 2012

Exercise....the bane of my existence!!


I hate exercise.  I always have.  Gym class was always something I dreaded & detested, not enjoyed.   I did it because I had to, not because I wanted to.   I hated having to run.  I would even conveniently “not feel well” during PE to get out of it!  I was never athletically inclined or coordinated.  I felt like any physical activity was awkward (running, dancing, sports, etc), so I just avoided it as much as possible.  I didn’t like or understand the concept of team sports.  My parents aren’t “sporty” people, so I didn’t feel naturally drawn (or pushed) to participate in any sports.  I did play t-ball a few summers when I was in elementary school….I sucked at it and hated it (except for the social part, lol).  Maybe it’s just that I never tried enough things to find my niche?  I think that tennis might not be too terrible.  Volleyball isn’t horrible. 
Unfortunately, I have continued that pattern of only working out when required.  I could probably count on one hand the number of times I have voluntarily gone to the gym or worked out.  I have allowed myself to avoid it.  I am so fortunate that my company provides a FULLY PAID membership to the Y and it is just crazy that I don’t take advantage of it.  So many people have to make budgetary sacrifices to have a gym membership and I am taking this opportunity for granted.  I struggle with when to go to the gym.  I am not a morning person.  To get up early and work out is sooooooo difficult for me!  I have some male co-workers that go at lunch.  Ewwwwww.  I work in a professional office and getting sweaty and gross and coming back to work is not my idea of fun.  I do not consider myself to be a natural beauty so it takes a lot of work for me to look like this (hair, makeup).  Then there is after work…..being a mom, the family to-do list in the evenings (dinner, homework, bath, etc) seems never-ending!  I should probably go to the gym before coming home and getting distracted, but I never seem to be that prepared.  Then after working all day and herding my children in the evening, I seem to run out of energy and never make it after family time in the evenings either.  I know, i know……just lots of excuses.  So basically I just never go.  In the past I never really even considered going, so didn’t pay attention to the fact that I wasn’t.  As I try to lose weight and get more healthy,  I haven’t yet started going to the gym.  But I am pleased to announce that I have at least been THINKING about going, and quite a bit actually!  :-)  For me, that is MAJOR progress.  
So my goal here is to increase my physical activity and make it into a habit that I never had before.  At least 30 minutes of physical activity a day (and hopefully increasing that over time)….walking, bike, elliptical, rowing, swimming….something.  I would even like to try zumba that I have heard so many great things about. 
My daughters are required to run a 5k at the end of their fitness semester for school, and my oldest daughter just did hers last week.  She is much like me in nearly every way (food habits, physical appearance, hatred of working out) so when she said something about wanting to sign up for a local 5k run this spring, I nearly fell out of my chair!  So I thought I really need to “run” with this (pardon the pun) and encourage her to be more active and healthy too.  I have several friends that have done “Couch to 5k” program, so I think that would be interesting.  I have downloaded a podcast playlist to try.  Watch for future posts to see how that goes.
I have lost almost 30 pounds and have done really well with food for the last month+.  Since we got part of our tax return back I decided to treat myself to a treadmill to try to get started doing something.  I am hoping this will be the tool I need to begin having success in this area as well.  We ran out of time tonight, so didn't get it setup yet, but hopefully in the next night or two.  I am actually excited to get started.....hoping that feeling lasts!

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