I have been struggling recently with getting myself motivated for exercise. It is darker for more of the day and it is always colder. I know I need to get moving, but I find myself saying “I will start tomorrow a lot.” And then the tomorrows come and the exercise gets pushed. Sure, I am busy, but not busy enough to use this as an excuse for not moving. I could just do 20 situps daily and I don’t even do that…

So now I am thinking about ways to change this. I told my partner that we will be walking daily. No questions, we will just make a commitment to taking our daily walk. It will be great for so many reasons. Exercise, spending time together, getting fresh air and hopefully also some sunlight. If my partner won’t come one day I will take my phone or ipod to keep me company. Or I will not take anything and force myself to take a mental break. (I find sometimes it is hard for me to just sit and stare and think because technology and ways to occupy myself are so readily available!)

I will also need to find another kind of exercise, one that gets my heart rate up a bit and does not cost too much money. What could I do? In my apartment complex there is a gym that we get to use for free, which is great! How much easier could they make it for me to exercise? Climate-controlled room with equipment and there are also TVs to watch while you move so you don’t get bored.

I don’t know who will be reading this, but I am making a commitment to you that I will go down to the exercise room at least 3 days this week. Phew! I did it! I will report back at the end of the week and we will see how I did. I will also report on my daily walking progress. I think I will call Sunday a break day. Alright, until next time, then. If anybody out there wants to be my “workout buddy” I would really love that. We could keep each other motivated. Until later, Eszter

Best of luck to you! i too need someone for motivation, i have a stairstepper and normally just get on there to get some exercise or make my son go out and take a walk with me. That is great you have a place to work out where you live, take full advantage of it! And remember that you are doing this for you and you will feel so much better.

Progress report as promised.

Went to the gym 3 times last week and already once this week! I just did about half an hour of the exercise that seemed most pleasant at the time and I already feel so much better. I am going to try to keep the momentum going.

I also went on a walk 5 times….which I know falls short of the 6 I promised, but it was rainy. I did go to WalMart though and shopped for an hour, pacing the isles - does that count?

If anyone wants to be my gym buddy, that would be so great… we could keep each other motivated.

Until next time, Eszter

ps. I can’t wait for the weather to get even better so I can do more stuff outside besides the walks.

And wilddiva, thank you SO much for your kind words! I hope the stairstepper and the walks with your son are going well. You were absolutely right, I feel so much better! Does your son like going on walks as well? Let me know how things go!
And thanks again for the motivation. It really mattered to me that I promised myself and More of Me to Love forum folks that I will “just do it.”

hi Eszter,
Sounds like you are doing well with your exercise, thats great! I still am taking walks when the weather permits and doing my stair stepper, i feel so much better when i stay active. Yes, my son loves to take walks or anything that is active he has enough energy for you and me together ha! let us know how you are coming along!:)

Hi Eszter,

Just walking thru the feeds for the first time in several weeks and saw this thread of yours.  One of the things that I have been pre paving for is a buddy to do physical activity with.  I look forward to meeting someone who can be compatible to my level of physical fitness.  I think the best scenario would be someone who came to my apartment building three or four times a week to go do something physical.

Finding the motivation to do it myself seems like a big challenge for me.  One of the things that keeps me from getting started is the feeling that somehow I am good if I exercise and I am bad if I don’t I am very opposed to feeling bad…  I have done that all my life, and FA is about getting away from those moral judgements.

I hope to get over the the local YMCA to check out the special they have this month where they waive the registration fee to join.  I know they have a great pool.  Wouldn’t it be great if there was some sort of s senior water aerobics that I could join in on.

I want to find ways to move my body that are fun and that I am inspired and motivated to do.  The only thing I have found so far is a monthly drum circle which I LOVE LOVE LOVE.

I hope to find other activities and buddies to do them with as time goes on.

Cheers,

Ivan

Hi there,

Thanks so much for the comments, WildDiva and Ivan!

Motivation was the problem for me to at the beginning (and still sometimes, but less and less). I love it after I exercise, but sometimes it is hard to get in the habit. I actually found my posting here very helpful: it was like I promised to you (and anyone else who may have read my promise to walk and exercise a few times a week) that I will do something. And I am energized by my commitment!

I thought it may feel daunting that I *have* to go exercise because I said it on More of Me to Love, but instead it feels really cool. That my progress has some sort of accountability and that I get to actually be proud when I do end up living up to my promise.

So I have been biking 3 times a week since my initial post. I said I would walk everyday, which has not been going so great, but I have been walking several times a week each week. So that is something! And whenever I am back froma walk I think, hmmmm, that’s great, I will get to post this in the forum! :-) It is awesome to realize how energizing getting up from my desk and even just taking a walk around our apartment complex can be! And the fresh air is great, though the weather gets ugly sometimes.

I can definitely feel that I am better because of the exercise. And I don’t do anything hardcore, just about 25 minutes on the stationary bike in the gym. While I bike I read a magazine and the time flies! I also tried to get my friend who lives in my building to join so maybe it will be the two of us from now on :-)

Thanks so much again for the feedback and sharing your thoughts. Wilddiva it is so cool that you spend such quality time with your son and Ivan, I think you should definitely seek that gym buddy or register for the YMCA! Maybe you can even talk to them about what they would recommend by way of pool exercise (in case they don’t have the class you mentioned).

HI E,

Congrats on the victories you posted about around movement and thank you for the suggestions.

I think it is great that you posted a reply today.  I have had the amount of movement I am doing each day on my mind a lot.  I did actually sign up for the YMCA and took advantage of the waiver of the registration fee.  I am going to see if I can fit the monthly fee into my budget.

I have thought more about my Fat Acceptance journey and I really feel the need to accept exactly where I am right now with my resistance to movement.  I think posting about it here is good, however, I do not want to make a promise here on this forum right now.  It brings up the same feelings of shame and disappointment in self that I would experience when making promises about food and not keeping them.

That being said, I have yet to actually make it to the pool and I am 10 days into my membership. 

I want to blog about this but feel safer just chatting it up with you right now in this thread.  Maybe I will blog about it.

Well come to think of it, I have already blogged about it. - http://fatinnyc.blogspot.com/2009/12/morality-of-my-fat-acceptance.html

Most important is that I am not getting to feel the good feelings that go along with appealing movement.  Then there are the health implications.  Finally there is what i blogged about, the morality of it which is the biggest part of it for me.  I don’t like that I am making my acceptability on a moral basis contingent on how much exercise I get.  Somehow, I think that my lack of movement needs to be divorced from my morality, yet I feel stuck around this.

Anyway, I am very grateful for MMTL and to you for this forum to chat about this.  If this feels like it it too far off topic for this forum, please forgive me.  Just felt inspired to write this here.

Cheers,

Ivan