Why Don't You Exercise?

"I'm embarrassed and feel stupid." This is the main reason I don't work out. I live with two other young women much slimmer than I who tease me when I make healthy choices. Neither of them have struggled with their weight and don't understand that their put-downs complicate things for me. My self-esteem isn't too high and I would like all the encouragement and support I can get from friends and family.

Some other thoughts that have been plaguing my mind all month about exercise (yes, it has been over a month since I have bothered) are:

"Tomorrow I will waste all my efforts and overeat."
"There is no immediate gain and if I haven't been exercising regularly before what makes me think I will stay on track this time?"
"I would rather catch up on sleep and rest for tonight and exercise tomorrow."

Also, someone put a mirror on the wall oposite to all the exercise equiptment and it isn't fun to be watching myself! :)

We bought a treadmill last year, and it was one of the best investments we made. I didn't think about reasons NOT to exercise. Instead, I just did it. For weeks, I didn't want to get on BEFORE I got on and was very glad I did at the end of the 45 minutes.

I listen to music and find that the right music for me is a huge asset.

I don't think about exercise; I just do it.

I agree with Georgia who said embarrassment really stops. Getting out of breath immediately, face red and sweating, is embarrassing and humiliating to me, especially when I am with someone who has not even broke a sweat. I try to not let it stop me, but there are many times I am afraid it does.

I was kind of embarassed when I first started working out at a gym, mostly just because I felt akward on the equipment. Now, six months later, I can see a huge improvement, I don't feel at all uncomfortable any more, I am a size smaller and I have so much more endurance.

If you are uncomfortable doing to a gym, try taking some really long walks.

I haven't been to the gym in two weeks because I've been sick with a sinus infection and I'm really looking forward to it. Not really to going to the gym but the way I feel when I'm done.

I don't think there's anything embarrasing about getting red in the face and sweating but I've noticed that the sweating and redness is much reduced after I've gotten in better shape, so that is something to look forward to.

I made a lot of attempts to exercise before, and I always gave up, but this time for some reason I just kept going. So even if you have quit before, just keep trying and likely someday it will stick.

Sorry, I guess those really aren't excuses for not exercising in my comment above. I don't really have any, except for being sick or if I have work deadlines.

A few years ago, I was lucky enough to be in Carmel California and was running by the ocean near Pebble Beach. I rounded a turn in the path and suddenly saw an older man in plaid kilts and tunic! He looked at me and said in the thickest of Scottish accents," It must feel good to have your muscles stretch and work in the early morning air!" Well, yes it did!
It's not uncommon for people to comment to me about how easy it must be for me to do this or that exercise since I'm fit. I've thought about this. It's not easy at all. Exercise takes commitment and work. But perhaps, if anything, I'm fortunate because I have always been able to get myself to do it. And that has made all the difference.

Don't think of something, like exercise or losing weight, as "hard" or "difficult." Think of it as a challenge.

To think of failure is to invite failure.

I like to exercise especially if you do it with a group, like inviting friends for basketball. Exercising alone can be boring. But when I go out to play with my friends, I forget about my problems. What's nice is to get two advantages in just one package. I get to exercise and at the same time I have fun.

My hair, my hair and my hair. That's my excuse - although I just think about what's more important to me - and it's not my hair. I must say - I go to the gym daily and I don't care about what anyone else is doing or how they look and I don't think they care about me. The only time I ever really examine anybody else (other than the eye candy aspect) is only in a positive way when they are doing some exercise that I think I might want to try.

This is what keeps me from cardio at least - "It will make me hungry." Also, "It's so boring!!" The idea of running to nowhere on a treadmill, even taking a walk outside, makes me cringe.
LOL, I'm so lazy!

i exercise... sometimes :) usually at the end of the day, i'd like to collapse, not tire myself out more. i'm just lazy.

While it's a little bit hard at the beginning, once you make a -habit-- out of excercising, it just becomes another part of your day. In fact, once it becomes a habit, it's hard NOT to excercise.

I would also recommend listening to audiobooks as a way to make cardio exercises less tedious. You will become fit AND well-read!

Now, get out there and get a habit!

ADVICE!!! When you go to a gym make a schedule in your head for all the equipment you're going to do and for how long you're going to do them.

Don't make it too hard but not too easy either. After completing the schedule you will feel like what you did actually made a difference and that you didn't waste you time. Tell yourself way to go for succeeding!

Also, change up the schedule each time you go if you don't like routines, but constantly increase the time or difficulty at each machine for challenge and endurance!

Cardio makes me hungry, so I EAT! And I'm losing fat.

Fear of embarassment and humiliation were a big point stopping me from going to the gym for a long time. Much more so than the "it's too hard, I'm too lazy" excuse. I thought the gym would be full of buff studs and skinny chix in spandex who would stare, point, titter, etc. Well, in my experience it's not like that at all. My gym is populated with ordinary people just like me (well, maybe not quite so fat) who are there because they need to exercize. They care about themselves and their own workout, not the other people sweating around them. The few who talk to me at all are very supportive. For people who still fear ridicule, go when the gym is pretty empty, like late evenings on week days, or mid-afternoon on weekends.