Yes there are. First you are overweight but now probably not nearly as out of shape. Secondly, if it took you years to gain that extra hundred its probably gonna take about as long to loose it. But thats fine too. Imagine in a couple of years you’ll possiblly be way more fit and AND weigh much less if you can keep up this minor but very important trend.
Just admit you don’t want to exercise. You don’t need to threadshit every fitness thread with your excuses.
And Law & Order reruns. Those cats are ALWAYS eating. Delicious takeout food too, just like you could have at your home in 30 minutes or less…
A couple of things.
I don’t know if this is backed by science at all, but for me, it always seems that it takes a couple of weeks of exercise and eating well for things to kick in. If I am trying to lose weight, the first couple of weeks don’t do much, but then things start to move faster after that. YMMV
Also, as has been said, even if you don’t lose the weight, you will have other benefits.
Appearance-wise, you’re dead on. It generally takes a couple of weeks of weight loss before you start to notice a change in your body, and a couple of weeks past that before others notice. What I think is most frustrating for people is that they “seem” to be going nowhere at the beginning when they weigh themselves… as others in this thread have pointed out, muscle weighs more than fat. You’re much healthier at the same weight, but people get discouraged, quit, and insist “exercising doesn’t work for me.”
Bumping this because I found this.
Yesterday, I skipped exercising because I had a pretty rough day and felt too down to exert myself in the evening. Today I’m going to exert myself.
Running after two little kids counts as exercise too, you know.
I agree that exercise is a terrific antidote for anxiety and depression - especially outdoor exercise, where you’re getting fresh air and sunshine. I always feel better after I’ve been outside (I’ve heard rumours that sunlight stimulating your pineal gland through your eyes is a good mood-booster).
Firstly, you don’t have to do it in the morning. I don’t work out until after dinner/dishes/housework are done in the evening. You could go for a walk at lunchtime/afternoon break. You could set up a walking club at work (we have one here and, frankly, I just can’t stand the people in the club but they are getting good health benefits).
Second, if you DO need to do it in the morning, you will have to take the young’uns with you. They will think it is cool (well, the two year old anyway) because they are with Daddy.
Thirdly, I sounded like you only a couple of months ago. I made every excuse imaginable to my doctor for not exercising. It has taken consideration on my husband’s part for me to be able to go off and work out. He has to pick up some of the things that I would have been doing had I been home.
I agree with you, perfectparanoia - if there’s a will to get exercise, you will find a way. I tend to not just go for a walk - I need to feel like I’m going for a walk for a reason, so I got a little cart, and I walk for groceries at least a couple of times a week (I have three supermarkets in walking distance). I have a shopping mall in walking distance, so I like to walk over there to do some shopping (which often results in not buying anything, but I like to check things out and walk around in the stores). My bank is in walking distance, so I often wander on over there to do my banking. I have a library in walking distance, too, so I can always wander over there to pick up some dvds or something. Things like that get me motivated to get off the couch and get outside.
Run for 15 minutes, twice a day. Budget: $0. Well, maybe a little bit of extra wear and tear on the sneakers.
If you’re a grad student, you have a lot to do, but for the most part it’s on a pretty flexible schedule, so you should be able to fit it in somewhere. If you want to, that is.
What if you don’t have a will? How do you get it if you don’t have it?
I have no motivation whatsoever to exercise (I might even have a negative motivation; I’m tired of getting teased by random strangers - and no, it’s not a common occurrence, but it’s the ones you remember), no one to inspire any motivation from outside, and no urgent “oh my God I have to or I’ll die” reason. All I have is this conception that I should (it would be great for my state of mind sometimes, if previous posts are any indication - not that it’s at all serious, but who couldn’t use a mental pick-me-up?), but the minute I come home after eleven and a half hours away at work or on a commute, a mere conception won’t be enough.
There sure are. You’re going to be in much better overall physical shape, as long as you do that sort of exercise.
Dunno what you’re doing on the diet front, but don’t expect much in the way of weight loss from exercise: it takes a really impressive amount of exercise to burn the 3500 calories (IIRC) that represent one pound of weight.
If your goal is losing weight, you adjust your diet.
If your goal is being in good physical shape for whatever weight you’re at, you exercise.
If you want to lose weight and get in better shape, you diet and exercise.
I always thought it would be neat to hook the TV up to a treadmill so you’d have to walk/run to power the TV. Wonder if you could generate enough power by walking?
I don’t have a cite for this, but I’ve read (maybe in Reader’s Digest?) of a study that showed that after 6 weeks of regular exercise, the participants in the study reported a marked improvement in their self-esteem, regardless of the amount of weight lost.
Like I said in my OP, it’s not about weight loss. It’s just about exercise. No matter what you weigh or what fitness level you’re at (or no level at all), exercise significantly improves your quality of life. If you’re 500 pounds and you exercise, you’re much better off than if you’re 500 pounds and don’t exercise.
And like the video in the OP says, it doesn’t have to be doing a triathalon. Just move more.
I just spent the last five minutes staring at this post. It’s such a good question. It reminds me of the Chuck Palahniuk quote that’s currently written on an index card in my purse: “All the effort in the world won’t matter if you’re not inspired.”
In order for you to succeed at anything, you have to want the benefits of one action more than the benefits of the alternate action. In other words, until you want to be healthy and in shape MORE than you want the pleasure of getting home from work, putting your feet up, and relaxing, you won’t have the proper motivation to get in shape. (Although I feel compelled to comment that when I frequently had to work 11 hour days, I made sure to work out before I got in to work in the morning.)
Anyways, the best advice I can think to give is to read up on the benefits of exercising versus being sedentary, consider them, and just let it roll around in your head. Don’t force yourself, because, to be perfectly honest, it’s just not going to work until you honestly want it (and I have never seen anyone successfully force themselves to want something).
Just to add a little anecdote: I have a friend who has spent years letting her weight get out of control. She would have these little spurts of motivation to exercise, which would peter out within a week. She finally got so big that when she flew in an airplane she had to ask the flight attendant for a seatbelt extender. She felt so ashamed and embarrassed that she firmly resolved to take control of her weight, and she’s lost nearly 70 lbs. since that incident on the airplane.
If I had the motivation to get up at 5:50 am to work out and still leave enough time for me to get to work, I wouldn’t be having a motivation issue in the first place. 
Thanks for the rest of your thoughts, though. I’m not sure I’m in a state yet where I’ll honestly want to do a damn thing (I’m also not overweight, which is a key motivator, despite all the posts here that say that exercise is not a part of weight loss), but who knows.
Great video.
For a long time I found it difficult to get enough “exercise”. I’ve found the best and easiest way to get and stay active is to make it a necessary part of your daily lifestyle. Between working a physical job, walking my dogs, commuting via bike, taking the stairs everywhere I can, doing isometrics when I am sitting, etc, I’d say I wouldn’t have the energy to use a gym membership - but I totally would. I also do some strength training at home. The more I do, the more I am capable of. I have more energy (and strength) now than I ever did in the past 10 years, much of which I spent being sedentary.
This thread inspired me to become more active. I’ve been trying to get out for a walk every day. I’ve known for a while that exercise is a keystone habit (one of those habits that generally leads to other good habits), but having it put this way in the video, I’d feel stupid not to make a change.
Already been done (would work better if a battery was added; the TV used is a 12 volt DC powered TV but you could also use an AC powered TV without an inverter by bypassing the AC-DC power supply, maybe also add another load if the TV doesn’t draw enough power by itself for a good walking speed, or use a (larger) CRT TV).