The main reason is that I’m competitive, even if it’s with myself. I have to pass that cyclist on the path or beat my last run time for the route.
Another big part is that I just generally want to be a healthy person. I’m not slim by any means, but I can still run 20K and I feel so stoked that my body can do that. I think I’d go crazy if I couldn’t exercise.
The last part is that I’m a fitness instructor, so I get paid to work out!
I get depressed if I don’t either exercise or dance. I think better if I exercise. My jobs all entail sitting in front of the computer so I have to do something.
I don’t particularly LIKE exercise but I do like playing tennis and dancing, and I don’t like being depressed.
Moving has thrown me off a bit. I haven’t been to the gym in three weeks. But I’ve lifted a lot of boxes. Apparently that doesn’t count because I still feel a bit depressed.
Pretty much to not be fat, and to be healthy enough to engage in physical activity. I’ve always been thin, and I LOVE to eat. I don’t think I’m overly vain, but I simply prefer the way I look when I’m relatively fit, and would not wish to look and feel significantly out of shape.
My goals have certainly changed. I used to run marathons, play hoops, compete in martial arts. At that time I was always trying to improve some aspect of my fitness. Now, it is pretty much limited to maintenance. At times it can be tough to strike the balance between a workout that you feel you are deriving benefit from, as opposed to one that kicks your ass and you feel like it tore you down. Exercising at 47 is a far cry from 37, 27, or 17!
The supposed health/longevity benefits are a motivation as well. If eating reasonably well and working out somewhat will extend my healthy lifespan, well, that would be great. It will suck, however, if the only extra time I gain is the hours I spent busting my ass in the gym!
On a practical not, I’m going paintballing tomorrow with my 18 y-o son and 17 y-o daughter, and don’t want to embarrass myself by being little more than a lumbering target!
I know I can’t avoid many of the things in which I am like my mother. I know there’s things in which I am like her and which aren’t bad. But those things which are, imo, bad and which I can avoid, I intend to. I can look at how her and tell that her back hurts more when she weighs more (and figure out mine will too), I can be sleeping at her house and hear that she snores a lot less than when she was 5 kg heavier.
“My weight” is higher than it was for 20 years, but I can weigh the same being a fluffy size 18 or being a tight size 14, so I’ll do all I can (food, walk - I can’t tolerate most of the activities that go under “exercise”) to stay on the tight side. Cos it’s MY back and it has to last me for another 60 years.
There’s a public exercise area (with pool, although that’s currently under renovation, gym and whatnot) within walking distance of my house; you can get a membership (ugh) or “pay per use”. I intend to visit it before the weather goes bad. Apparently there is a private one even closer, I know more-or-less where and want to locate it soon.
Seeing the look on the day-glo dressed crowd’s faces when they realize “the fatty” bench-presses double her weight is a nice occasional plus.
Funny how those motivations change, isn’t it? When I was younger and doing marathons, it was to prove that I could - to myself and others - and impress others with my slim physique. Today it’s because it’s because it feels good and it’s my responsibility to me and my family to make sure my body lasts as long as possible in as good a shape as possible.
When I was younger, hell, even in 2003 when I first joined this board, I was determined not to be fat and look bad. Now I’m determined to be healthy and feel good. I fought the change in motivation as hard as I could, so certain that the only way to go was running because that’s what I did when I was younger. Now that I’m older (okay, just 32, but having a kid makes a big difference in your personal goals) and not focused on being cool, I still run but don’t really beat myself up if I feel like using the elliptical or walking in stead. It doesn’t matter as long as it keeps me moving.
I just hope that when I’m your age, I’ll be able to kick my son’s butt paintballing, too. Don’t mess with mommy.
I want to exercise. My only problem is I’m self-conscious about exercising in front of other people. I can’t explain it, but I’d rather sit in my room and do push-ups and sit-ups for a while instead of going to the gym and running on a treadmill/doing weights for an hour.
My problem is I can’t get into a routine. I play ultimate frisbee for a few hours on Fridays, and sometimes on Saturdays I go out and do parkour with a friend of mine (he’s really good, I’m just starting out) but that’s the extent of it. I’ve been blessed with a rather fast metabolism and all my friends say I’m not that fat but I feel fat. I guess it’s just that while I appear relatively thin, most of my body mass isn’t muscle tone and that’s what I really want to work on if I could ever get into a routine.
So I guess if I did exercise, my main motivation would be to get stronger/be more in shape since I’m pretty okay with my physical appearance as it stands. There are little self-conscious nigglings every now and then but I don’t think exercising would change it.
Likewise. My parents both have Type II diabetes, and I want to avoid that if at all possible. And I’d be lying if I said that appearance weren’t also a big part of it. Also, I’m prone to insomnia and I’ve found that if I work out regularly, I sleep much better.
I think it’s a tremendous disservice we do by being obsessed by weight. I can gain weight by working out and not lose a tremendous amount of fat doing so…yet…I’m much healthier for doing so. I see the almost super-human attention it takes to drop body fat percentage and think I’m okay carrying 10-15 lbs of lard more than I should…just so long as I can still bike and bench-press and sprint up the stairs.
Mine is probably unique: we’re in the process of adopting a baby girl from China. Things have slowed way down, and what used to be a year-long process is now projected at three years or longer. Some new regulations have been passed in the meantime, and if we have to renew our paperwork again, we’ll end up having to meet the new requirements, one of which is being below a certain BMI. So, I’m losing weight for my child, who I haven’t met yet. Like I told my wife, it sucks, but that’s what being a parent is: sometimes you have to do stuff that’s not pleasant for you, because your kids need you to.
I joined track a few years ago for reasons that continue to motivate me today: I want to eat as much as I want without worrying too much, running kept me from going home and doing nothing every single day after school, and it was sort of a challenge in something I’ve never been good at (I had done sports and Tae Kwon Do for a couple years, but never at a competitive level).
Now I probably still run despite the aches and pains because of my teammates. It's fun to geek out about times and the competition, and the bond I have with them is kind of like the bond that people who were in the military together have.
Obviously, there’s the weight issue. Like everyone else, I put on pregnancy pounds and am finding it hard to lose them. I’ve been overweight for a long time, but the extra pounds brought on by the pregnancy have put it over the edge into the “Enough! Time for action!” mode.
Then there’s the “want to be able to play and keep up with my kids” thing. She’s only 8 months right now, but toddler-hood is right around the corner and I know it’s going to take all my energy to chase her around. (I’m already getting a taste of it now she can crawl.)
As for day-to-day motivation, having a child has actually made it easier to get my rear up off the couch and over to Jazzercise everyday. Because I’m already up, taking care of her. Going back to bed is no longer an option, just vegging on the couch is no longer an option. I might as well go work out!
I find it easier if I don’t think about it before I go. I don’t debate…should I or shouldn’t I? I just go. And I always feel great afterwards. Plus I’ve actually found a workout program that I think is fun, which is vital, IMHO.
I started to lose weight. I was very obese and it just hit a point where I had to do something about it. I started doing South Beach and exercising. At first I was winded doing 30 minutes at a walk on a flat surface on my treadmill. Now I’m jogging on a slight incline for 20 minutes. I alternate between that and an aerobics/weights/abs dvd to help get some toning. Since last Sept I’ve lost over 116 pounds.
I joined a ridiculously, embarrassingly expensive gym. Primarily because my old gym sucked balls. It was crowded all the time, even at 5AM or late at night. The pool was tiny and stank, and there were never lanes available. Consequently, I hardly ever went, because working out there was a nightmare.
My new place is awesome. Never, ever crowded, even in the middle of the day. There are always machines available, the pool is gigantic (for Manhattan) and has amazing views of the river, there’s a 1/4 mile indoor track, the locker rooms are really nice, and myriad other coolnesses. But the motivation is looking at the bill every month: if I’m shelling out that kind of cash, I’d better damn sure make the most of it!