I hope this doesn't sound too silly, but I believe I am afraid of exercising. I was leery of diets, never had one really work. Sure I tried Atkins once before, but I wasn't committed and I wasn't mentally prepared. I now realize the "stress eating" I was doing, and I know that I was almost afraid to get thinner - people noticing me, and I was comfortable with being fat. With thanks to this forum, I am on the straight and narrow of LC'ing ... eating-wise.

Exercising is another story.

I keep thinking, I am going to hurt myself if I do something strenuous. Waste money (which is tight) if I buy an exercise machine or join a gym.

I've had treadmills (nice clothes hanger) I've had a thigh machine (never made it out of the box). I am so used to having just about every joint hurt when I walk, still hurts from time to time, but no where near as much. I tried just simple stretching exercises - it lasted about 3 days. I stopped because "It won't do anyone as large as I am any good, so why do it?"

I *know* it will help, but like going back on the Atkins plan - I still have in the back of my head that it will not do any good, so I just *know* it won't do any good.

Who has any inspiring stories to share? Been there? How did you get over it? I NEED TO DO THIS! I've overcome the hurdle with eating, now I need to overcome this obstacle.

I need to exercise, Period. But I need help in reminding me and encouraging me. With all of your help, I will get over this mind trap!

hi

I dont know how to help you with the weightloss issue. I had always assumed people would want to look thinner because being thinner gives us a bigger boost in self-confidence. You being very comfortable being fat is sorta foreign to me....since I have been fat, I have been screaming to loose the weight. I find people stare at you more being fat than thin (try to sit in a roller coaster next time fat...that was the final draw for me being fat...I would take the "WOW stares" anytime than the "He's so fat, he cant even get in the roller coaster" stare. Trust me...I had about 200 people staring at me that day and I hadnt touch a slice of bread since.

In terms of exercising, I would suggest just to keep it very simple at first like walking. I walk with my wife at night because I am scared to spend $$$ on machines and gyms...so I am totally on par with you there. I would just take it slow and easy at first...thats what my wife and I are doing right now. NO machines, no gyms, just the street and the baby stroller.

If you ever need any emotional support you can email me or my wife anytime and we would love to talk with ya!

Rkhinman~hotmail.com

The best advice I can think of is to start small. You don't need a gym membership or a fancy, expensive piece of equitment. You need some good shoes and a place to walk. Anything that gets you going is good. Do the block. Do it twice. Make it a priority - out of bed and around the block first thing in the morning. Around twice after dinner.

Every tiny bit counts. Take the stairs instead of the escalator / elevator. Walk to the grocery store.

Don't make more of it than it is - just make it part of your WOL. It can be very habit forming and rather addicting (it does make you feel good, it makes you feel accomplished and it's a great self-esteem booster).

Would you feel better going for a walk with a friend? The buddy system works for some, not for others.

Remember, "no pain, no gain" is as big a fat lie as low fat eating It shouldn't hurt to get exercise in. It doesn't have to be intense and exhausting. It should be fun!

Nat

Hi Talon

I was interested to read your post and can really empathise with you. I have never been a great one for exercising as I did not do games at school for medical reasons. So, defineately became a couch potato. About 10 years ago I found toning tables. Do you call them that where you are. Basically there are usually 6 beds which you lie on, in turn, for about 10 minutes each and they move in a specific way to exercise one muscle group at a time. This is not strenuous, but tones up the muscles. You can work with the machine to get a better workout. No muscle ache afterwards and quite relaxing. I used to go once a week and really enjoyed it.

I discovered low carbing a year ago. It is my first anniversary tomorrow. Whilst I enjoyed doing Atkins I did not do any extra exercise, in some ways I did not know how. Being on my own I tend not to go out walking. I know that this would be great as it would help me a lot. Then last October I went on holiday to Turkey and was determined to go swimming. I had not been in a swimming pool for around 20 years. I managed to find a costume to fit - miracle of miracles. I went in the pool at the hotel and used it more for hydrotherapy rather than swimming. When I cam home I was determined not to give up swimming, but to go to a pool. At the same time there was a mailshot for a local gym which had a pool and I decided to investigate. As the joining fee was really low, special offer, I decided to join. I go to aquafit classes once a week which is really great. Roll on tomorrow morning. I started going to the gym. You have to have an induction session first and then they work you out a programme. It was good that they kept tabs on you over the first two months to see how you were progressing and to help you develop a more difficult regime. I found I was enjoying going to the gym, much to my surprise. Although I would not want to go some evenings I would come home feeling much better for pumping my blood all around my body. In January I also decided to take Body pump classes which is like weight lifting to music. The first class was really difficult, but I enjoyed it and try to go once a week. It has certainly improved my muscle shape around the bottom, and ribs/abdomen area.

However, then the dreaded hormones got to me in April and I had to give up going to the gym because of lack of energy. I kept the classes going, but was not able to push myself. I went onto HRT about 3 months ago and a fortinght ago the doctor increased my dosage. I am feeling more energetic now and have been meaning to go back to the gym for the last week or so. Tonight I made it, so am feeling pleased with myself. My own target is to get to the gym at least twice a week as well as the other classes.

It has surprised me that I enjoyed this form of exercise, normally being lazy and having a sedentary job. Why not make a resolution to yourself to walk a little more each day. Can you go out with a friend or partner? Having an aim to the walk helps as it takes your mind off what you are doing. I know that doing things on my own at home is probably a recipe for disaster so be brave and grab a friend.

Hope to hear you have taken the plunge soon. Have a great weekend Talon and get out and about, if possible.

If you have a VCR, you could also check out the exercise tapes. Personally I love and can heartily recommend the bellydancing tapes by Neena and Veena Bidasha. The workout is gentle enough that it shouldn't make you hurt, and it will make you feel flexible and sexy no matter what your size is. (Look over at my stats - I'm not exactly thin. )

I got my tapes from amazon.com, but you can also get them at www.naturaljourneys.com.

Good luck

Friday

Hi Talon, I go with Nat, start walking and do it the minute you roll out of bed. All sorts of advantages, main one is you can't think of any excuses not to at that time in the morning! And, nothing comes up during the day to mean you can't, you feel impressed with yourself all day and you up your metabolism all day so burn more fat all day. Plus its quiet, cool and you see all sorts of birds and other creatures which hide later in the day, depending on where you can walk.
Start with a manageable distance. Gradually speed up and add distance, gradually being after a week start considering a bit further and faster, a week later a bit more etc.
It'll get so nothing would stop you going after a few weeks - and there you are, hooked!
Take care, hope you find something you like, Jay

<snip> I still have in the back of my head that it will not do any good, so I just *know* it won't do any good.<snip>

Know that whatever you believe you are exactly right. Belief is the most important component of any action. Thought-word-action. That's the great trilogy.

Consider this. You can change your mind by taking action. Just go right ahead and do your chosen program exactly as written, one day at a time. Walk, eat, write everything down. ACT asifF you believe it will work, even if you don't.

If you are like me things will change very very slowly. But change they will. It's the law of the universe.

Well said Nat. Talon, if you want living proof, look at me. I would have rather died first than set foot in a gym. I started out with a good pair of running shoes and just started walking, a little longer every day. Then one day I realized that it was taking too much of my time (I was walking for about 2 hours a day.) I discovered the exercise and Body for Life forums here. Now I exercise for 30-45 minutes a day, and have seen pleasing results.

My venture into weight training didn't cost me a dime. Water bottles filled with water, then rice, then sand and old nuts and bolts were my first weights. An old coffee table was my weight bench. I too didn't want to spend money on equipment. You don't need expensive equipment to get started. All you need is to give your mind a good shake and do something, anything, to get moving. The rest comes in time.

Scoot on over to the general exercise forum. There are some stickies there on getting started in an exercise routine. You'll surely find something that will interest you.

There's a funny thing about exercise. Once you beat the mental hurdle and start, it makes you feel really great so you want to keep at it. There's fancy scientific stuff going on with your body chemistry that just plain makes you feel better.

Talon! Great advice here for you and I hope it is helping. My suggestion: I tell myself, "A little does SO much" I repeat this to myself over and over because it is 100% true.

When I was a low fat/starvation dieter, I spent 2 hours per day in the gym and gained weight! Low carb is beautiful and different. Less is indeed actually more. I now leisurely swim 20-40 minutes per day and I lift light 5 lb. weights a couple times per week. I too am rather afraid of those nasty looking torture machines in the gym. Those machines must be the evil cousins of the scale, another metal monster I avoid. These days, I only use the treadmill or bike when and if I am feeling masochistic and if I need a reminder of exactly how bad the bad old days used to be.

You all have given me really good advice, which boils down to: Get moving, no matter how small.

Last night I layed on the floor and did some leg lifts and some litle lift thing for my abs (just lifting my shoulders off the ground) My hubby and the birds thought I had finally gone off the deep end. I think I did a bit too much though, the small of my back hurt a bit - and I had to rest a bit before I got off the floor.

Today I did one of my favorite excercises... Yard sale shopping! I get to walk a bit, and persue one thing I love - shopping/browsing. One elder couple had an excercise bike for sale, I wasn't sure (still looks like a torture device) but both of them, in there 70's, were showing me how to use it. They got on it to demostrate it for me. After giving them $10, I am now the proud owner of a Lifestyler 575 excercise bike. My exercise was to just carry the dang thing in the house - it is heavy! I wake up at 5:30 now everyday, I am debating on wether to wake up at 5:00 now to excercise. I think after work would be most logical time-wise, but after a hard day of work, I fear that excersing will be the LAST thing on my mind.

I am also going to go check out some excercise tapes, those Leslie Sansone tapes sound good, not too long or too intensive.

As suggested I will go slowly, but I think I still need someone to pop off a message to me to check up... just in case I start to slack off.

Talon, I have the Leslie Sansone Walk Away the Pounds for Abs tapes and belt, and I love them. One thing though, on the first tape she says to tie a knot in the cord so it won't pull through. Don't. Mine broke. I'm getting a new one, but it's a pain. There's an instruction sheet that comes with them that has the best method for making sure they work properly.

As far as working out, when I started TSP, I didn't think I was ever going to work out. I was too tired and had absolutely no energy and hurt all the time. Within a month I was feeling so good that I started to walk and the amount has grown to the point now where I do my tapes when I get up in the morning and I walk 1 1/4 miles to the train station each workday. I take weekends off. And now if I don't work out, I feel deprived. This has never happened to me before. It's all due to low-carbing, I know.

;-Deb

a used exercise bike is a great start. That and walking here and there, and you're all set! Good for you for jumping in and doing something positive for yourself.

A hint on moving that bike. Most of them have one free-spinning wheel. Turn the tension all the way down, lean the bike so all the weight rests on the wheel, and you should be able to wheel it across floors. Up stairs, tho, you will still have to lift! (Can you tell I've moved mine a few times?)

Remember, five minutes on it is better than nothing. Don't start using it to toss clothes or newspapers on--keep it clear of junk and looking inviting!

Every since I started this post, I have been thinking it over and over. Even though Rkhinman can't fathom being comfortable being fat, I know some of you can.

Being fat gives you a certain anonymity - people don't want to look at you, and those that look at you in disgust - well you feel you deserve it. Weight loss with high carb or low-fat diets just hasn't worked, no matter how much I exercised. Even when I was jogging 3 miles a day and lifting weights with the college football team - I was only eating 300-400 calories a day.

In the past, I've looked at exercising as a necessary evil if I want to loose weight, and even then it always hasn't worked - I've had to restrict calories greatly. And we all know, doing that for a long time is harmful and near impossible for most of us.

There is a time I didn't want to hear the word "diet" because I just knew that no matter what it wouldn't work for me. I feel exercise is the same way. Why bother? it won't help me loose weight - it really never has in the past. With the help of people like you guys and gals, I have learned what will work for me diet wise, and I CAN do it. Do it though, and feeling/knowing it are two different things.

I finally feel it. I am trying to look at exercise as not a way to loose weight, and it is something that I can fail at , but a way to improve my health - can't lose at that!

In my rambling way, I am trying to say: Exercising is not to solely loose weight, it is to make me healthier and improve my stamina.

That's exactly what exercise is for - to make us happier and healthier. If it helps us lose weight too, then that's a great side effect.
I love it when I can do something more easily or faster than I did before - I'm proud of my body then and I don't look at it to see if it looks right or not, I feel good because I can do things.

When I moan about my legs being fat, my DH says 'those legs get you up mountains, they climb rockfaces, they can ride a mountain bike - seems to me they're pretty good legs' and he's right, it's another (healthier) way to look at things.

I'm so impressed with you, for dealing with all that you had to handle about this and for starting.
To quote 'the greatest journeys start with a single step' - and you've taken it. Well done you!
Take care, Jay

I tend to go through a few distinct stages with exercise.

1) I HATE HATE HATE it and never do it.

2) Ok, I'm doing it. I still hate it, but I'm doing it.

3) While I'm doing it, I like it, but when I'm not doing it, I still hate it.

With cardio, I never get past stage 3.

Lifting, however, is definitely a stage 4.

4) OMG, I LOVE IT! Get outta my way, cuz I'm going to the gym! If Mom wants the baby before my workout, she can darn well come and get him at the gym, and I would rather show up to my Monday class sweaty and in my workout clothes than miss my WO. (I only have 45 mins between the end of work and the start of class, so it's either don't work out, don't shower or don't eat. And I hate the gym showers, too.)