If someone had told me a year ago that today I would be jogging on my lunch breaks and forty pounds lighter, I never would have believed it. I’ve been overweight and sedentary since I was nine years-old, but back in February I had a sudden change of heart. It was a combination of events that led to the change – one of the biggest was that a student who I coached on nutrition & fitness successfully lost over 50 pounds. When I saw her, I suddenly realized that the nutrition health advice I was giving really would work, and that I (ridiculously) wasn’t taking my own good advice!
Many people who are overweight have heard how important exercise is to successful weight loss, but it simply goes in one ear and out the other. Exercise is simply too difficult, so why bother? For some reason we’re willing to starve ourselves on absurd diets, but we’re unwilling to put on jogging shoes or enroll in a dance class.
Maybe you don’t have time, or you’re afraid of looking silly, or you simply believe that exercise won’t produce results; whatever your excuse is, it’s time to get over it! You can always make time for your health. No one cares what you look like when you’re sweaty. And most importantly, it will work. I promise!
Nari’s Secrets to Exercise Success:
- You need to make a real commitment. Fitness is a lifestyle – it is something that you maintain daily. You don’t have to go to the gym seven days a week, but you should strive to be active in some way everyday. I strive to do 20-40 minutes of strenuous aerobic activity 4-5 times per week, and then at least some strength training on the other days. If those numbers overwhelm you, keep in mind you can do less – what’s most important is that you incorporate some activity every day
- Start with a low-impact exercise. If you rarely exercise or are very overweight, don’t start with running or lifting weights. You may believe that getting fit requires running, but the truth is that starting with a high-impact activity when you’ve never been active before is incredibly hard on your knees, and quickly end your fitness efforts. Instead, try an elliptical machine for an impact-free jog, gentle yoga, or simply walk instead. Your joints won’t suffer, and you won’t exhaust yourself as easily. I only started running a few weeks ago – and I’ll admit that I love it – but that’s only because I sweat-it-out on the elliptical for four months first.
- Set goals, and always push yourself a little. Even if you can only fit-in a few minutes for exercise, you can always push yourself a little. Set small goals for yourself each time you exercise, so that you always have something to work towards. Then, increase the incline, do 3 more minutes than yesterday, or sprint to the finish! You should never exhaust yourself, but if you don’t challenge yourself you won’t improve.
note: photo courtosy of svanes‘ flickr photostream.
You are singing my song (especially number 3), with one caveat: people tend to think they should improve more quickly than they usually do. So, two years after beginning to exercise, I do set goals and strive to achieve them, but at first, it was simply enough of a goal to make it through the session without falling apart. If I had pushed myself then, I probably would have gotten discouraged and quit entirely or injured myself (though I will say: your examples of ‘setting a small goal’ are entirely reasonable.)
As a lifetime non-exerciser, I think number 1 would have been too much for me at first. I needed to get comfortable with the idea of doing some exercise – anything at all – three days a week. Then, before I knew it, I was adding on a day here, a day there, and now I have to force myself to take a day of rest once a week.
Excellent advice!
Excellent. My “change of heart” was back in March. I’ve gone through a similar process. I started cycling again, and at first could only do a handful of miles before calling it quits. Little by little, I was able to ride 67 miles in a recent cycling event.
Good advice for all ages. Best wishes.
In other words, Exercising means Marriage!
This reminds me that I need to get back on the wagon myself. From my experience everything you’ve said is true and sound advice.