I often refer to myself as lazy because I am not terribly physically active. I sit at a desk all day long, and I’ve never been good at sports, and my idea of relaxing is… moving from the desk to the couch. I live on the edge, obviously.
Part of me bristles against this, because, obviously, I am not lazy in the overarching sense of the word. I mean, I’m as lazy as you can be while working 50-60 hours/week and cooking, cleaning, and otherwise tending to a family, I guess.
Still, my inability to develop a love for exercise aggravates me. Hence today’s post over at Five Full Plates, about me and my excuses. I’m curious to know if you think a love of fitness can be cultivated, because so far I’ve got nothin’.
all that talk about endorphins and runner’s high – a bunch of crap. It’s delirium. They’re suffering and are trying to lure the rest of us who were too smart to torture ourselves like that into suffering too.
exercise. bah. it’s overrated.
The only thing I’ve found that I enjoy doing, in the realm of exercise, is Yoga. Everything else is just eh.
Dancing. Everything else is HAVE to do. Dance class? Wanna do!
I developed it – used to say the only reason to run is if something large and carnivorous is chasing you, now I can’t get enough. You do HAVE to find something you actually like to do – hiking, mountain biking work for me – and then everything else is maintenance so you can keep doing that stuff. And bob – there really is a runner’s (exerciser’s) high! Honest! And the more you work out the easier it is to achieve it!
Oh dear… look what I’ve become…
I love feeling fit, but can’t really get too into exercising for the sake of excercise. It is pretty boring unless you are out in nature seeing something beautiful. Biking and swimming are two activities that let me do that. I have also found that when I am doing things that are productive but require physical exertion – gardening, manual labor, playing with kid, moving friends from New York to Outer Mongolia, that I am much more satisfied.
I’m trying, too.
One thing I started this week was to pull my daughter out of bed at 5:45 a.m., and have her come along. I don’t want HER to see my laziness, and so it’s actually been working. Except today. We decided to skip today … But we went Monday – Thursday!
I started taking martial arts classes a year ago–my daughter had been at it for two years at that point. Our dojo has little goals (stripes for specific skills) and big goals (higher belts), which is something that works for me. Plus, if the whole family is going, as ours is, there’s more “pressure” to go. I can’t say that I LOVE exercise, but I’ve found something that works for me.
While I prefer to be lazy, I like being active. I also think it is important for me to show my daughters that you can set a goal, work at something, and achieve it. That’s why I want them to see me finish my half marathon. I also like them growing up knowing that being active is an important part of our family life-we all swim, we all ride bikes, etc.
I thought chasing after three little kids and collecting the laundry from the second floor and washing it (seven. times. a week.) in the basement WAS exercise. Beyond that, wii super hula hooping is about it. I’ve actually been whining to my husband this week about my desire to exercise, but I still have a complete and utter lack of motivation to do anything about it.
Posted at 5FP; I’m with you being lazy over exercise, though I’m trying to change!
I am not big on exercise. I’ve tried it. haha
Anyway, I prepare zone diet meals for a customer that runs a crossfit gym. Should check out one of the sites online – like bootcamp!!! And why people?
If you arrive late for your class or don’t stand right for an exercise or jump on high enough boxes, he gives you burpies – different from burps – some kind of jump up then down to a push up kind of thing and back. UGH! Those that go love it! Even if they can’t move without pain for days.
Their enthusiam does not motivate me, none whatsoever!!! So no, I don’t really think a love can be cultivated if you are not inclined in that direction to begin with ;)
I only do it because I don’t feel so guilty when I eat what I like to eat. I’m from Louisiana and well, we like fried and/or gravy dripping types of food! Although, I don’t eat fried food anymore, that often… I do love gravy! Just keep trying. That’s all any of us can do, right?
I’m not opposed to exercise as much as I just hate to sweat.
When I was running outdoors a lot, I did come to love it…sometimes. Some runs I just hated it and did it because I’d eaten a lot of chocolate chips out of the bag that day. But if I hit it at the right time, and the weather was okay, and no cars honked at me (or maybe just one instead of several), it felt good. My location and schedule don’t allow for much outdoor running anymore, so now I’m stuck with DVDs indoors a lot of the time.
What running did for me, though, was train my body to crave the exertion, so now, even if I don’t feel like putting in the Jillian Michaels DVD, my body doesn’t feel quite right if I don’t. So I do it, and I feel better afterwards, and the next day when I eat a chocolate sugar cookie or five, I don’t worry that my pants won’t fit.
Some are definitely born enjoying physical exertion. I’m one of those, although my parents had me in dance/gymnastics/etc.. as soon as I could walk, so I’m sure that influenced me as well. I am naturally active so I think they were trying to channel the hyperactivity! I like doing pretty much anything except running, although for about 8 years I was able to develop a running habit that wasn’t intolerable, because I liked the physical results. When I quit running for a few years, I was never able to get back into it again, so I do other things. As many others have said, you have to find something you really enjoy so it’s a fun activity. Try roller skating!
I am like you, naturally lazy. I knew there was a problem when my cellulite formed weird lines on the back of my thighs because I had been sitting in a computer chair so much.
I agree you have to find what you like. For me, it’s been walking. I can’t run much, because I have bad knees. But I found a beautiful place to walk, and some days I walk 5 miles.
I’ve started biking too, and that’s been fun for me.
I think the key is finding something that you don’t hate, and then doing it enough that it becomes more of a habit and you start to look forward to it. If you try to start off with something you hate, then you’ll never stick with it long enough to get to the habit part.
I started feeling guilty so I have to add to my previous comment…..I must admit, this summer I have been doing way more holding down the couch with my a$$ than I should, and only hitting the gym about twice a week. Plus I live in Houston so it’s been about 110 degrees (feels-like temp) for the last month or so! My 90-year-old Granny showed me a trick that I’ve been using though, and that’s to eat dinner on a small salad plate to cut down portions. It’s a cumulative effort, ya know….
I’ve got no love for exercise. Forcing myself lately though. I’ve discovered my best way to lose the weight I want to lose is to suffer through an extreme emotional crisis… Not the best method. I hope for no more of those. So… I guess it’s exercise. *sigh*
It isn’t that I like exercise really, but I do like Starbucks and my friend and I always head there after our workout. If she can’t go, I tend to skip it and vice versa. But the lure of an evening with a friend and some (non caloric) beverage gets us there once a week usually.
Mir, I’ve never posted before but at times I feel we are twins separated at birth! I’m just several years older than you! Anyway, I HATE exercise with every fiber of my being. They say to find something you like, there isn’t anything. NOTHING! With asthma I’m usually gasping for air after “warming up” and now that my hormones are old, I sweat looking at the treadmill. I get no high, ever. I’m on the treadmill for 3 minutes thinking my 45 minute walk surely must be almost over. My idea of a triathlon is read, nap, scrapbook. Nobody has ever died doing my triathlon, I’m just sayin.
I’m sorry, but people who find running enjoyable are a different kind of evil, in my mind. I just don’t get it. Running, just to run? For no reason?
The only way I like exercise if it’s something where it doesn’t feel like I’m doing exercise. I enjoy doing heavy yard work, because dude, do you know how many calories you burn doing that shit? Not to mention, the end result. You’ve accomplished something other than just burning calories. That’s my kind of exercise.