Grr on you small town! Grr!
Hello.
Just to explain my situation a bit, I live out in the middle of nowhere. This meaning that there's only one convenience store within walking distance, and during the summer there's even a snack bar. Exciting stuff.
I find that I can't motivate myself to excercise. If we had a gym I'd be there everyday, just because I love treadmills so much, however no such luck.
I'd like to walk/run around town, but I really don't like my peers living around me, and feel awfully lonely. Even when I do manage to go out walking/jogging, it's sometimes just too wet or snowy like now. So, what say you?
Any tips for excercising in my situation?
I feel your pain. I use to live in the middle of no-where as well. What got me going was videos. There is such a variety, you should be able to find something you like. I've done ones with weights, yoga, belly dancing, hip-hop, muscle building, there are so many kinds. And they have gotten relatively cheap. No store near by-no problem, Overstock.com has a ton and they are mostly like 10.00 a piece.
i have to add that doing yoga from a video if you have little or no experience is a really bad idea.
I live in a small town too - but we do have a few gyms but I won't waste the $$ I do take classes at the local comm college though. Why do you need to worry about the "peers" in the area -- Just get out and walk - get a walkman / mp3 player or even an old fashioned radio and start walking. When I first started walking I just had an old cassette player. Its great just to walk out in the fresh air and its 10X better than a boring treadmill IMHO
But if you must have a treadmill use the $$ you would have spent on a gym membership and you'd probably be able to buy one in a few months.
perhaps buy some dumbbells/weights? i bought a box set of chrome dumbells (two bars and a bunch of weights to add on) for a decent price a while ago. perhaps also one of those stretchy bands with the handles on them for resistance exercises? If you can't get out to a gym, you gotta make do, right? lol. i had bought an elliptical strider a while ago (sold it when i was going through some laziness times and needed cash...lol) and it was only like $130 (they accidentally put the wrong price on the shelf and had to sell it at that price...'tis the law lol). if u dont have much money to spend, than as pgeorgian said a yoga video or any workout tape you have interest in could suffice.
To add to the video / dvd options - does your town have a library?? I used to check out exercise programs at the library try them out and if I liked them then would purchase them online- but if they weren't to my liking then I wasn't out any cash. Also checking them out would add variety if you decide not to even purchase any.
Do you have plans to leave your small town someday? If you do, adopt this philosophy "Get ready so that you can be ready" In other words, you are in training for your next phase of life.A small town affords you a lot of opportunity to get in shape.
I hate small towns. I lived in one and it was the worst time of my life. But I did an enormous amount of walking there. Get some weights too.
I have the same problem. What I did was saved up and bought myself a treadmill in the sale - it actually works out cheaper in the end! And it really pays off!!
I guess the one thing I don't understand, is why does the fact that you don't like your neighbors prevent you from running/walking around town? If you're afraid that they'll want to talk to you or join you or something, then wear headphones and avoid eye contact (wearing sunglasses as much as possible helps too.) If someone does try to talk, just give a little wave and say something like, "Sorry, can't stop, trying to keep up a pace...pressed for time...." etc.
If you're afraid that people are going to stare or make fun of you, well ya know what? Let 'em. Screw them. The ones who stare and make fun are most likely the ones who SHOULD be doing what you're doing, and they know it. But honestly, I doubt you'll have that problem.
If all else fails, check out this website - www.mapmyrun.com. It lets you map out routes and tells you how many miles they are, and you can enter and keep track of your times, pace, etc. Maybe you can use that to find a safe route to run/walk on some back roads that'll keep you out of the public eye. :)
And finally, exercise shows/videos are a good idea. If you have cable or satellite, check for networks like FitTV that carry workout shows.
get a dog that needs to be walked every day. Not only will you have the companionship of a new friend, you won't feel like anyone's "judging you" for running/walking (if that's your fear.)
plus, I just love dogs.
Nice, hockeygirl44 ^_^
I think you're advice is right on too, but it just so happens that my boyfriend lives 5 hours away right now, so the best I could do for "cardio" would be phone sex....and there's just not as much movement in that :P
And as for everyone else, thank you so much! I went out and bought some exercise tapes, am walking back roads, and also (ingenious as I am sometimes) have also taken to stair climbing.
There were a few questions about my peers: I wouldn't call them violent but rowdy definitely. All the people my age in town are either heavily into drugs, or are jerks. I'm not afraid for myself, but they do make me extremely uncomfortable, which makes me want to not run....^_^ But I agree with justlaura. I should just not care about them.
Thank you all for your advice! I took every single post to heart!
I really feel like you. I live in a very little town in Canada, in the middle of nowhere, and serously, doing sports here is really boring.
Well... From today, I never really did sports but, one year ago, I started doing bike in my little town. And, surprizing, I find it funny. I do always my little run-away everyday..
My tip? Explore your town. Try something new, even try something that you are sure to hate! You'll find something you like, I'm sure! (:
Good luck dear!
