When will I learn to love working out?

Right now, I force myself to go, and I hate it. My husband is always saying how great he feels after working out, and me... I just feel tired and sweaty and sometimes stinky. I don't get a surge of feel good whatevers in my blood. I don't feel worse about myself ofc, but I don't really feel better.

If I could be healthy and never exercise in any way at all, just be completely and utterly lazy... I would. Well, I tried that and I can't be like that anymore, so I drag myself to the gym, every day if I must. Just to be there and do something.

I know it must get better. I'm just curious how long it took some of you, to be ok with going, to enjoy going, to look forward to going because it feels good, not because you look in the mirror and don't like what you see.

Try to make it as fun as possible. I definitely have to recommend you taking your mp3 player and making a few playlists with your favorite songs that get you pumped up. Also realize that the time you spend working out is YOUR time. I use my work outs as a good chance to clear my mind and get my head straight mentally. Hope this helps.

Really - find something that you are proud of doing, that makes you feel like you have accomplished something.  That is what will keep you doing it for the rest of your life.  For me, that was weightlifting.  I can keep track of my progress, I love the way it makes me feel.  For others, it is running, or martial arts.  There is a long list of things you can do - but find something you enjoy, that you can push yourself to do better.

When you find a form of exercise that you find fun.  Personally, I will never ever find going for a run fun (or going to the gym to use cardio machines).  BUT, I enjoy team sports that incorporate running.  I enjoy walking and biking and rollerblading.  I even enjoy lifting weights!

So, don't try to force yourself to enjoy specific types of exercise that you don't really like.  Seek out new forms that you might like.  Once you find one, you'll stick to it a lot more easily than something you're forcing yourself to do.

Original Post by kdh1221:

 

 so I drag myself to the gym, every day if I must. Just to be there and do something.

 

Maybe its the gym setting you hate.  You may need to invest in a few free weights, exercise ball (i forgot the real name for it) even a stationary bike.
May some aerobic tapes?  Maybe?

Hi kdh! 

For me working out is most fun when I am there with a girl friend. We are doing 45 min on the eliptical or on the threadmill and chat all the time. Time is flying by and we don't even realize it! 

Does your gym have TVs in front of the cardio equipment? I always find that time is going by quicker if you are watching a show on TV... 

And don't you enjoy the feeling when you can add activity calories to your CC logg?  I just love doing that! It shows me how much I accomplished! 

All the best! 

B.

I agree with the posters that say you need to find the exercise that you love.  I always thought that I was thoroughly non-athletic;  I tried all sorts of exercise regimens but I never liked any of them ... I tolerated it, did it, but never ever looked forward to it, and usually hated it.

Then I tried running ... never thinking that I could be a runner, really.  I never really thought I'd like it.  But ... after the first couple of weeks, I found that I really loved it.  It took those couple of weeks to figure out that I wasn't going to die, but after that, I actually started to like it.  I am about to hit my 15 year running anniversary, and I log anywhere from 30 to 36 miles a week now.

So you need to find what you love, and the rest will follow.  But the gym is obviously not it for you.

I second what others said, especially the getting involved in a non-gym activity.  To add to that - and while I personally love running - I try to vary my activity so that it stays interesting and doesn't become routinary.  I like to play tennis, go hiking or kayaking, cycling, playing one-on-one basketball, golfing... and I also have found a couple of good workout DVDs that I find challenging so I can do something at home if the weather is bad.  I just keep it varied enough so that I don't get bored. 

Maybe you could add some new activities so that you'll have things to look forward rather than dread going to the gym!

Like everyone else said, find something you like.  For me, it took a break in the routine to realize how much I enjoyed it and how it became a part of my day.

Start out with what you like to do and work from there. :D

Start sampling all the activities that you can until you find one that you enjoy enough to want to do.  For me, it's martial arts and dancing.  Rock climbing is fun for many, running, bicycling, walking, swimming, yoga, pilates, hip hop, etc.  Once you find something that you enjoy doing you'll be more motivated to do other exercises to facilitate the thing that you enjoy.

I actually started out a lot like you, and used to force myself to run and hated how sweaty and tired I got. I stopped running for about two months, started going to the gym instead, and when I went back to running, I realized that my endurance had gone waaaay up, and now I don't really dread it at all! Running is still not my favourite, so I focus on other things I really like.

It took me about a month or two before I actually enjoyed working out and now I'm totttally hooked!! What helped for me was seeing how much stronger I was getting, and challenging my body changing things up every week so I wasn't doing the same thing all the time. Diet.com has a bunch of videos that have easy to learn workouts that get results, they're on youtube as well, maybe you should check them out. These days I seriously go into withdrawal if I haven't worked out in more than two days.

Hang in there!!

Original Post by mermaid3011:

Does your gym have TVs in front of the cardio equipment? I always find that time is going by quicker if you are watching a show on TV... 

Yes!  TV!   I have never gotten to enjoy working out, but I enjoy TV and I don't have an excuse to waste time watching it too often.  If they don't have TVs, get an audio book (I suggest  A Walk in the Woods) or get on the bikes (if you don't mind a slower calorie burn :/)  and read a book while your legs do the work!

I don't enjoy working out, but I enjoy the social aspect of running with my running buddy.  I enjoy the accomplishment of knowing I'm in shape.  I enjoy seeing my caloric deficit rise.  All these things make up for it.

As with everyone else, find something you enjoy and it will make you want to exercise. I always danced as a youngster and loved it - ballet, tap, modern... but stopped when I went to uni. Since then I have tried the gym several times with very little success just because I dodn't enjoy going. I have now found a couple of different local dance / exercise classes which I absolutely love doing and look forward to every week.

I also got rid of my car and now cycle to work everyday - though I definitely don't always look forward to that I have no other choice but to get on with it as the only alternative is walking which takes at least twice as long.

So just try everything you possibly can that is accessible to you - dancing, cycling, classes, climbing... Hope this is useful and that you find something you enjoy doing!!

You may never learn to love working out, but you will certainly learn to love the effects  - not just weight loss, but better moods, better skin, feeling fitter generally....

Everybody has days where they really hate their work out, and when I first started, that was fairly much every day.  Gradually  (years not months!) I have gotten fitter and lighter I have come to love my running, but I still have at least one or two days a week where I would rather stay in bed or on the couch....that's when I motivate myself by thinking of the consequences of not doing it.

hope that helps,

Ax

Original Post by anglej:

Original Post by kdh1221:

 

 so I drag myself to the gym, every day if I must. Just to be there and do something.

 

Maybe its the gym setting you hate.  You may need to invest in a few free weights, exercise ball (i forgot the real name for it) even a stationary bike.
May some aerobic tapes?  Maybe?

 

^^^

That really worked for me *nods*

All I can say is thank heavens for Wii Fit!! It has been a lifesaver! I have no excuse not to work out.  It's fun, I don't have to leave my house, and it's definitely not a "gym environment"

I've always hated exercise too. It's never as bad as I dread, but the one thing that has helped me is getting a gazelle/eliptical for home. I LOVE TV and I record my favorite shows, then hop on my gazelle every morning and turn on my favorite shows. I seem to get interested in the show and before you know it, 30 minutes are gone. It's the only exercise that I've ever stuck with, so it must be right for me!

I have included some dance workouts in my routine weekly regiment. First of all, it's nice to be able to just stay home and get sweaty. My favorite DVD at the moment is Kathy Smith's "Dance Your Body Slim" which includes six different dances, and believe me, I'm a terrible dancer, but, these are FUN! You can work them at your own level.

I agree with others who said you've got to have your music to tolerate the drudgery of cardio. Either that, or watch something on TV that is distracting. I hate treadmills with a passion, and feel the same way about working out on them that you do.

I bought a very reasonably priced stair-stepper, with arm straps for a total body aerobic workout, and I love it because it is portable, fits in my room, and I can do it early in the morning or late at night, at my convenience, and I feel like I get a better workout than even with my favorite elliptical at the gym.

I have a World Gym membership, too, but, have drifted away from the crowds to compile my own library of aerobic DVDs to work out at home in privacy. It works better for me and my lifestyle. Since doing this, I do still force myself to endure the challenges I set, AND, I have noticed that endorphin buzz that eluded me at the gym. I was too distracted by the muscle teens and queens and joggers on the treadmills to appreciate my own goals at the gym.

(My neurotic pet peeve at the gym were these people who jog on the treadmills. I mean, just go outside and run. It is an irrational irritation that I can't overcome. Maybe it's jealousy...?)

I found that I also hated working out for a long time. It was HARD. And it made me sore and gross. But I found that the best thing I could do was get better at it, and eventually I began to enjoy it more. It was no longer difficult to do 20 minutes on an eliptical, and then it started to feel good. Just dont think about it, and instead of thinking about it as a work out, think about it as a time completely to yourself, when you can decompress without ANYTHING bothering you. And then, if your gym has a hot tub or a steam room, try to go there afterword. It begins to feel luxurious when you take the time to treat yourself well after you exercise!

I agree. Even though I hate the gym. And believe me I HATE it because I get so conscious. And even if I look cute going there, I feel that all the eyeballs in the room are GLUED on me.

But when I walked on my aunt's treadmill in her house, I actually loved the treadmill itself. I find myself jogging on it and longer than I would on a track since I can't see the distance ahead of me. So since I hate going to the gym, I'm bringing the gym to me! Hopefully I can get a treadmill by the end of next month.

My dad doesn't believe that I will use it but I always have to remind him that I NEVER, Ever have asked for something that involved excersize (I actually avoided it at all cost any time it came up). Especially something that can be bought and used everyday. So I think if you can you can try doing your workout's at home and you might find a love for the equipment itself than the environment that they are mostly in, in gyms.

Oh yeah, her treadmill had a TV on it so I got to watch Project runway to disney channel to E News! (if your wondering about the disney channel, I'm seventeen and yes I do watch that channel)=]

I read a study that says it takes about six months for you to get hooked on exercise - and it very much is a chemical addiction. I've been working out for about a year now. I hated it at first. You just don't even know. When I first started, I was in such bad shape that I would do ten minutes on the elliptical and then head for the locker room to throw up in one of the stalls. I'm not kidding.

Now I run 20 miles a week on the treadmill and lift weights three days a week. I can't really remember when it changed for me to be honest, but now I simply can't live without it. It's by far my favorate part of the day.