I need someone to make me do it!

okay, i haven't worked out in days! everyday i find another excuse not to do it! i need someone to give e the reasons why i should!

first there was sunday-went for walk and took the kids to the park...didn't really need to work out then right?

monday-had a HORRIBLE day! head ache from hell! it's okay not to work out....right?

tuesday-i was going to work out...i really was....but then by the time i got all my other stuff done, it's 12:50 am....do i really want to stay up late enough to work out for an hour and then shower and go to bed?

is okay to just chalk this up as a bad few days and start fresh tomorrow?

oh and did i mention i've also been eating more cals than usual? i've been only eating 1500 or so a day even though the bmr says i need more. the past few days i've been eating closer to 1700. still under the 1850 the bmr says but now i'm worried weigh in day will come and i'll have everything all screwed up!

eating the 1500 a day a working 4 or 5 times a week i've been losing 2lbs a week steady for the past 5 wks.

I know exactly what you mean about making excuses to not work out. I have the same problem but my excuses are more like "the ship is rocking too bad and I don't want to get on the treadmill" I'm in the Navy and I get seasick when the ship rocks and I try to workout. I'm not sure what your motivation was to lose weight but heres mine, hope it helps you out!

1. My career depends on my weight being below 163 lbs and 33% bodyfat. I could get kicked out of the Navy if I don't get my weight under control.

2. I want to feel good about myself and how I look. Until I was 18 I was always told I was fat by a family member and it's time that I stop listening to those memories in my head.

3. To be a better mom to the kids I hope to have someday. I want to be an active mom and be able to keep up with my kids and set a good example for them.

Let me know if you need/want a motivational buddy...you can never have too many!

~Autumn~

I started an exercise challenge the beginning of March, and all month I haven't missed a day.  Sure, you should take a break if ill or injured, but I've found that the more I do daily exercise, the easier it is to do.  Now, this couch potato at heart actually gets grumpy if I miss exercise!

It is very easy to lose your motivation to exercise and make excuses as to why it is justifiable.  I had a day like that yesterday and I posted in the motivation forum for people to get me psyched about exercising.  I only received ONE response and that was after I had logged off.

My point is that if you are counting on others to rally around you, don't hold your breath.  My post yesterday just reaffirms my belief in counting on yourself and yourself only.  I kicked my own butt yesterday and MADE myself exercise after work.  I psyched myself up and just got out there.  For me, getting going is the hardest part sometimes.  You just have to do it as Nike said.  Once you are up and active, it's gravy from there.

Best of luck and be your own motivator!!

Maybe mix up your exercise routine so that it is something you want to do because you enjoy it and are looking forward to it rather than viewing it as one more thing you HAVE to do.  To the brain, if exercise seems like a chore rather than an escape or pleasure, of course you are going to put it off or not do it.  Or maybe try fitting in a half hour of exercise instead of the full hour that you mentioned.  It is funny how our minds will balk at what it perceives to be an obstacle.

It sounds like a typical avoidance routine that a lot of people engage in.  I know if there is something I know I need to do but really don't want to, I will find every possible thing under the sun to do instead of the task I don't want to do.

And don't be too hard on yourself...if you at least walked and took the kids to the park you chose to do SOMETHING rather than nothing.  Plus I can't fault you for not wanting to work out if you had a major headache!!

Original Post by 2babettermom:

 i need someone to give e the reasons why i should!

 

I don't think you should....  Work out, that is.  You obviously can't enjoy it much or you wouldn't be making excuses not to go.  So I don't think I should be twisting your arm to have another miserable experience.... that would be mean-spirited.  

Instead I'd encourage you to find an activity you actually like enough to do every day.  It could be anything, really... cycling around your neighbourhood, going to a dance class or a swimming class, badminton lessons, digging the garden ... anything that takes your fancy.  Just as long as it's something you look forward to.

As a stop-gap get hold of a pedometer, attach it to your waist and try to work 10,000 steps into your regular day.  It takes a little more effort than just pottering around and doctors will tell you that someone who does 10,000 steps a day, every day is significantly healthier than someone who goes to a gym twice a week or... worse... someone who has a gym membership but never goes at all.

Best of luck

i do wear a pedometer and on an average day, no working out, just being home taking care of the kids and the house i walk around 15,000 steps, so that is covered.

second i would love to do any of thoughs activities you suggested....but who is going to pay for them? all of them take money and a babysitter....things i just don't have. that's why i'm stuck doing only workout dvds at home, at night, after my kids are in bed.

What about doing your workout in the morning? That way, you don't have any excuse to do it later. It'll get your day started by giving you energy and then you don't have to worry about skipping it at night.

in the mornings my husband is home... i can't work out in front of him... i look like a fool, he laughs, i get mad, it's a whole thing lol

From your picture I take it your kids are pretty young so why not involve them in your workout?  Use an infant as "weights" my kids loved it when I'd lift them up over my head or make it a game to dance around the house to upbeat music, go out and play tag. Not only will you get your workout but your kids will see you exercising and be more apt to join in and be more active as they grow up. After all our kids learn by example and if they never see you exercising (because you do it after they're asleep) they are more apt to be less active themselves.

Just my 2 cents.

second i would love to do any of thoughs activities you suggested....but who is going to pay for them? all of them take money and a babysitter....things i just don't have. that's why i'm stuck doing only workout dvds at home, at night, after my kids are in bed.

 As gi-jane and some of the other posters recommended, get the kids involved.  If they are too little to play safely on their own, take a playpen outside while you do yard work or gardening.  If they are old enough, play ball or hide-and seek of tag or something with them.  Some activity is better than no activity, and both you and them will have fun.  Save up and purchase a baby jogger-stroller that you can use while running, or a bike tag-a-long cart to put the kids in.  It would get you and them outside and active.  There would be an initial cost to purchase the item, but after that, not so much. Exercise doesn't have to be expensive.

My sister always told me that if you really want to do something, you will find a way. If you don't really want to do something, you will find an excuse.

i do all of those things with my kids (except the whole biking thing...like i said...i'm lucky to pay bills and buy grocieries...not getting a bike) but the tag, dancing, "wrestling" and such, i do that everyday. never looked at it as working out though. 

just to help for anyone trying to help me think of activities

my kids are 4 1/2, 3 1/2, and 1 1/2. so to big for playpens or anything like that. it's starting to get alittle warmer outside but it's spring in Indiana so that changes day to day so sometime outside is just not possible. i have a stoller to put the youngest in but the other two are too old for that sort of thing. my husband works 60 hours a week, third shift, so it's pretty much just me and my three kids everyday all day long. so whatever i do i have to work around them. my 4 yr old does like to do the workout dvds with me but we can only do that when the other two aren't around or they go all crazy and either knock us down or i'm scared i'm going to kick them in the head the whole time lol

Can you rollerblade, walk briskly to the park with ankleweights or something like that while your husband is home in the morning if you dont want him to see you doing a DVD? Im heading to the gym now, at almost 8.30 because that is when the kids are settled and my husband is doing the bedtime stuff with them. I would prefer to go in the morning but daycare for my 4 year old and 2 month old is pretty much impossible so I gotta work with what im given. I bought an awesome bathing suit (one size too small) so when I dont feel like going I take it out and I realize I need to go if I wanna fit into that baby by summer!!

keep searching for things to do and I hope you can stay motivated! 

 

Original Post by 2babettermom:

i do all of those things with my kids

I think you should stop feeling guilty that you're not 'working out' because it's making you miserable.   Gyms are for people that spend all day sat in front of the TV or behind a desk... they're a substitute for the physical labour nobody gets any more.  You are already getting 15,000 steps a day, doing a lot of activity around the house, you're not behind a desk and you're not sat all day watching TV.   Be as active as possible within the constraints of your lifestyle (playing, walking, digging a garden) and feel good about that rather than upset that you're not in a gym.  When your children are older, off to school and you have more time on your hands that might be the time to take up formal additional exercise.  In your current situation I think you are active enough.

Focus more on your food intake from now.... you can lose more calories by not eating one chocolate muffin than you can in a whole hour on a treadmill.