What pushes you?

I have been struggling with my weight as long as I can remember. In college, I was the thinnest I ever was cause I had time to work out. Plus I had a wonderful workout facility to do my workouts in. Now, I leave in a rural community with no real workout facility, a treadmill in my basement, and a job which I have no time for a good workout. I can't seem to find the will power to wake up an extra 1 hour early and run/lift/yoga and at the end of the day, I just want to play with my son or play catch up on some household chores. Does anyone know what I'm going through? Any pointers?

I know exactly what you are talking about. I do not live in a rural community, but have a hard time finding the time to work out too. I am a single mother so its hard to come up with the money for a gym.  I am a teacher, so again, hard to find time.

The only thing I can say pushes me to workout is how I feel after. I am trying to make that a priority in my life. I found I was doing so much for everyone else and not myself.

I also found that playing with my son was working out. He is 6 and I make him go with me. I have him ride his bike and I run after him. We do 2.5 miles together, its actually alot of fun. He also joined soccer, I got some goals and we play together (that is a great workout). If we go to the park, I climb the slides with him and run after him.

At the end of the day, sometimes the housework is NOT done, but I have learned to live with that and get my exercize in. I have learned to accept that I can not do it all.

My mom says " Cleaning the house with kid living there is like shoveling the driveway when its snowing...pointless" LOL- I try to remember that!

Good luck, once you start making it a habit it will be worth it! The feeling alone keeps me going. And, that I put on new pants this morning and they were baggy!!

thats a good question, i also have a son and a full time job so i really have to force myself to get up early in the morning to get my exercise in. but the way i look at it is i do so much for everyone else, i certainly have to put myself on my "to do" list. so i set my alarm for 6:30am (ack) and do my a.m. yoga (15 min) and then either take out the dog out for a run or hop in the pool for some heavy water treading type exercise (about 15 more min) and then im in my lunch making, child clothing mommy mode. I try to do this every day but sometimes its just the yoga. The way i see it is if getting money orders, sweeping, and laundry are on my daily list of stuff, I damn well deserve to be at the top of that list ;)

i hope you don't take this the wrong way, but time spent typing this could be time on the treadmill! even a few minutes here and there throughout the day/evening can add up to an hour or exercise! would it be impossible to move the treadmill up into more common areas of your house for now like your living room or bedroom? it doesn't have to be forever, but maybe having it in the basement is another reason not to go workout... like you don't want to be in the basement all alone on a treadmill (who would?). if you put it in the living room you can walk while watching TV, my gym has TVs and everytime i get to choose the channel i end up getting lost in the idiot box and my legs stay on auto pilot.

and i second the above idea of making playing with your son into a "workout" bike rides, walks, anything really! as long as you get your body moving and you get your heartrate up.

good luck! :)

that's what i would recommend too- get the treadmill out of the basement! :)

Ah yea, i have the same issues.Rural community  i am a single working Mom with a young son who cannot find the time for a good work out. I like yourself have also contemplated getting up an hour early which seems to be the only free time i will have but to no avail. I want to loss weight but seem to lack the motivation to get there. I am hoping that maybe the lightbulb will go on and I will be able to reach my weight loss goal which i have been trying to reach all my life. I am trying to blow the dust off the Nordic trac that my sister gave me. I think the issue is that I am so out of shape it is an effort so pushing myself is a must. Most people think it is a no brainer but when you lack motivation it can really hamper your efforts. Perhaps it could be depression but we can overcome. I am starting out with 10 minutes. I hope I can keep it up I really need to do this. Please contact me and we can support each others efforts!!!!!!!!!!!! Doont ever Give UP fight it every step of the way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ann

What pushes me is how happy I was a few years ago when I was healthier.  Granted, I was in the beginning stages of falling in love with my now husband... but still.  I was eating right, exercising, losing weight, sleeping better, and getting MANY compliments.  I felt on top of the world!!  That is how I want to feel again!

I too live in a rural community... I commute 50 miles to work (one way!) everyday.  I get up at 5am, just so I can be on the road at 6:45am.  I CAN NOT get up any earlier for a work out!  I get home at 6pm and I'm in bed at 10pm.  If it's not a busy night... baths, homework, etc... I try to get in a mile walk.  Otherwise, I rely on my lunch hour and the hour I have between taking my kids to school and having to be at work.  I go to Curves and sometimes I just walk the block here at work. 

Anyway... just some suggestions.  Good luck... maybe we can keep eachother motivated?!  :)

What pushes me is not being able to fit into any of my clothes anymore

It amazes me how many people on CC are so committed to their goals, when they have such busy lives, kids, etc. I'm really inspired by you guys!

I'm committing to losing weight and getting healthier now BECAUSE I want to have kids. My husband and I are finally mentally ready (or as ready as we'll ever be) to have kids, but my body isn't physically ready. So I'm in training to get pregnant, and then that training will continue for the rest of my life, so I can haul that little monkey around and chase after it.

The last time I lost a significant amount of weight, it was due to an ED and depression. Unfortunately, in proving that I was "better", I regained a little too much! This time I'm being positive, smart, and measured in my approach to losing.

I spent two hours at the gym this morning after dropping my husband at work, then I treated myself to a Happy Meal (first in a while!). Then I cleaned the house from top to bottom for three hours, and made a huge pot of spaghetti sauce full of veggies and a little extra lean ground beef (and a healthy glug of cabernet). I'm making lasagna and salad for dinner tonight, and I feel good about my day.

Days like today are what push me forward, and help me be a happier, healthier person.

Hmmm...what pushes me? A few things.

For one thing, I remember how great it felt to be an active little kid, doing gymnastics. I'll never be like THAT again :) but I can at least look forward to jogging across a parking lot and not having to collapse in heap.

I find that I have chronic low back pain now- I want to fix that, and being slimmer will help.

I want to be able to stand for long periods of time without feeling like my legs are going to burst.

I want to be able to sit, crosslegged on the floor and then get up without having to call 911.

Just the vision of this particular dress I saw at the mall keeps me going. It is a gorgeous, embroidered Chinese style dress with a mandarin collar. No way I could wear it now, but when I reach my goal....I'm getting it.

Just feeling better each day keeps me going.

My priorities push me.

My health is important to me, the fact that I want to fit into my skinny jeans again pushes me.  My brother pushes me.

I saw a picture (that's posted in my gallery) someone snapped of me (candid) and after I saw it, it was...OMG....WHO'S THAT??  I keep it on my computer and refer to it often.  I make it a priority to get healthier, to get thinner, to be able to walk a new construction site with a client without getting winded.  

Putting the treadmill in a common area is a great idea!  I wouldn't have thought of it. It might give you more motivation. 

I agree with tatjanaturtle. It is all about priorities. I work full time, have an 11 year old daughter and a husband, huge old house, 3 dogs that need cleaning up after and a mother that is not in the best of health and does not drive, so that means I do all her errands for her. I have finally made my health the first priority in my life. I work out at least 5 days a week mostly as soon as I walk in the door from work. If that doesn't happen, I am working out at 8 or 9 pm in front of the tv. If my house isn't spotless and we don't eat dinner until 8 pm so be it. The way I am feeling and looking pushes me to keep going.

Hey, Miller.  What pushes me is that inaction feels MUCH worse than action.

The going has been slow, sure, but to give in to being overweight, you know that feeling of helplessness and defeat?  That, to me, is much worse than being heavy.  just my 2.

What pushes me besides wanting to be healthy is that i want another baby....and at my current weight i dont feel i'm healthy enough to have one.

I get up in the morning before work to do some cardio.  After work i try to do some toning exercises (doesnt always happen) and then my daughter and i take our dogs for a walk (about 45mins to an hour a night).  That way i can work on getting healthy and i can spend time with my daughter.  Plus my dogs love it!!!!

It is hard to work out a perfect schedule to get everything in in a day but you do eventually find a way....i did even though there are days it seems like a lot but i keep going.

Good Luck!!!

Here's another thought. Get a pedometer and put it on your waist band as soon as you get up. As everyone else has suggested, move the treadmill, take your child out for a walk and just keep track of how much you move. Every week or so, add 10% and you'll be AMAZED at how much walking, movement you get in. There are days when I don't think I've "exercised" and I look at that pedometer and I've done much more than I thought I could. And it keeps me from beating myself up about "not exercising".

Just remember you're in this for the long haul, you want to be a great model for your child and you bones and joints will thank you for moving around.

Best of luck!

I agree with another post I saw.....I cannot get into my clothes anymore and that is very depressing.

ya just do it... if you want it- ya just do it. . .  I am NOT a morning person but I drag my can out of bed everymorning @ 6 and go meet friends at the gym for at least an hour workout. It's not easy and sometimes it physically hurts to get up that early but I WANT it. I want to be thin and healthy and fit & like you, work and family take up a lot of my time so I have to schedule my "me time" when te rest of my world is asleep...

Give it 21 days. commit yourself to doing it. you'll be amazed at how much easier it gets and how great you feel everyday!

if i can do it- you can too!

What pushes me is the passion of dance and will to express myself with music.

I have an idea for you if you like dance. Since you live in a rural area, you could use the space and dance or explore...  either way, you're burning calories.

I am a mom of two, work full-time outside of the home and take classes.   I agree with everyone else, its tough and you have to make it a priority. I wake up and hour early to use my treadmill.  For me, the trick is books on CD, which I check out from the library.  One CD is about an hour, and I only listen when I am on the treadmill.  So,  if I want to know what it happenning in my story, I have to get up.  This, coupled with the now visible results, loss of two dress sizes, and knowing that I just function better if I have some exercise in the morning, no matter how hard it is to get moving, makes me move.

i'm no longer losing weight on purpose, but when i was the thing that pushed me was seeing that i dropped 2 lbs or more every week. the more wieght i lost the more motivated i was.

Perhaps you should set a specific fitness goal.

I was having trouble with consistent workouts, but am doing the couch to 5k program and find that it forces me to work out early in the week so that I have enough days to space between the workouts as the program suggests.

See if there is a 5k in your area (at least two months out if you don't already run) or perhaps if you already run, you could train for a 10k or a mini-marathon. I have my eye on a mini that's in my area in May of next year and even though it's so far away, it's motivating because I am nowhere near where I need to be to even begin the training that starts in January.

Or if you don't like the idea of a race, it can even be something like, "I want to be able to run 60 minutes without stopping" or "I want to be x flexible by x date"

Once you determine a goal, make a plan and create a way to track it to hold yourself accountable.

I really like the book on tape idea. As a full time student, I feel guilty when I read anything other than school so last semester (when I was still on crutches but could only do the bike) I read on the bike, but only allowed myself to read when wroking out. Now that I'm running vs biking, I was thinking that "discretionary" reading was out of the question until summer, but maybe I can get some books on tape from the library!