Terrified about winter...in IOWA

This past few months, I have taken my diet and exercise very seriously. And so far, I am seeing progress. I get a free gym membership with the apartment I'm renting, however, we are moving next week. I am terrified after we move I will lose the motivation to keep working out and especially with an Iowa winter coming up in a few months. I'm scared I will start making excuses for myself like I have in the past, such as, "it's too cold outside to exercise today."

Any advice?

At least you're thinking ahead.  If you know you're the type to think up excuses, use the time between now and the Iowan winter to work out what you could do instead.... Given how flat the place is Nordic Skiing might be fun.

Loved gi-jane's suggestion.

I grew up in Illinois and my grandparents lived in Iowa so I am very familiar with the place.

Shoveling snow burns a ton of calories.

Building snow people also burns a bunch - use icicles for hair and beards.

Many towns will fill an outdoor community basketball court with water and let it freeze for ice skating, so get yourself a pair of skates!

If the roads have been plowed you can drive to the mall and walk or go to a gym.

We had a ping pong table in the basement, best exercise ever invented!

To prepare for the days when you can't get out of the house due to ice or snow, you will make lots of nice low cal soups! Yum.

To save calories on the sweet corn in the summer, soak it in heavily salted water right in the husk over night and then grill in the husk. No other seasonings required once you have access to the best stuff in the world.

Enjoy your new home!

More ideas!

At Home:

WII fit or even some of the WII sports (especially boxing-OMG what a workout!)

Exercise DVDs or just dance along to your favorite music videos

House cleaning

Out and about:

Go up and down every aisle at the grocery store

Shop til you drop - look for one perfect shirt/jeans but try on tons of stuff

Go dancing (easy on the cocktails though!)

Help people push their cars out of ditches!

Outdoors:

Sledding

Curling

I feel your pain.  I am from Iowa as well.  Anything below 40 is too cold for me to exercise outside, so there goes most of the year.

I managed to get through last winter by buying a gym membership.  I don't like spending money, so I didn't want to just waste it.  I usually just want to go home and cuddle up on the couch after work, so I would go during my lunch break.  Some companies aren't that flexible, but I'm blessed.

I see you are in the Ames area.  If you are a college student, there are a lot of intramurals at ISU (Broom Ball!), and I'm sure there is some sort of (free) work out center on campus.  If you are not a college student, they may have cheap memberships to their work out center.

Find a buddy or join a class.

Good Luck!

if you have room- you could invest in a cross trainer. put it front of the tv and stay inside in the warm, with the tv to occupy you while you cross train to your hearts desire.

i live in the south of the  uk and we hardly get snow, so any flurries we get i am out walking in it!! but if you have a really cold winter, inside sounds toasty to me!!!

I'm from North Dakota and more than a little familar with cold yucky winters. I also have relatives in ****. My aunt used to work in Winterset before she retired.

WII fit is great if you are stuck inside.

Walking shopping malls is quite popular here, especially when its too cold to be outside.  Do they still have the large botanical garden (not sure what it was called). I was there way more years ago than I remember. I loved it

There is also snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, curling, hockey (if you are into that), ice skating, indoor rollar rinks, buidling snowmen. snowball fights, shoveling for other people, working out to DVD's,

I also enjoy a good brisk walk when it is not too cold out.  Its great to come in afterwards and have a nice hot tea (or cocoa if that's your pref)

crankyone .... what is snowshoeing ??

I don't live there, but I am actually here right now! haha! (sorry for going off topic) but, I did live in Missouri for 7 years, and it gets COLD there too. There's not very much exercise you can do outside, other than building snowmen, or snowshoeing. lol! but I suppose you can do something inside, such as buying resistance bands, or even a stationary bike. Just find something you like to do, and something you know you will stick with. Is there a heated pool in the area? If it's public, they might have classes, like aerobics and such. And I would definitely recommend Wii Fit too. I love it :) Work out DVDs are amazing to keep yourself active. Find something that keeps you moving. I LOVE to dance when I can't go outside. Find a cheesy workout/dancing DVD! It'll give you a laugh and maybe even a good workout :) Well, I hope I helped!

snowshoes are similair to what the Eskimos put on there feet, they allow a person to walk over light, deep snow with out falling through. They are great for winter in some areas, and they give your core and lower body a lot of exercise.  They are great for winter hiking. Usually they are most popular in areas with a lot of snow (like North Dakota)

For some reason the filer is confusing my aunt's city with a not so nice word. They City the living is C U M M I N G S

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowshoe

I live in Minnesota, and I'm a gym owner, so I'm biased, but you should really check out your local gyms.  You'd be surprised how many don't have contracts now, so you're not locked into 18 months.  Many also run some great promotions where you can get free weeks, or deals if you sign up with a friend.  Especially in the winter in the Midwest. 

At our gym, I'm with everyone else, I don't want to run on a treadmill in the middle of July, when I could be out enjoying the little bit of summer we get, but in January when it's 30 below, forget it.  

I own a franchise of a nationwide gym chain, and we offer deals like, pay for 6 months, get one month free, we don't have contracts, and people can freeze their membership for $5 for the summer months and come back without having an enrollment charge.  Call ahead, work with the owner/manager.  I know YMCA's have scholarship programs where you can get a reduced rate based on income.  I checked our national website, and I know there are some of our gyms in your area, if you want more info, message me, and I can get you some more information.

Snowshoeing is lots of fun, especially if you have a dumb dog who tries to run beside you.  Nordic skiing is awesome exercise.  If you're a runner, you can still go out.  Wear layers and put vaseline on your face so your skin doesn't dry out.