No matter how hard we try to avoid it, all the best ways to lose weight require some sort of exercise. But, just because that’s true, doesn’t make it any more fun. Most of us dread our daily workout and skipping it is a leading cause of failure in most weight loss plans. Have heart, here are some pointers that could actually help out…
Particularly at first, we all hate exercising, but that changes. Before you know it, you start looking forward to your workouts! You start feeling like something is wrong or missing if you skip a day. You can stop giggling now. It happens, (yes, even to you).
Like anything else, the challenge is in the beginning. We understand we have to do it, so we plow through our daily regimen. At least we do for a little while, most end up quitting in frustration after about a month. They never realize how close they were to a – learning to love exercise – breakthrough. Once you learn to look forward to your daily exercise routine, weight loss is not much of an issue. It will usually just go away with only minor dieting effort.
If your snooze alarm gets more of a workout than you do, simply because you can’t face another day of mindless sit-ups, leg lifts or endless miles around the track, hang in there! Have hope!
Crunches may strengthen the core, but there’s other ways too. Did you ever stop to realize that swimming is every bit as good an aerobic exercise as jogging? Most people think it’s better, and not as hard on the joints! Try dancing! Get some cd’s and dance your heart out in the privacy of your own home. Get a bicycle and tour your community. It’s fun and you’ll get a little sun too. The point is, that for every dreaded, mind numbing exercise you do, there is a fun alternative. If you are having fun, you will stick with the program and you will be well on the way to losing weight and keeping it lost.
Clearly some of the replacements are not as ideal as their more boring alternatives. But, if you are more likely to stick with it, you’re ahead. Actually DOING an exercise that is pretty good, is far better than NOT DOING an exercise that is perfect. As you get more and more into shape and your body starts to crave the daily workout, you can slowly start adding in the more ideal exercises. You will find they aren’t so bad anymore.
You can even use your workout as a home beautification project! Park the power mower and buy a push mower. Make it a personal challenge to mow the lawn faster every week. Vigorously rake the grass and all those leaves – dump the blower. Try to work in some heavy lifting gardening.
Cold outside? Why jog when ice skating or sledding with friends can be so much fun? (Just stay away from the hot chocolate afterwards.) Get yourself one of the new Wii games and try your hand at tennis or Dance Dance Revolution. This could even help you get the kids off the sofa and joining you. Just be sure to call it a game and not an exercise.
Get a partner! A workout buddy can help immensely. We all need a little extra motivation from time to time and a gentle push from our friends can get us over the hump. As you each get in better and better shape, you can graduate from tennis on the Wii to an actual tennis court. In this case, being a bad player is a bonus! You’d be running all over chasing tennis balls. You can each set personal goals and challenges and you could make it a competition.
If you go to a gym, a trainer can help you design a program that will be safe. Plus they are there to help keep you motivated and make it more fun and interesting. Boredom, injury and feeling overwhelmed are the biggest drawbacks to working out at a gym. Your trainer is an expert at helping you get past those hurdles.
Don’t try to tough it out on your own. Most gyms offer exercise classes at a very reasonable rate or even free with membership. Take one! You never can tell, maybe the best friend you will ever have is taking that class right now and is just waiting to meet you. The classes help keep you motivated, they push you a little harder than you may do on your own and you’ll learn some new exercises. If cash is a little skimpy right now, most community centers offer a free or low cost exercise class. Check into it today!
Whatever you do, don’t quit. Find a way to make it fun and stick with it. Pretty soon, it won’t seem like a dreaded chore. You will actually start to look forward to exercising and it will become a high point of your day. You will have mastered one of the best ways to lose weight.
