My whole life I’ve been told that in order to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight, I’d have to eat less and move more. From the time I was hmm, 5 until I was maybe 12, I took dance classes. I hated ballet and tap, but I loved jazz and hip-hop. I also liked old-school aerobics type classes. I even took a few at the local recreation department one summer when I was maybe, 13. My classmates were all 35-50 years old. But it didn’t matter, because I was a fat kid and I needed to lose weight, so I had to “work out.”
Now, at 26, when I think about having to work out… 85% of the time, I’m just not enthusiastic about it at all. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t push myself to actually do it. This morning, I couldn’t sleep past 5:45 a.m., so I dragged my butt out of bed and fired up Jillian Michaels’s DVD, Banish Fat Boost Metabolism. I did 35 minutes, and I admit it felt good during and after. But maybe it was slightly more rewarding and less painful because I’ve been making an effort to exercise more in the past couple of weeks. Since early March, I’d been on somewhat of a “I don’t feel like doing this so I’m not gonna” hiatus. One BIG factor at play: When I was working out 3-4x a week, I’d get on the scale and be up .4, down .2, up .4… over and over and over again. So I thought, If it’s not going to get me results on the scale, what’s the point?
I was lamenting to my little sister that I just didn’t “wannnaaa” work out, and being the wise beyond her years 21 year-old that she is, she said that it sounded like I wasn’t looking to exercise for the right reasons. You know, feeling good, being healthy, being fit, not to mention that there are other body benefits for me personally to gain from exercise, like keeping my core strong and lower back pain-free. (I had a severely herniated disc and microdiskectomy surgery in early 2008.) But, I was zeroed in on The Scale as the be all and end all endgame. And that’s just silly. In over 8 years of Weight Watching, I’ve learned that results and rewards of exercise go above and beyond the scale. And that if you’re dedicated, well, your efforts should eventually pay off on the scale. Even though I know these things, it’s really easy to get sucked into The Scale Game.
I’ve read that when it comes to what you should do for exercise and what you should do for your career, it’s best to look to what you loved to do as a kid. What did I really love when I was a kid? Reading and writing. Being sedentary. Snacking. haha But, yeah, I also loved dancing. I’m just not a huge fan of most dance workout DVDs. I get frustrated when it’s like “Oh, here, learn these moves and then, do them.” No, I’d rather be moving the whole time, getting my heart rate up, getting the most out of my 30-40 minutes of exercise. So, as cheesy as it may sound, I’m thinking of getting my fill of old-school dance aerobics by incorporating Jazzercise into my exercise plan.
Also, I’ve been thinking of challenging myself to get out of my comfort zone by doing Couch-to-5K. Having been inspired by Gina’s experience, I’d love to mentally say, “BOOM” to all the P.E. teachers who ever laughed in my chubby adolescent face when I would attempt a mile run, huffing, puffing, crying, red-faced and on the verge of vom. I would also feel so empowered by knowing that I could run. That I’m strong. That I can accomplish something that I’ve always hated and never felt I could do, because I, too, have been that fat girl who can’t run.
But either way, I just want to incorporate exercise into my life as something that without thinking, I do, naturally and happily. Instead of feeling like I have to push myself so hard to do something that is work. (Side thought: Maybe saying “working out” is just like saying “diet.” It’s got such a negative connotation, and it’s not really reflective of working toward long-term wellness.) Of course, it’s also about shifting gears with my endgame. My motivation to move can’t be about a stupid number that appears on a digital scale every week. It has to be about feeling good, taking care of the one body that I have in this life and really, at the heart of it, having fun. And it’s hard to come up with excuses for not having fun. 🙂
What kind of exercise isn’t work to you? What’s your motivation?
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June 17, 2010 at 11:33 am
emmie
a long day at the beach, full of swimming, chasing Matt, and Matt chasing me,…seems to work because I’m exhausted at the end of beach days! P.S. I LOVE that couch potato pic. haha SO CUTE! I’d love to work up to running a long distance too, but I feel like I don’t have the time right now to stay up on gaining endurance…maybe one day in my future, comfortable yuppie life I will. 😉
June 17, 2010 at 3:29 pm
Shaun
Don’t forget…muscle weighs more than fat, which is an even greater reason to avoid the scale as a barometer for your work out successes. If you focus more on how you look (and all the other benefits of working out that your sister mentioned) and don’t rely on the number on the scale to dictate looking good or not, you’ll find yourself in a much healthier place.
After all, weight can be a very deceiving statistic. You can be a certain weight but look considerably lighter, so focus instead on working out to look good and let the numbers fall where they may. No one needs to know them, anyway.
June 17, 2010 at 3:37 pm
maressasb
Thanks, Shaun. I couldn’t agree more! It’s hard though, especially because I do look to the scale as ONE indicator of how I’m doing, and it’s the ONLY indicator that Weight Watchers utilizes (which I have my opinions about)… I know that if my jeans are snug and the numbers are not optimal, I better get my butt in gear. haha But, of course, I’d rather focus on the whole picture –especially, because as you said, weight can be deceiving!
June 24, 2010 at 2:48 pm
Susan
I have to laugh because I’m laying on my couch reading this as a means of procrastinating my workout because “I don’t wannnna!” But I know I will feel much better once I do. The less I work out the worse I feel and the more difficult it is to get out of bed and do anything at all. You can’t really measure mental wellness, but it really is one of the best benefits of exercise!
June 24, 2010 at 2:52 pm
maressasb
hahah That is ironic! 🙂 But you’re so right — I definitely feel better when I work out, but it’s hard to remember that when I really don’t want to push myself to do it. Right now, I’m trying to figure out where I can attempt Couch-to-5K in an air-conditioned environment. lol I don’t belong to a gym, and being that it is 96 degrees outside today, I don’t think I’ll be jogging in the park. Hrmm. What to do!? I guess it’ll just have to be Jillian again.