n00b here, redefining the word n00b. Srsly.

[knopfler]

Me: 36 year old nerd who's overcome a lifetime of being badly overweight and all the social stigma associated with it to have a great big wide circle of 3l33t friends, a successful and rewarding career that compensates me fairly, and a spouse who loves me dearly. It's a pretty awesome life.

This is the one thing I can't get right.

Diets, whatever there have been of them, failed. Gastric banding done over 2 years ago, with no complications but also little results. Gastric Doctor gave up on me and moved onto the next prospect once the health insurance checks cleared. (I should have expected this more than I did...) Travel about 40-50% for work to rural America and never to the same place twice, so routine is hard to impossible to find even on those things I love to do.

I have never once entered a gym in my life, not even for 10 seconds to pick up a friend. They terrify me, and they intimidate me. I'm way, way too modest and uncomfortable to be working out on some bike in front of a window where everyone sees me. Never's a strong word, but that's never happening. I'm also a financial planner, so the money games they play disgust me. I have an instant and immediate aversion to anyone trying to use my weight problem to extract money from me. One thing that drew me to this space and caused me to register for an account is that you didn't try to immediately hawk something on me that would personally benefit you. Good on you.

I understand almost nothing about the conversations and discussions about fitness and working out on blogs here, because I quite honestly have no idea what folks are talking about when they talk about crunches or lats or what have you. What on earth is a lat? Do I have one? Six?

Posted the below a little awhile ago on the 11 Rules page, then realized last comment was 2 years old and I should be posting it here instead. Yup, I'm a n00b. It's where my headspace is right now, so hopefully y'all can help me.

"I have a friend of mine who's an fitness enthusiast blogger who linked to you, so here I am. You both have the gift of writing well and keeping interest! You lost me, though, at 'We exercise because it's fun.' I'm 36, and have never had that statement be true, not even for 6 seconds. It's never fun. Ever. Ever ever. Not even when I was 5 years old. How do I buy in to the rest of your stuff when one of your major assumptions flies so totally in the face of every minute of my own life experience? Perhaps worth a blog post."

hugs and guano

[BeigeTurtle]

Hi knopfler. If exercising has never been fun for you, do you mind if I ask what you've tried? There are some exercises I totally loathe - but others I will happily do for ages (e.g., dance). Maybe it's a matter of finding something that interests you, or that's tailored to where you are now. After all, if you try to do a marathon the first time you step out the door, you'll hate running, whereas you might like it if you start out with smaller, measurable goals. Think of it like saving money - you don't tell people they're going to have a million bucks overnight, do you? Nope, you tell them to make small, *smart* changes, and to keep adding onto that. So really, exercising and your day job aren't all that dissimilar!

[Sinuosette]

Hey knopfler, I am new (and a noob) too but I can tell you where I got started, if that helps.

Once I decided that I just didn't like the direction my health was heading into, I just decided to make little changes: I removed sodas, then sweets and I am trying to always pick the healthy option over the unhealthy one. I don't do diets, I just try to be considerate with what I eat more often than not.

As for exercise, I bought the Rebel Fitness Guide from Nerd Fitness and it is of great help to get started, bouth from a fitness than a diet point of view.

Hope I helped a little, but I am sure the more experienced people around here can give you even more information. Good luck!

[CyningaDena]

Hi knopfler. If exercising has never been fun for you, do you mind if I ask what you've tried? There are some exercises I totally loathe - but others I will happily do for ages (e.g., dance). Maybe it's a matter of finding something that interests you, or that's tailored to where you are now.

^^ this

Something that's been really cool to see in the workout logs and 6-week challenge threads is how many people approach their physical activity in the spirit of play. Sure, there are a lot of us who just use a grid to mark down sets and reps and weight, but there are also people who build their own exercise on the spur of the moment by chucking around a random car tire they found, or by making up insane games with their kids on the jungle gym, or playing Zombies, Run! Steven and Stacy even built that into the 6-week challenge format by introducing the RPG element for those of us who love watching arbitrary numbers increase, and it's been awesome.

I've also seen a lot of people here starting out on Steve's (free) Angry Birds workout, which is done with your own body weight (so it doesn't require a gym), scales up or down to fit your body (knee push-ups to incline push-ups to regulation push-ups, for example), and includes videos to show you how to do the exercises and a sheet so you can track your progress (and celebrate over your improvement at the end!). I can't give a first-hand review, but the people I've seen doing it seem to enjoy it, and they're definitely making good improvement when they're pairing it with a solid eating plan.

At some point in your journey, someone here is going to ask about what you're eating. Because that's 80% of the battle right there. And, like Sinuosette mentioned, there's no need to buy into a diet with a particular name. The folks here can be great about helping tweak your eating plan to support your goals.

Good to have you on board!

[knopfler]

Thanks for the responses so far.

Let me see if I can express myself a little more clearly here. I can't put into words what I've "tried" or not "tried," in that, as I said, I've never been to a gym or deliberate, regimented exercise programme. What I do know is sustained exercise that I must do (climbing DC Metro stairs when the elevators break, hiking in national parks to get to the awesome views, chasing after my nephew, being herded through Dulles) always, and I do mean always, makes me feel worse at the end than when I started. Like, a lot worse. I hear so much about how exercise makes people feel better at the end of whatever they were doing that it makes me think I'm very, very different from them since that's never happened to me. EVAR.

I've checked out the Angry Birds link you posted briefly and will get more in depth as soon as I'm able; however here's an example of where well-meaning people just confuse the heck out of me. Already, I need to go look up the following terms, as I have no. earthly. idea. what they mean, what they are, how one might do them or whether I've ever done one by accident:

squats

planks

bent over rows

inverted rows

incline push ups versus knee push ups (do I get kneed in the belly during the latter?)

one arm rows

There are some helpful links for many of these that I'll check out when I'm not at work and can turn the sound up without drawing unwanted attention to myself for going to a blog during work hours, but I point them out to say ...

wow, how utterly intimidating to have so little clue.

[BeigeTurtle]

wow, how utterly intimidating to have so little clue.

Hey knopfler. I hope I can understand at least some of what you feel - I look at some of the workout logs on this site, and I just wonder what on earth all those abbreviations and things mean. Some of those lists look to me like they're written in Sanskrit or something. Yikes.

A few thoughts on your post: First, yeah, sometimes exercise can be hard and ugh and not energizing. Starting a new exercise program when I've fallen off the wagon (as I often do...) is always hard for me. Even now, the first few blocks of a run for me always feel like crap. Give yourself two or three weeks to get to the point where you find a groove. When I first started running, I just wanted to step into traffic to get the misery over with. These days, after that first quarter mile or so, I sometimes get to this awesome, awesome place where I feel like I could run forever (I can't... yet). So yes, you do get that energized feeling - just maybe not at first. Not gonna lie about that.

What about things that don't feel like exercise, or that you don't call exercise? Do you go to cons? Do you walk the floor for, like, hours looking at all the cool stuff? Well, you're walking around and moving and not just sitting down. How about going to live music, where you stand a lot and clap and move around? (Gwar shows are great for this! You will move tons.) How about puttering around the house doing repairs and cleaning and stuff? You get to move around and you'll get a cleaner environment at the same time. Gardening? Walking the dog? Playing Twister?

Sure, those things might sound like modest starts - but they're starts, and that's what matters. Maybe that's just where you are right now, just getting up and moving around. If you don't know what a plank is, well, don't do planks. Same with squats or rows or whatever.

I think for where you are, maybe just building some better habits and trying to gain momentum and the mindset to be moving a lot might be a way to kick things off. Those are all achievable goals, things you can do without knowing a lot about exercise, without strain, without fear of doing it right or wrong or what have you. Do what you can do now, and then work on slowly expanding that universe of possibility.

We're all in this together, and we're all here to be supportive! I hope I'm not confusing you or make any of this sound harder than it needs to be. It doesn't have to be hard. It's doable. It's achievable. It's within your reach, for reals.

[BeckyBuckeye]

You're going to feel like crap when you first start because you're shocking your body into doing something it's not used to doing. No worries, you'll get there. I'm not at that point yet either, but I'm getting there, I feel better, just not amazing or energized, just tired. Seconding what BeigeTurtle said, just getting started will start to build momentum, so start with something you enjoy.

As for the exercises and things you don't know what they mean, those links you've found are the best place to start. Google is awesome. So is the main blog here. Don't worry, none of us started with that knowledge, at some point we had to learn it too. Everyone here is super helpful too. So welcome! Glad to have you in the Rebellion!

[Absidey]

wow, how utterly intimidating to have so little clue.

Hopefully a little less intimidating if you know we were all there at some point? I started with videos, because reading a routine just had me all glassy eyed wondering what the hey a tricep kickback was. A year ago, I didn't know what a plank was either, and I still can't tell you what an inverted row looks like. (Ask me tomorrow! =) ) There are lots of "clues" available here, and for what the community doesn't know, there are excellent resources we can point you towards.

Nothing is wrong with asking here for advice or googling "how too <insert anything>." This is a great place to learn: supportive, friendly, and all fitness levels doing all sorts of things. Sometimes the deluge of information available can be overwhelming, but just keep trying new things and experimenting, and you'll find things that work for you a little at a time. You may not be there yet, but you're closer than you were yesterday.

[Elastigirl]

When I was a noob, best thing was the angry birds workout. Steve has video for each of the excercises. And since there is only a few excercises, you can just concentrate on learning those.

[knopfler]

Seconding what BeigeTurtle said, just getting started will start to build momentum, so start with something you enjoy.

Thanks again, everyone, for the helpful comments. Here's the crux of what I mean: there's no exercise I've ever enjoyed. EVAR. I've heard this "start with something you enjoy" line so many times I've lost count, and what it always means to me is "you are completely unlike me." I reckon I need to get past that, but I feel it's important to be honest, too. When Steve or others proclaim "We exercise because it's fun," and it's never once been fun for me, I wonder how alike we could possibly be. When I see someone outside all sweaty exercising, my first and truly only thought is how happy I am to not be that person - even when that person is in fantastic shape.

I'm trying to get past that, since there's so much else here I either already agree with (read Pollan's In Defense of Food, which indirectly led me here after realizing how I had been so full of fail with damn near everything I ate) or have come to love in the 12 hours since I found this site, and so little salesmanship, pretense or ego, that I just spent 30 minutes researching Paleo. Whoa.

I think what I'm going to have to do is go with the next 6 week challenge - already have a draft of goals worked up - finally hop into Paleo after my 80 year old retired RN friend (!) has been bugging me about it for a year, commit to doing the Angry Birds workout, and omit "we exercise because it's fun" out of Steve's rules, since it's not true for me.

Yup, that sounds like a plan. OK, what's next? How to start?

[katpower]

I've gone to the gym on and off since I was 18, and for most of that time, it sure wasn't fun. I did it because I knew it was good for me, because I wanted to be skinny and hot (when I was younger) and fit and strong (now). But it was always just boring and slightly unpleasant.

This year I'm heaps more motivated, I'm taking health and fitness more seriously, addicted to Nerd Fitness etc - and for the first time, I enjoy going to the gym.

Same with running - I've never been able to run more than a few strides without stopping and feeling yuck, but this year, I got my fitness up a lot through regular fast walks, and that combined with my toe-shoes has given me the ability to start running (on week 2 of c25k now) (c25k is a program that takes you from the couch, to running 5km, in 9 weeks). I used to hate runners! Now I'm becoming one of those weird alien creatures.

Or try a sport/activity that appeals to you, and let the fitness follow as a side effect. I used to fence - yeah, I was unfit and it made my legs hurt, but I got to hit people with swords. Woot!

So I think you need to keep in mind that exercise isn't necessarily fun or rewarding at first. You push your body and willpower out of their comfort zone and do things that make you feel tired, incompetent and sore. But if you can push past that to a point where your body starts to get used to the idea of moving, you might find that then you start enjoying it more.

OR if that never works, use a reward system - if I walk today for half an hour, I can play on the computer/xbox for an hour. If I make it through the Angry Birds workout, I can treat myself to some pr0n (whatever works for you!)

[CyningaDena]

Here's the crux of what I mean: there's no exercise I've ever enjoyed. EVAR. I've heard this "start with something you enjoy" line so many times I've lost count, and what it always means to me is "you are completely unlike me." I reckon I need to get past that, but I feel it's important to be honest, too. When Steve or others proclaim "We exercise because it's fun," and it's never once been fun for me, I wonder how alike we could possibly be. When I see someone outside all sweaty exercising, my first and truly only thought is how happy I am to not be that person - even when that person is in fantastic shape.

Then I guess the only option that's left for you is to just pick something you're able to do, and put up with not enjoying it. Do it because it's healthy, and because there's a future pay-off.

It's not ever going to be "enjoyable" like playing Skyrim. But unless your body is physically incapable of producing endorphins, you will eventually reach a place where your body rewards you for being active. That's just how the biological machine works. So hold out for that to happen.

OR if that never works, use a reward system - if I walk today for half an hour, I can play on the computer/xbox for an hour. If I make it through the Angry Birds workout, I can treat myself to some pr0n (whatever works for you!)

That's a good place to start. Set small goals (Angry Birds workout on Friday) and small rewards for meeting those goals (pr0n). Build those goals up (a full week of Angry Birds, a full week's worth of meal plans for the new diet, a full month...) and build the rewards accordingly. Be honest and hold yourself accountable. NO PR0N IF U NO WORK FOR IT.

[Absidey]

As you try new things, too, you might find other things associated with exercising that you like, if not the action itself. For example: I hate yoga. I hate going to the classes, I think most of the videos are smug, and it makes me feel like an awkward clumsy reject. My hair frizzes everywhere and makes my nose itch, and I have yet to find clothing that's comfortable to wear while doing it. Visualization while I breathe in an overheated room? Kill me! However, afterwards, I feel relaxed and loose for a little while, and I like that enough to keep myself going to yoga periodically.

Walking on a treadmill is where I started, and, man, I hated it more than I hate yoga, but I would let myself read while I walked as long as I was working. Since I work full time, have a 2 year old, and own a business on the side, there were days that the only time I got to read was on the treadmill at the gym. Hate the treadmill; love to read. It worked out, at least until I found some other things I enjoy a bit more. You may need to get a little creative, but there are ways of finding pleasure in unlikely places. Like I said before: experiment with what you've done and try some things you've never done before.

[TurtIe]

Hey Knopfler! It's wonderful you're here! Don't worry about being a n3wb13, it might just be the best thing you have going for you- I've trained with people from all over the fitness knowledge spectrum. One lady thought I was insulting her when I used the phrase dumbbell (a hand held weight like those in the cartoons) and she was an absolute blast, why? Because she was ready to learn everything right the first time. There's nothing worse than trying to instruct someone who thinks they know everything, so consider yourself lucky to have a leg up on the competition!

Thanks again, everyone, for the helpful comments. Here's the crux of what I mean: there's no exercise I've ever enjoyed. EVAR. I've heard this "start with something you enjoy" line so many times I've lost count, and what it always means to me is "you are completely unlike me." I reckon I need to get past that, but I feel it's important to be honest, too. When Steve or others proclaim "We exercise because it's fun," and it's never once been fun for me, I wonder how alike we could possibly be. When I see someone outside all sweaty exercising, my first and truly only thought is how happy I am to not be that person - even when that person is in fantastic shape.

Makes sense. Why would you want to involve yourself in something so completely unappealing as exercise? It's difficult. It makes you smell and it will make you hurt like hell the day after if you do it for long enough.

However, our brains are well aware of this so they have devised a sneaky way to get us to do it anyway. They're a peptide hormone (aka crazy chemical) called endorphins. When you exercise long enough and hard enough, they are released into your bloodstream and things are just great. You feel good about yourself, about life, about the teenage tool that didn't agree with your brilliant financial plan that would make him a future Scrooge McDuck. They're like an orgasm (because an orgasm is exactly a release of endorphins) except it's an orgasm for your soul and good will the world over.

Now that probably sounds crazy, and you probably don't believe me. I spoke at length once to an old devout Christian who had lived a life of sexual abstinence. He said "I don't miss sex because I know nothing of its joys". You can't miss something you've never tried. I myself have never touched a drop of alcohol, illicit drugs or any cigarettes. I had friends who I would go out with as a teenager that would love the high of getting drunk and ask me why I wont drink. I never had the desire and I couldn't miss or want something I'd never tried.

I'm trying to get past that, since there's so much else here I either already agree with (read Pollan's In Defense of Food, which indirectly led me here after realizing how I had been so full of fail with damn near everything I ate) or have come to love in the 12 hours since I found this site, and so little salesmanship, pretense or ego, that I just spent 30 minutes researching Paleo. Whoa.

Well you've come to the right place! As you've said already this place is a haven of similarly minded people. Everyone here wants you to reach your potential and you can ask the stupidest, newbest questions around and they'll be met with kind understanding. If you're unsure of what breathing is, I doubt you would illicit so much as a "lol" from your fellow Rebels.

I think what I'm going to have to do is go with the next 6 week challenge - already have a draft of goals worked up - finally hop into Paleo after my 80 year old retired RN friend (!) has been bugging me about it for a year, commit to doing the Angry Birds workout, and omit "we exercise because it's fun" out of Steve's rules, since it's not true for me.

Sounds good but don't try to over do it. Starting properly is all about starting slowly.

Here's how I would proceed (in your position, keep in mind this is advice freely given so you are more than welcome to disregard it completely).

Ahem....

Creating a healthy lifestyle from scratch will rely on three big factors.

1. Nutrition

2. Exercise

3. Motivation

Nutrition

You can't know where you are going until you know where you have been

The first and best thing you can do to make a change to how you eat is to keep a food journal. This could be a .doc on your computer, a little notepad in your bag or whatever. You don't have to be super specific but you have to write down everything you eat for one week.

For example it could say:

Breakfast: 2 pieces toast with jam and coffee

Snack: 1 blueberry muffin

Other snack: Bag of potato chips

Lunch: Ham sandwich with bottle of coke

etc, etc.

Do this for a week, it will not only be a good guideline to look back on but it will make you eat mindfully and keep you responsible. If you have something to report to then you might pass on something you don't need. However, more important than eating responsibly or anything else is that you BE HONEST. Everyone slips up, I have kept food journals with entries "Ate entire ice cream cake" and that's because a food journal is only as good as its accuracy.

Do it for a week.

Just one week.

Then, read over it and pick five (only five, not six, not seven) changes you can make to your diet to improve it. Then spent two weeks making those changes habits. Once it's a habit, rinse and repeat. You don't have to remove things from your diet, you just have to swap them. You don't have to ditch your favourite foods cold turkey, you can leave those in and change those "meh" foods that you eat because they are there.

This, my friend, is the secret to eating properly. There is no such thing as a good "diet", you just need to eat properly. Our bodies need fuel much like our cars, but your car wont last very long if you feed it nothing but fries and neither will we. Do it slowly, do it properly, don't be afraid to slip up, we all slip up. I've been doing this kind of stuff for over a decade and I still accidentally buy an entire block of chocolate and eat it on the spot.

It's not about being perfect. It's about trying to be better than you were yesterday. If you can't be better be the same. If you can't be the same, do better tomorrow.

As a final note on nutrition- healthy eating is all about 'whole foods' and 'clean eating'. These are umbrella terms for anything that goes through no (or very little) manufacturing processes. Raw vegetables aren't made in a factory, neither are chicken breasts, eggs, steaks or fruit. Paleo advocates will tell you grains are the devil but I know people who have gotten great results eating multigrain breads and rices. Just try and keep the things you substitute in your diet as clean and close to nature as possible.

Exercise

You clearly are not interested a great deal in exercise, and that's completely fine. However, until you write it off completely you must first attempt it. There's nothing worse than someone who avidly hates something they wont attempt. Take my wife for example. She refuses to try fish, I'll cook a delicious crispy salmon fillet and she'll look at it like the mess a dog made in our lawn. She says "that's gross" but she's never tried it to make sure. I constantly remind her that she would love fish if she only just tried it.

Well, here's your chance to be cooler than my wife! The Angry Birds workout is an excellent starting point. Go through it, watch the videos and just try it. Don't rush into the entire thing. Spend a night just learning the movements. Go through the videos and just try them out. Get to the point where if you can't enjoy it, at least settle for being comfortable doing it.

Then the next night do your best to run through the whole program. If you can do it three times a week for two weeks and you still loathe the very notion of exercise then we might need to be slightly more creative but at least give it a go. Tell your spouse what you are doing and have her encourage you- there's a reason why professional sports employ cheerleaders.

Motivation

Of the three beasts you must slay, this is by far the trickiest devil of them all. There are no clean cut rules to motivation. There are things you can do to help yourself, tangible rewards like a new technological doodad or a new pair of shiny shoes or intangible rewards like the praise and recognition those around you will give when you get results. Those are great but can only take you so far.

So, when it comes to motivation, the best advice I can give you is this: Set yourself up to succeed.

Surround yourself with positive people, find a workout partner, dive in to this community, read everything you can and apply it whenever necessary. The more you become ingrained in this fitness culture, the easier it will be. No man is an island, we all need each other for motivation.

Other than that, I'm always happy to answer questions and so is everyone else here. Don't hesitate to ask anyone anything and good luck.

Well done on taking this step, now lets take a few more

[knopfler]

However, our brains are well aware of this so they have devised a sneaky way to get us to do it anyway. They're a peptide hormone (aka crazy chemical) called endorphins. When you exercise long enough and hard enough, they are released into your bloodstream and things are just great. You feel good about yourself, about life, about the teenage tool that didn't agree with your brilliant financial plan that would make him a future Scrooge McDuck. They're like an orgasm (because an orgasm is exactly a release of endorphins) except it's an orgasm for your soul and good will the world over.

Now that probably sounds crazy, and you probably don't believe me.

*chuckle* You're right, I don't believe you. I'm 36 and that's never happened to me once, not even for 7 seconds. I just feel increasingly crappy until I stop, then I feel crappy for awhile longer.

I should clarify that I'm referring to the feeling awesome part after/during exercising, not having orgasms. I've had those and they do feel good.

[BeigeTurtle]

Knopfler, just out of curiosity, what are some things you do enjoy? What do you spend your time doing? What's fun to you?

[TurtIe]

That's fine, people in the 16th century believed the world was flat, yet their belief did nothing for the validity of their theory. Endorphin release takes time, like all good things. They don't give six figure jobs to entry level applicants. You've got to do your work.

However, the truth is the truth, do your research and take heart in this: If you put the time and effort in, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

[Cinda]

Welcome! Just a suggestion from my own experience, you said yourve looked into the paleo way and think it's a go-er? Ive been transitioning into paleo for about 2 months (slowly cutting things out and now my only cheat is 85% dark chocolate) and ive never had more energy in my life. I get a bit bored and frustrated if i sit around for long periods of time now, and i'm a mmorpg kinda girl.

Perhaps if Paleo is a path you are looking into, making that change first might be the way to go. Perhaps the extra energy that many of us feel will help with your dislike of exercise.

[wildross]

Thanks for the responses so far.

squats

planks

bent over rows

inverted rows

incline push ups versus knee push ups (do I get kneed in the belly during the latter?)

one arm rows

You've probably got the links now but

Squat - stand up right, go down like you were going to use a latrine (ie, no stool to sit on)

Planks - make your body as straight as you can while supporting yourself on you hands/elbows and knees/toes. Hold as long as you can

Rows - pull a weight towards your body. All the different names just refer to different back angles, ways to grip the bar or what type of bar to use

Inverted rows - pull your body weight up to a bar (sort of an inclined pullup)

[knopfler]

Perhaps if Paleo is a path you are looking into, making that change first might be the way to go. Perhaps the extra energy that many of us feel will help with your dislike of exercise.

Bingo.

And hey, I'm open to being wrong. I'm wrong all the time! Maybe 2 months from now I'll get this magical exercise endorphin rush some speak of. I just have to be honest with not ever having gotten it before, and how that makes me at least a little skeptical. Nerds are skeptical by nature - hence the challenge everything advice from this site. Truth be told, I'm ok with the reality that I may never experience this exercise endorphin rush thing. Srsly.

Things I like to do...National Parks, travel, music and concerts (bluegrass, blues...), family, active in Unitarian congregation, social media manager for things I love like wineries, bluegrass bands and my congregation, wine enthusiast who pours at a winery on the weekends for goofs, nasty stanky dirty sense of humor. I'm not a gamer but so many of my friends are that I speak the language. It's an awesome life, y'all.

hugs and guano

[jait]

Dude, I know this will sound really odd... but you've totally made my day. As another utter newbie here, I share a lot of the same sentiments with you.

You are not alone!

I am conflicted as hell, because I know I need to make some changes and I know it's in my best interest and I know I should exercise, but I don't want to. I've never had the exercise-endorphin-rush; my attempts at going to the gym have always pittered out.

I think the support and prodding of folks here will make a huge difference for both of us. God, I hope so.

[Warwolf]

I didn't really get much out of it until I started looking at it as gaining XP towards my goal of [looking good/being stronger/insert goal]. That worked pretty well but what really kicked my ass in gear was finding I was stronger than I thought. I worked out sporadically for a while but I didn't do anything recreational that could be considered active so the only results I had were minor improvements in physique. Then, one day, on a walk through the woods I decided to climb a tree (something I always wanted to do, but never could) and BOOM, I climbed a 4" wide tree like 15 feet in the air. That's what really sold me that the work I was putting in was worth it. Since then every workout is a step towards something else I don't know I can do yet.

TLDNR:I didn't really enjoy my workouts until I experienced the results first hand.

So maybe all it takes is a little grinding for a while before you can gain a new ability that'll motivate you to keep going. Either way, being here is a big step in the right direction! So Welcome to Rebellion, and best of luck!

[RaeVynn]

Hey, welcome to the rebellion !

Don't worry much about exercise, focus on your usual eating - don't sweat the occasional one-off - and just do a little walking a few times a week. When I started, I was walking about a block, three times a week.

Food is 80% - that means exercise is only 20%. Really.

We're here for you, and some of us started in the same place...

[BeigeTurtle]

Things I like to do...National Parks, travel, music and concerts (bluegrass, blues...), family, active in Unitarian congregation, social media manager for things I love like wineries, bluegrass bands and my congregation, wine enthusiast who pours at a winery on the weekends for goofs, nasty stanky dirty sense of humor. I'm not a gamer but so many of my friends are that I speak the language. It's an awesome life, y'all.

hugs and guano

Okay, this is a cool list. How about engaging in activities that have a built-in reward? You mentioned hiking through parks to get to the great views - that's a really good example. How about standing up more at shows? (I've been to huge bluegrass shows where everyone sits, but I've also been to smaller shows where everyone stands.) How about walking among the grapes at wineries? Have you thought about getting together some kind of group at church with whom you can be active - maybe doing some kind of volunteer community project?

Since you're not (yet) getting the endorphin rush, it's about looking for other rewards. Right now, you don't believe exercise is fun because it isn't (yet). You need to convince yourself, by hook or by crook.

[Gobnait]

Knop, I didn't read the entire thread, but one thing I recommend for travelers is to use a grocery store deli for takeout whenever possible. If the hotel has an ice machine, you can even get a bit of protein and plant to go with the complimentary toast bar. Traditional diners are also a decent choice for healthy food.

My favorite exercise is "do things the hard way." Since I doubt you're an agrophobe, you could probably find opportunities to walk, carry heavy loads, do things faster than is necessary.