Hi! So I'm not overweight, but I want to be healthy and get in shape. Here's the problem...

[ForeverNight]

I'm getting kind of intimidated. 

 

To understand the level of my intimidation, let me let you in on my situation: For the longest time I've felt VERY insecure about my body, and I know I want to change it - get stronger, up my endurance and look more fit. I have the motivation, I think. It's just every time I try to, I chicken out or I can't find the time. The last couple times I tried being prime examples...for instance, when I tried a 12 minute workout, was huffing and puffing in five minutes and decided to call it a day...but never resumed (plus, Denise Austen's baby talk made me feel like a toddler during the workout...haha). Or the time I had massive amounts of homework to do practically everyday and didn't get to get a workout in. 

 

So...what should I do? I want to find something fun that I can do for exercise so I'll stick with it, but I don't want it to be so time consuming that I can't do my homework, or have to put my homework over doing the workout. Any ideas? Much appreciated.

[sylph]

Lots of peeps start here: Beginner Bodyweight Workout

But... what do you like/want to do? Lift weights? Rock climb? Do yoga? Martial arts? Swim? Run? All of the above? There is a hugely diverse group of people here with lots of different goals. Whatever yours is, there is undoubtedly someone who can help/give you advice.

[Defrock]

That bodyweight workout is a good start if you just want something quick and very efficient. 

 

What is it about yourself that you want to change? What would you like to achieve(besides losing weight and look more fit)? Until you can internalize goals and think about what you want to change, you're going to have a hard time sticking to a routine, because you have nothing bonding you and holding you to it. 

 

For me, I would see family and friends participating in all sorts of races, and they all looked so happy at the end. I would always tell myself that my asthmatic lungs could never hold up to that, and that I hated running anyway. Why were they all so freaking happy when they finished? Wasn't that pure torture? I kept trying workouts that were fun, but I never went through with a routine because it was 'too hard on my lungs' and I couldn't breathe. 

Then it hit me. I wanted to smile after a race. I needed to train my lungs to be stronger. For too long I was using them as an excuse. And then I remembered high school fitness tests and how I finished my mile in 18 minutes, and hated running. I wanted to change that. Running would strengthen my lungs, and I could do it with baby steps of running and walking intervals, and even those baby steps were still exercise instead of having to completely stop to catch my breath. 

 

TL;DR: Take the one thing that holds you back, and do something to strengthen it. Make goals around strengthening it. It's okay to take baby steps if you have to; it's nothing to be embarrassed about. But you must internalize what you want to change, and those goals.

 

Good luck!