Exercising

Let’s start by getting something out in the open: I HATE to exercise. I don’t like to be sweaty, I don’t like to be hot, I don’t like to be sore, I don’t want to wake up early… This list goes on and on. I talked in a previous post about the need to make changes slowly so that you do not overwhelm yourself. For that reason, I started my weight loss journey making little changes to my daily life instead of starting to truly exercise. The little things that I do to exercise everyday are:

·      Park towards the back of a parking lot so the walk to the store is longer

·      Always take the stairs down. Gravity does most of the work for you so it is basically free exercise. I work on the 7^th floor and still take the stairs down every time I leave.

·      Take the stairs up when you can. In the beginning I took the stairs when I had to walk up one or two flights. I slowly added flights as I felt more fit. Now, I will always take the stairs if it is four flights or less.

·      When you can, walk. Since I work at a university, this is really easy for me. I walk everywhere, including the 0.5 miles to Franklin Street whenever I go to downtown Chapel Hill.

After the first year of my weight loss journey, I knew it was time to get serious about exercise. I tried going to the gym for a few weeks but I had a hard time fitting that into my strange schedule. Now I work out in my living room first thing in the morning. I have a set of dumbbells (3, 5 and 8 pounds) and Exercise TV On Demand. That is all I need. During weeks when my husband and I do not have our stepson, I do an hour-long workout every morning called “Quick Trouble Zones.” During the other weeks when I have less time in the morning, I do a 20-minute workout from the “10 Pound Slimdown” series. This is the schedule that works best for me but you definitely need to make sure you find a schedule and workout that works for you. You are not going to stick to a workout plan if it is a struggle just to get to the gym.