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What’s the simple secret to find exercise you love? It’s really easy and I’m going to share it with you – you might be surprised just how easy it truly is.
Have you ever had one of those weeks when you feel crummy, you don’t feel like exercising, and you are just really glad the week is over? Maybe you are struggling with illness – you know, that head cold your kids gave you, that just won’t go away?
Or maybe you have an injury, like a kink in your back, from playing basketball with your kids, and you discovered how much your body aches from using muscles that you haven’t used in a long time.
WISH PLANNING A PARTY WAS A PIECE OF CAKE?
I completely understand how you feel and am hoping that I can share some advice on how to find exercise that you love even when you don’t feel like exercising. I’ve had many days when I just don’t feel like getting up and working out, but I can tell you that when you can find exercise activities that you love, it will be much easier to stay motivated! Keep reading, I hope I can help!
Before I dive in too far discussing exercise, I wanted to share something with you. Especially if the first thing you thought of when I started talking about exercise is how much a gym membership would cost.
First of all, you don’t have to go to a gym to workout – it’s one of the many things you might be paying for that you could get for FREE instead! Wonder what else you can get for free? Snag my Get It FREE checklist below right now!
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How to Find Exercise You Love When You Just Aren’t Feeling It:
It’s not been a great week, and I’m genuinely glad the week is over. I have a minor back injury from falling a million times when I attempted snowboarding about a month ago. Like an idiot, I took a few days off, ignored the pain, and continued with my active lifestyle. I thought if I took just a few days off I would be fine to continue running again and going to my gym classes. I was wrong!
A few days later our family decided to clean our basement and I picked up a box the wrong way, and my back spasamed. I’ve been in serious pain since. Injuries take time to heal – but I’ll tell you, the best thing that came out of being injured was that I learned just how much I LOVE to run and take group fitness classes.
It’s crazy how life works, that it took me being injured and unable to exercise to realize that I missed it!
If you are still aren’t feeling it – and find yourself constantly comparing yourself to others – I encourage you to read this post about contentment – How to Be Content When You Are Not.
Exercise Wasn’t Always A Priority
I wasn’t always excited to exercise. I have spent many years of my life being content to sit on the couch with every excuse you can think of not to exercise.
Growing up, I wasn’t taught to make exercise a daily priority for overall health, I viewed exercise as a chore that you only did when you wanted to lose some weight.
In college, my metabolism caught up with me. After my freshman year, of zero exercise, and cafeteria food (especially those egg mcmuffin breakfast sandwiches every morning), I had gained about 25 pounds and was feeling gross.
Get Skinny Before The Wedding
My college roommate and I, both got engaged within a couple months of each other. Together, we decided to get skinny before our weddings the following year! We read the book, “Body For Life” by Bill Phillips and we both jumped in with both feet.
Jointly, we ordered the protein shakes and grocery shopped together each week to buy healthy foods. We joined a gym and got up super early every day before classes (5am) and worked out together. We were each other’s cheering squads and the accountability was awesome!
Together, we both got in incredible shape for our weddings and I’m so happy we did! In fact, a silly side note, I was a few pounds lighter than my husband the day of our wedding – which was a huge goal of mine.
You see, my husband is not a big guy – never has been and never will be, but it’s hard to be his wife and be bigger than him, when my stature is on the smaller side as well. Neither of us are tall – he’s about 5ft 7in and I’m only 5ft 3in – we are on the smaller side for sure, but extra pounds on my frame is very noticeable.
The Importance of Finding Exercise You Love
My college years opened my eyes to the importance of exercise for your overall health – plus I learned some of the basics of eating right and started to explore different ways to exercise.
Personally, experienced the euphoria from a great workout and how that translated to pounds lost. I was in, but as soon as my focus shifted from making my health a priority, the number on the scale go up again.
You must find exercise you love or you won’t stick with it. Share on XI kept up with my new workout and healthy eating routine for a long time, but I did start to get tired of going to the gym and lifting weights. When I bored with my exercise routine, I stopped doing it.
“You have to find exercise you love or you won’t stick with it. Period.”
Life is a long journey with many days to spend moving your body and if you don’t find some form of exercise that you love, you won’t want to keep doing it and you will find something else to do instead.
WISH PLANNING A PARTY WAS A PIECE OF CAKE?
I encourage you to find at least a few types of exercise that you love and rotate them throughout the week. You might find that your tastes change over the years, and that is ok!
The Simple Secret
The best way to find exercise you love is to try all sorts of different things and see what you like best. There, I said it, the golden nugget of this post, you have to TRY a LOT of different things to discover what you truly love to do.
Does being around people energizes you you? Consider trying group fitness classes like aerobics, or Zumba or even join a racquetball league.
If you love to play sports, sign up for an adult league and play on a basketball team or soccer team from your local recreation center.
Assuming that you love water, why not try swimming laps in a pool, or join a water aerobics class!
If you love to run, then run!
In fact, consider signing up for a few races throughout the year – nothing will help you stay motivated more than paying for the registration fee. If you love to ride a bike, then get outside and ride!
If competition motivates you, then sign up for a few different types of races like a ½ marathon or a triathalon. My point is, that you will never know what type of exercise you like until you try a bunch of different things.
Best way to find exercise you love is to try all sorts of different types of exercise and see what you like best! Share on XFind What You Love and Stick With It
For me, I love to run! But, I didn’t always love to run. I started loving running when I had kids, because I needed a way to work off my stress when they were little.
I found that running gave me some peace and quiet and it calmed my nerves down. It also made it much easier to deal with my three kids.
In fact, when my oldest son was in Kindergarten, they had him fill out a questionnaire about me for Mother’s Day. One question was, “What puts your mom in a good mood?”. His answer, “If she gets a LONG run.”
Running became something I craved, which seems crazy doesn’t it? I now have a pup, Lexi, that requires a lot of exercise and she LOVES to run with me, which is awesome, because I love to run with her!
I try to run 4-6 times a week. I’ve been doing that for so many years that I can really tell when I miss a few days. If I do miss a day, it totally throws me off and usually puts me in a bad mood.
Running Essentials I Recommend
If you do decide to take up running and you have a dog to run with, these are my favorite running essentials that I highly recommend:
- Hands Free Dog Leash (this one is awesome! It has a phone pocket, and water bottle holder too)!
- Running Hydration Belt – water is a must for you and your pup
- Visor – in order to stay cool and keep the sun out of your face
- Running Belt Pack – to hold your phone and keys and dog poop baggies
Try Group Fitness Classes
I also found that I love group fitness classes – being around all the people and having an instructor tell me what I need to be doing, instead of having to figure that out on my own is awesome! I have made some amazing friends in my classes and I miss them when I don’t make it to class.
Recently, I discovered that I really enjoy playing tennis with my husband. He loves playing tennis and is much better at it than I am, but it’s a lot of fun and is something we enjoy together. I am ridiculously competitive, an:d do enjoy playing sports, like soccer and basketball with our kids. I seldom try new things, but when I do, I usually find something else I love and I’m always happy that I have a new way to stay fit.
Because of my silly back injury, I’ve been unable to do any of my regular exercise this past week and I’m going CRAZY!!! I know a lot of people would probably be super excited to have an excuse to not exercise..but I realized just how much I LOVE exercise and how much I have missed it this week.
Start To Crave The Accomplishment
I love that feeling of accomplishment that a good hour long class gives me, or that sense of stress relief from a hard run. I love the body exhaustion from a long day that started with a really good workout. For added benefit, I love the energy boost and how well I sleep at night.
WISH PLANNING A PARTY WAS A PIECE OF CAKE?
My back is not healed and I’m facing another week of little exercise…I’m dreading it. But, I’m so thankful that I realized just how fortunate I am to have finally found exercise that I truly love to do. If you are still trying to get started with your New Years Resolution to get fit and healthy, don’t give up! Find exercise that you truly love and stick with it.
You may have to try a lot of different types of exercise before you find something you really enjoy, and that is ok! If exercise was easy, than everyone would be doing it.
Try different things and don’t give up! Recognize the benefits from working out and be proud of yourself for your accomplishments, plus remember that your kids are watching and we all want our kids to understand the importance of lifelong health.
Be the best example you can be to your kids to teach them early that exercise is a vital part of your overall health. I’m going to try really hard this week to stay positive, even though I’ll be laid, up – but I know I’ll be so excited when I get to head back to the gym or outside for a long run!
Other Posts You Might Like:
- 25 Ways Stay At Home Moms Can Save Money Today
- Why Habits Are Hard To Make and Break
- 8 Things Frugal Moms Never Pay Money For
- 3 Ways To Be A More Productive Stay At Home Mom
- Easy Stay At Home Mom Schedule – Save Your Sanity!
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