recommend an exercise routine for an exercise phobe, or is there any point?

[Anonymous]

I really despise exercising. I was always the girl who hated gym class, sports, whatever. I just hate it. I also am not convinced that exercise really leads to weight loss; at least with me, I have not really seen a clear link between the times when I weighed the least and exercised the most. I have noticed that I eat less when I am exercising, mainly because I despise working out so much and I see how long it takes to burn the calories that I am not willing to eat the cookie for an extra however many minutes on the treadmill.

Here are my questions:

1. Does exercise REALLY make you lose weight? If not, does it make you look better/more toned even if you are just doing simple stuff? I'm talking about a real difference here, not "oh sure honey, of course your arms look thinner" kind of thing.

2. If I have 30 minutes per day, what is my best bet? Am I getting any benefit from the treadmill + free weights? I did 30 day shred before my wedding and it was AWFUL which made me think that maybe it worked? But I was dieting hardcore at the same time so it's hard to say.

[Anonymous]

I am totally with you. I just don't seem to ever get the enjoyment from exercise that many people do (you know, the people like my husband who say things after a workout like "I feel so much better when I exercise"). I also think it has minimal effect on my weight although helped some when I was recently losing 15 pounds. For me, I try to do it as a health issue but I have to stick with something I will do reasonably often. For me, that means walking/jogging on a treadmill while watching a TV show so I don't get too bored. I also try to stay pretty active in other ways like walking around the neighborhood, etc. I just know that if I try to do an "intense" work out I just hate it so much that I won't stick with it for any reasonable period of time so it backfires. Doing a little on a regular basis seems like a better way to go rather than trying to do the most activity I can do in that 30 minutes or so.

[Anonymous]

Weight loss is 80% what you eat, 20% exercise. So it's very possible to be successful with weight loss without exercising, but harder to lose weight through exercise alone.

It will help you tone and look better. But to be honest, really noticable tone will only come if you're somewhat on the thinner side to begin with.

I've also never noticed a big difference in weight loss if I exercised or not. For starters, it makes me hungrier, so it's harder to stick to a diet.

The treadmill, esp running, is one of the most effecient calorie burners, and it's great for aerobic fitness. Free weights will help tone and building muscle, but don't do as much for aerobic (not sure how they do with calorie burn). Frankly, it's probably one of the combos for exercise, but really, whatever you'll keep going back to is your best bet.

[Anonymous]

I don't know about losing weight, but I'm in my late 30's and you can generally tell in my circle who exercises and who doesn't. those who exercise (not necessarily every day, but several times a week) tend to look healthier. More toned, maybe a bit thinner on average, and i think the energy level is higher. I think exercise should be an essential part of everyone's life. For some people, that might mean walking to/from work, etc. or working at an active job. A lot of us have sedentary jobs and non-pedestrian commutes and non-active hobbies, and I think that's part of why so many americans are overweight. (food is a real problem too, but you didn't ask about that.)

How old are you? If you're in your 20's, it may not be a big deal yet. But metabolism does slow around 30 and can continue to slow. It was easier to maintain my weight 10 years ago than it is now. you may be very unhappy with your body in 10 years, and it's easier to maintain weight than to lose it.

The treadmill is keeping your cardiac system (heart, lungs) healthy and the weights are building and keeping muscle mass, which is really important as you age. Muscle also burns calories when at rest, so there's a slight effect there. If you really hate the treadmill, switch it up with the bikes and the arc trainer or stair climber so you don't get too bored, and reward yourself with trash TV or gossip mags or something you enjoy while you do it. (I love reading Us or People on the arc.) If weights bore you, sub in a yoga or body pump class once a week. Or consider trying a totally different class like sports conditioning or kickboxing. yeah, you might look like the new jackass in class, but we've all been there. good luck.

[Anonymous]

I am a former exercise hater. I just never liked it, and didn't really felt like I needed it until after #2 arrived. Now it is my "alone-time", and I'm looking forward to it every time.

I found that cardio helps with my stamina and general energy level. Good thing to have when chasing around kids. If you want toning of arms/back/legs, you need to lift weights. The only thing that worked for me long-term was to take group exercise classes 2-3 times a week. It forces me to go b/c it's at a set time (thus I don't procrastinate), and it forces me to stay the whole hour and to actually work (b/c I don't like looking like the slacker).

Classes also come with up-beat, new-ish music (and I suck at keeping up with music beyond the early 90s), so I feel like I'm getting a good dose of pop-culture as an added bonus.

[Anonymous]

I LOVE exercise, so I find it really difficult to imagine being exercise phobic, but here are my thoughts:

- exercise can help you lose or maintain weight, but it's not required, and it can make you hungrier, as you body tries to replenish lost calories. But, it also increases your metabolism and helps to increase your muscle mass, which burns calories more efficiently;

- forget the weight aspect; exercise helps to keep you healthy. Unless you are normally very active in your daily life (and most of us aren't) you need to exercise to for cardiovascular health and to keep your muscles and bones strong. If you don't, you'll pay a steep price as you get older;

- even if you're able to stay slim without exercise, in most cases by the time you're in your mid-thirties you won't look as good naked: cellulite, sagging, and the dreaded "skinny fat". And don't forget osteoporosis.

- exercise makes you feel better. It really does, even if you're just walking.

[Anonymous]

Dear PP (exercise lover) 15:42 here,

I agree with most of what you said about the health benefits of exercising. That is what makes me try to do it. But for me (and maybe for OP as well) it is no more enjoyable than say brushing my teeth. I recognize that for you and for many other people, exercise does make you feel better. I believe you, but I do not think that is a universal truth for all people. I have had periods where I have done lots of exercise and periods where I do almost none throughout my life and I can say that I have never thought to myself that it makes me feel better. I have never thought that I miss it when I stop (I wish I did because then it wouldn't be so hard to keep up). I don't ever miss it. I don't ever feel particularly good after I work out, just glad to be done. The periods in my life when I do work out are no happier or better than the ones when I don't. I do it because science tells me that in 20 years I'll regret it if I don't do it (and sometimes because it makes it a little easier to keep my weight down to a size 6). But I never like it or think it makes me feel better in the short term at all. For those of us in my camp, I think it is not helpful to try and sell us on the "feeling better" or "enjoying it" aspects because then when that does not happen there is a letdown. I find it better to say to myself that this is time that I am giving up to do something that in the long run will help my health and that's it.

[Anonymous]

I would recommend that you find something that you like to do that involves moving. Even if it's just walking more. Is there an activity that you enjoy like dance or yoga? Instead of forcing yourself to do something you hate, try and find something you like? There's a lot of stuff out there: fencing, aqatics, swing dancing, even badminton!

[Anonymous]

I am so there with you, OP. I have paid zillions of dollars to trainers for serious one on one workouts. I have changed my diet radically over the course of years -- as in I stopped drinking full sugar soda cold turkey for a year while working out minimum 3 times per week and did not lose a pound. And I have lots to lose. I HATE exercise because it does not do what I want it to. I feel much better and happier curled up on the couch.

[Anonymous]

For those of you who never get any pleasure/energy from exercise, I would bet that you have never embarked on an agressive enough, PLUS long enough exercise program to reap these benefits. I too was a hater, until I stuck with a plan and finally found out what everyone was talking about.

For me, exercise helps me lose weight SLOWLY, combined with healthy eating, I can lost weight at a pretty decent clip (LB a week).

For me exercise is more than looking toned and feeling good, it is about being healthy for my kids for the long haul. Benefits of regulated blood sugar, reduced cholesterol, insulin management, hormone balance, bone health, heart health, mental health, and having a good quality of life when I'm older is what I'm in it for.

No, I do not look like a rock star crack a walnut with my ass cheeks, but I am healthy, at a healthy weight and feel great. Now that I've gone from an exercise hater to lover, I wish I had done it YEARS ago.

[Anonymous]

PP,

This is exactly what I mean. I agree with you that it is healthy to exercise, I agree with you that it is about health, I agree with you that it helps lose weight and makes it easier to maintain weight. I am healthy, I am at a healthy weight and I feel great. But what bugs me is this idea (included in your post) that it is a universal truth that people love to exercise and that if you don't find it pleasurable that you just aren't doing it right or enough. Why can't we just say that (like most things in life) some people like doing it and get pleasure from it and some people don't like doing it and don't get pleasure from it but we all should try to make ourselves do it because it is good for us? If you love it, more power to you, but don't try to convince the rest of us that if we just did it enough we would love it too because I am not buying it.

[Anonymous]

I'm an exercise-hater as well, but I've had some health issues last year and am convinced that I need to do weight bearing exercise regularly now that I'm in my 40s. This doesn't mean weights - anything done upright is weight bearing (so not swimming). I am recovering from surgery right now so can't do anything for a while. But I'm going to try walking - as in getting an hour out of the house to go for a long, fast walk with the ipod on. Failing that, I'm going to try classes 2 times a week so I have something to definitely go to. Will see how it goes. The hardest bit is fitting into our tight schedule.

[Anonymous]

Perhaps exercising in a group environment would be more motivating? I love to exercise but would shoot myself if it were just walking on a treadmill in a gym. I've been doing a morning bootcamp class for almost 5 years. It's a great group of women, we chat, laugh, support each other and workout too. It's all outdoors which I find very refreshing. I feel like exercise is the ONE thing I get to do just for me. I appreciate the mental release as much as anything else. Exercise doesn't have to be just about treadmills...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP,

This is exactly what I mean. I agree with you that it is healthy to exercise, I agree with you that it is about health, I agree with you that it helps lose weight and makes it easier to maintain weight. I am healthy, I am at a healthy weight and I feel great. But what bugs me is this idea (included in your post) that it is a universal truth that people love to exercise and that if you don't find it pleasurable that you just aren't doing it right or enough. Why can't we just say that (like most things in life) some people like doing it and get pleasure from it and some people don't like doing it and don't get pleasure from it but we all should try to make ourselves do it because it is good for us? If you love it, more power to you, but don't try to convince the rest of us that if we just did it enough we would love it too because I am not buying it.

This is not an idea or a notion, this not a matter of someone finding pleasure in reading when someone else does not....there is a chemical response that goes on in the brain during exercise, called endorphins, which resemble opiates. Endorphins are only released in vigorous prolonged exercise. If you are casually exercising for a short period of time, you will experience the boring and painful "work" involved in exercise and none of the "reward".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP,

This is exactly what I mean. I agree with you that it is healthy to exercise, I agree with you that it is about health, I agree with you that it helps lose weight and makes it easier to maintain weight. I am healthy, I am at a healthy weight and I feel great. But what bugs me is this idea (included in your post) that it is a universal truth that people love to exercise and that if you don't find it pleasurable that you just aren't doing it right or enough. Why can't we just say that (like most things in life) some people like doing it and get pleasure from it and some people don't like doing it and don't get pleasure from it but we all should try to make ourselves do it because it is good for us? If you love it, more power to you, but don't try to convince the rest of us that if we just did it enough we would love it too because I am not buying it.

This is not an idea or a notion, this not a matter of someone finding pleasure in reading when someone else does not....there is a chemical response that goes on in the brain during exercise, called endorphins, which resemble opiates. Endorphins are only released in vigorous prolonged exercise. If you are casually exercising for a short period of time, you will experience the boring and painful "work" involved in exercise and none of the "reward".

Different PP here. I don't know. I've never experienced those endorphins either. If my exercise is really rigorous, I just get a headache and can't eat for several hours. I guess I'm doing it all wrong. I do get a great feeling from being in the great outdoors, though.