Feel like rambling about my LACK of exercise

I still need to exercise.....this lack of motivation is driving me crazy This weekend the weather is going to be great...finally WARMING up in the north! However, I have a MAJOR test I need to study for all weekend...and now I have to work on Sunday for a few hours. Plus I have class Saturday til about 2pm. SO even though the weather is great I really can't take advantage of the nice weather and get out and walk the dogs without neglecting my studies. IT is very important for me to get a 75+ grade on this 100 question test. The questions are always very difficult. I am so looking forward to surviving this semester and then MY Saturdays will be FREE again!! I get to quit work the end of July and then start clinicals at the hospital where I will have a much more convenient schedule. I won't have to be at the hospital until 3pm M-Th. Fridays don't start til 5:30pm. Sat and Sun are OFF! I won't be sitting my fat A$$ in a chair in front of the computer all day long and I will be able to work out in the morning after I sleep in I want to work out/exercise more consistently but school is sooo important and we can't afford me to quit work right now. IF I don't pass this semester then I have wasted 1 1/2 yrs of my life in school FOR nothing. I feel like I am making good food choices, drinking my water and getting in my vitamins/supps ok....just can't find or make the time to exercise when I get home from work when I don't have class. WHY do I do this to myself? Why do I have to be sooo lazy? I know it is important. I know how much it will help....I just can't take that next step. DO they have an EXERCISE surgery for my brain??? The food/small pouch thing works. I don't want to be skinnier and weak. I want to be stronger and fit. I want to be able to climb mtns! I want to be able to carry a heavy box up the stairs without being winded. SO why am I so self destructive?

As we say on the Texas board, do you want a little cheese with your whine? I'll join your exercise woes....I've been exercising faithfully for three weeks now and for all my effort, I've lost 3 pounds in 3 weeks! Ugh! That is so not worth it! However, I WILL stick with the exercise since I really think it is the key to maintaining a haelthy body and eating habits follow it. Now, for me to do as I say and not as I do!! Lisa G

You know Shannon, even if you took 15 minutes at a time and started out slow, to me, that would be better than nothing at all. I'm like Lisa, I've been exercising my butt off, walking every morning and going to Contours (like Curves) 5 times a week for the past couple of weeks (actually since January but started going more often a couple of weeks ago) and you know how much I've lost? NOTHING!! I've stayed the same for almost 2 weeks!! But you know what, that is the way it goes and no matter what I know I am doing the right thing. Trust me when I say that if you took that 15 minutes a day to walk you would feel so much better both physically and mentally! God Bless Jill

I will have a glass of red whine and a nice stinky cheese please!!!! I think if I could just get going....and somehow make it a habit--it wouldn't be hard to do. The whole changing clothes, being around skinny people, taking another shower, .....so much work--mostly mental! I enjoy getting out when the weather is nice and walking the dogs at the park or riding our bikes but it is always sooo much work/set up involved. We have to drive to the park or the trails from where we live. Which I don't mind but for me to walk downstairs to my basement and get on my $600 treadmill is sheer torture. IT is more important for me to sleep in the morning those extra 45 mins than get up and put on work out clothes and sneakers. EVEN if I don't lose weight I would like to be healthier. I really want to be able to abseil (hang from a rope into an abyss type thing and lower myself down to the ground) on vacation in August. I need UPPER BODY strength which I don't have..nor would I get from aerobic exercise. I need to join a real gym and do circuit training. I don't feel like Curves will be enough of a work out for me and long term I don't think it is the answer based on several things I have read here. I know that muscle takes up less space and burns more fat/calories. I know long term that is the answer in being able to eat what I want and stay "skinny".....

There's no way I would go to Curves or any other gym....never could get over my phobia about exercising in front of people. What I do is a 3-mile walk aerobic exercise video at home...no excuses not to do it. I'm adding in some leg exercises for the ole thunder thighs, but alas, don't think there is any hope for them. I'm sure I'll be trading in fat for hanging skin. Lisa G

Shannon, What are you going to get your degree in? I am right there with you on the exercise...it seems I have lost all motivation Jackie

I am getting a Respiratory Therapy "degree" I guess. It is a 2 yr program but I am not taking any of the other credits for the associate degree...since I already have a 4 yr business degree...hmmmm I will have to ask about that. Basically it gives me the ability to sit for the National Board Exams so I can make more $ and be licensed. Right now I work as a Software Tester at FedEx Ground None of this stuff goes with original degree! That is what ya get for not knowing what you want to do with your life when you go to college!

Hi Shannon, I hope you don't mind my butting into the converstion but I know where you are. I've tried to get motivated to study to take the GRE exam for Grad school. But, I can't seem to put enough energy into it. I just had surgery in Dec. and spent until Feb 10th in the hospital. At this point I'm not sure I know what exercise is or how I am going to it with everything else. Hang in there it will get better. You might want to try taking your studies outside and walk around while reading if you have a yard or jog in place while reading. It worked when I had kids and was trying to get through college. Index cards are wonderful inventions Wishing you luck in the motivation department and the studies department. Susan

Okay ladies.... I too was thinking I could still loose weight and not exercise. but I hired a personal Trainer. It was very very expensive, But I am learning the right way to do things...You know the saying feel the burn... And I sometimes don't want to go, but paying all that money helps me to remember... And it feels really good esp when she is in my face saying " C'mon 5 more".... 6 weeks @ 2x a week was 684 so 12 sessions for $684. They are an hour long.. Beth is her name and I just decided I am going to do as much as I can for the extra skin to try to tone it all up.... I really makes me feel good about myself when the day after I feel certain muscles sore... I know I did something this week And I work 2 jobs and have 2 kids I thought I would never find the time, But I made it happen....

Okay Shannon, you have probably heard the studies about how people retain a much higher percentage of the things they study during the first and last ten minutes of every study session than the stuff they study in between. Use that to your advantage and take regular breaks. They do not have to be long ones to maximize the benefits. Not only will it help you retain more and do better on your exams, it will reduce the total amount of study time. You know after a while at it everything starts to blurrrrr. I know its seems coutner intuitive, but it really works. I remember studying everywhere I went during law school... even in the rest room! Unfortunately, I used my constant need to study as an excuse to avoid exercise and to eat (food was "keeping me awake"). I now look back and realize that while I put on 60 pounds during those three years and ended up ranked in the middle of my class, those who ended up at the head of th class had a practice of jogging around the campus lake before every exam. Hmmmm...those were also the students who played on our informal softball team... Obviously I wish I had make exercise work for me as a tool to help me keep my energy up and my mind focused rather than food. I suggest just walking around the neighborhood for 15 minues every hour or so as a study break. Don't feel guilty about neglecting your studies because it will actually help. Jeni