Exercise and Motivation

Ok so now the poor me stage is over....
I need to get moving again.
But since I'm a single mom with 2 small kids the gym is out of the question.

So I tried to find some second hand stuff to work out at home. I have a treadmill that only goes half speed (but it's fast enough for me now). And I got some handweights.

My biggest problem is knowing how much and what to do.  And how do you all find the motivation to get up and do it?

Any tips? I was doing really well when the weight was coming off fast but now that it's not I feel totally de-motivated and that needs to change.

Thanks
Cindy

A book that I really enjoyed and felt it was well worth the small investment is called Smart girls do dumbbells by Judith Wollin. It is weight training that you can do at home with small weights. She gives you a good description of the exercise with a picture. All you need is a small set of weights.....Canadian tire has them often on sale. Start small 3ls, 5lbs and then buy more as you get better strength. That is basically all the equipment you need along with a chair. I use this book alot and it is my go to book when I get off track and I want to start over again. Check it out on Amazon.ca to get a better idea of the book and price.

ps.....just start and keep at it.....if you stop just start up again. No guilt, no negative self talk, just do it and the motivation will come back. If it doesn't well we still have to keep at it ( she says with a big smile on her face knowing that she is also giving herself the same advice!)hahaha

I am not single but we our busy lives, it is not always easy to find time to exer****

One thing I try to do it finding more activity to do with the kids that involve moving around. We have taken the habit to take a walk after supper. I go more to the park with them.  It is not big physical things but it makes me move every day.

Hey Cindy,
It's something that's bugging me too. How does one get motivated to go out and workout? I don't have any trouble going out and playing sports; hockey, fishing, golf. But you'd have to drag my body to the gym. I enrolled in a membership but have trouble getting motivated. One thing my dad told me was that I should plan on only doing 15-30 minutes every time I go for about a month. That way I get in a routine even though I'm not going for a full-on workout. We are so used to the old lifestyle that we need to break the bad habit and introduce some new ones. Starting this week, I'm going to try this new idea my dad swung my way. A bit of exercise, 3 days a week, for 1 month. Let's see how it goes. You may want to give it a try.

Derek

Thanks for all the tips.
Brenda that book sounds great I'm going to look it up.

Yeah Derek 15-30 minutes to start to get into a routine sounds good to me.  Need to stop saying and just do it. (that's my problem now)

Nathalie, every time it's not raining I try to get the kids to go for a bike ride or a walk or something to get out. And they just want to play outside all the time... They did want to do one activity by I was not joining them for that. They were in the pool last weekend. brrrrrr it's ccccold. Not heated above ground pool. 

Ooh I need to get a a jump rope and have competitions with them. That could work.

Cindy