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<p>Best response to this was by Seth Myers on SNL: “Bacon.”</p>
<p>@ missy</p>
<p>Have you tried Jazzercise?
If you approach the instructor before hand about your concerns, stand in the back and give yourself some time to learn the basic movements, you will find that this is a great aerobic workout in a very welcoming and nurturing environment. The variety in the music and workouts keep things fresh and the boredom at bay (and it has changed a lot since its legwarmer days of the 70s/80s), but once you have the basic moves down it is easy and fun.
Nobody will judge you about being uncoordinated; everyone understands that if you are new it takes a couple of times to get the hang of it. You can wear whatever you are comfortable in – sweatpants and tshirt, expensive workout gear, it truly doesn’t matter. EVERY exercise-phobic gal I have sent to Jazzercise and who has given more than 1 week has ended up loving it. It also is very reasonable.</p>
<p>Even the biggest fools say something smart occasionally:) Most of the fit, looking/feeling good folks I know would agree with Moss.</p>
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<p>Here’s the thing. You’ve got to quit reinforcing all these negative sentiments. So you’re a clutz. So you “hate” to work out. So what? You’ve got to lose all this emotional baggage around working out and do it dispassionately. That is the only way to do something that is a necessary chore, I’ve found. If I keep reminding myself how much I hate what I’m doing, I sure as hell am going to figure out a way to quit! AND-- especially if it’s self consciousness or insecurity holding you back, you may find you’re not all that bad if you can let go of the “old story”.</p>
<p>OMG. Nanaimo bars. (drools all over floor) BunsenBurner, got a low-fat recipe for those?!?!</p>
<p>missypie, I hear ya. It’s hard to get the old story out of one’s head. I battle it every day.</p>
<p>second the recommendation of Jazzercise. I have a friend who lost some fifty or sixty pounds (might even be more) by healthy eating and Jazzercise every morning. She is nothing like the peppy aerobics-instructor type, but she enjoys moving to the music.</p>
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<p>Yeah, well, what about the rest of us, the people who like food? Let’s face it, if you already don’t mind depriving yourself of high-calorie food, you don’t have a problem.</p>
<p>CountingDown, the only low fat Nanaimo bar I’m aware of is a microscopic piece of a Nanaimo bar. 
Those were real Nanaimo bars; I followed a recipe I got here on CC from a link posted by crabbylady (I wonder if she is doing OK). For the sake of all exercisers and diet watchers I will not post the link here.</p>
<p>Cardinal Fang, I love real food. You just have to eat slightly less of it, and/or burn slightly more of it. I do. I refuse to eat synthetic crap. We just had pears with real blue cheese and champagne to celebrate our fastest run ever. It was pouring like crazy, so we were very motivated to get our rear ends back inside the house.</p>
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<p>Trust me, I love food as much as anyone. And I allow myself lots of treats. But loving food and enjoying it does not necessitate overeating. And as Bunsen says, when you indulge, burn more calories.</p>
<p>If only Jane Brody would join the discussion!</p>
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<p>[Personal</a> Health - Healthy Aging, With Nary a Supplement - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/health/12brod.html?em]Personal”>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/health/12brod.html?em)</p>
<p>This week has not been a particularly good one for me in terms of the diet and exercise. I work in a high stress legal environment and it requires a 30-45 minute commute each day, each way. This may not sound like a lot to some of you, but given that I used to work within walking distance of my house it is seems like a lot to me. I had to cancel a vacation day last week due to work and am scheduled to have one off tomorrow so I had to bring work home with me last night and I’ve worked through lunch hour the past two weeks. Whining over. What that has meant it not getting to the gym for several days. I know that’s an excuse I shouldn’t use, so no lectures please. Remarkably, my weight has suddenly begun to decline, which I’m not complaining about in the slightest. </p>
<p>I am hoping to get back on track today with exercise that involves more than walking to the office from car and walking the dog! My other challenge has been planning meals that are affordable and can be ready when I get home (we’re thinking crockpot here, folks). </p>
<p>Some people don’t like to exercise for whatever reason. I don’t like to work. But I want and need money. I want and need to exercise so I can avoid heart disease and diabetes (diseases that run in my family). Seems like a small price to pay.</p>
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<p>Hmom5, a psychologist should read your posts and mine and write a book that is mandatory reading for parents, gym teachers and coaches. If a person just glanced at the two of us right now, I bet that everyone would assume that I was the more physically able. However, you who had early athletic and physical success have a “can do” attitude despite a spinal cord injury. I, who can still remember mockery and failure from gym class 40+ years ago, have an “I can’t do anything” attitude.</p>
<p>missypie, I had experiences much like yours. I thought I was the least athletic girl on the planet. I used to repeat many of the things you’ve been saying here; in MY case, it finally came down to just making excuses for my refusal to exercise. I know categorically that one does not have to be athletic to get fit. I don’t usually want to exercise every morning. But, like brushing one’s teeth, paying bills, or taking a shower, I do it anyway. And I usually feel a sense of accomplishment afterwards.</p>
<p>What choice do we really have if we want to feel good as we age? Otherwise it’s simply a steady decline in health and quality of life and I want to put that off as long as possible.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Hear hear! Just do it!</p>
<p>But what we have to remember is that exercise for the sake of exercise is unnatural and a relatively new thing. In years past, virtually everyone exerted themselves physically at their jobs, in their farming, or whatever, so there was absolutely no need to do anything else after work. What I do on the treadmill or the stairs is very close to what was done in Victorian era prisons and workhouses - only I’m not flogged if I decide to stop. What is more natural is what I think of as “New York fit” - the city dwellers who walk a lot every day as part of their daily lives.</p>
<p>mp: good point. When I commuted a few days a week to NY, I weighed 10 pounds less. Lots of walking.
Now I do lots of writing on my computer. So I have to find other ways to exercise. I use machines as a last resort. I much prefer walking or hiking or biking in the fresh air. But the weather doesn’t always cooperate!
Bottom line, I agree that you just need to treat it as something that needs to be done. And try to find something that makes you happy (for me, if it’s a machine, I NEED music to be happy).
As for gym teachers. I had the worst. Plus the ugliest mustard-green gym suits you could imagine. And girls in my class who threatened me when I couldn’t hit a baseball! But I like keeping active and try not to worry too much about looking like a fool. Older ladies are nicer than my peers in junior and high school. I was the most pathetic person in my yoga class for months but have since improved a great deal. We’re all in this together!</p>
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<p>I do have a greater understanding of those PE class bullies now. I was in the last pre-title IX HS graduating class. We had no girls’ sports. For the girls who were athletically inclined, PE class was their only chance to participate in sports. No wonder they were so impatient with my pathetic self.</p>
<p>Now, at least at our HS, anyone who participates in a sport is exempt from PE, as are those on drill team, and in band and cheer. Of the girls “left over”, a huge number take dance as PE. The consequence is that gym class is very low key because no one with any athletic inclination is in the class.</p>
<p>You are so right about “New York fit.” Our older daughter has a tougher time with keeping her weight where she wants it. When she was doing NYTeaching Fellows, she lived in Manhattan and worked in the Bronx. Her apartment was on the fourth floor, no elevator, and her classroom was also on the fourth floor - no elevator. </p>
<p>She lost at least 20 pounds by Christmas. Walking to the subway, walking to school, going up and down stairs several times a day. The pounds slid off without her making an additional effort. My dream is to live in a small city and walk to everything. I also think that living in a city offers incidental socializing that is so necessary and more difficult as we get older. Yep, that’s the plan. DH is not totally on board yet, but I will work on that!!</p>