Good to hear from you collage1. Welcome.
Hi college1. I get the hating exercise part because it took me a long time to find the few physical activities I do enjoy.
Small goals and baby steps are great as they still get you there. I too have a sugar problem and have to pretty much avoid it (except for very special treats) or I crave it all of the time.
And I just want to add that this is becoming my favorite thread.
Re: standing up from cross-legged position…can you use the outside of your feet to propel yourself up? Is the idea to simply not use one’s arms? I think I must be doing something incorrectly as this does not seem challenging. I tried yoga once and found holding those poses to be incredibly challenging, assuming I was even able to achieve the correct pose.
collage1, I dislike the gym, too…trying to get over it. Exercise machines remind me of Victorian times, when folks in prison and orphanages were forced to walk on these machines for long hours. It’s just unnatural to HAVE to exercise…wouldn’t our ancestors laugh to know that we pay money to access machines to use up energy? That we run for miles on purpose, not to get anywhere, but just to run? I think that is why some of us like to garden; it feels more natural to work with our bodies than to use our energy on a treadmill.
I guess in the distant past there were few “office jobs”…some of the monks, maybe? Even the people with sedentary jobs had to walk a lot to get anywhere. I envy my D who lives in a big city without a car. To her, a restaurant “close to the train stop” can be 6-8 blocks away. The pounds just rolled off her once she moved up there for school.
But we do have to accept the reality of our jobs, commutes. No one is going to pay me a living wage to do physical work. I wouldn’t want to have to do it anyway.
About the sitting down in a cross-legged position…I can do it, but it makes my knees unhappy. Am I doing it wrong, or is that a sign that I should be using a hand and getting points taken off?
I had an issue with that I never wanted to exercise again too. I was an athlete in high school (varsity cross country all 4 years and tennis 3 years), and cross country completely turned me off of running. And just in general, I was a good weight throughout college, so I didn’t think I needed to exercise.
Anyways, for me, exercise didn’t come first on my journey to get healthy. Everything had to be at the pace where I was ready for it and for the amount of time I felt I could sustain no matter what, for life, something that didn’t give me an excuse.
I am a sugar addict too. And that’s what pushed me to get healthier. For me, that was the initial goal - not weight loss, not exercise, nothing, just getting sugar under control. I knew giving it up completely for life was unsustainable for me at that point, so I decided to go with the old recommendation limit (50 grams of added sugar a day - but counting added sugar in everything, not just dessert). It was really tough for a bit, and the only thing that got me through it was unlimited fruit. As I did this and then cut out processed foods, the weight I had gained since college started to come off by itself (I was purposefully not weighing myself or focusing on weight loss - I wanted a lifestyle change). And AS the weight started to come off, I felt more energy and felt more ready to be active.
I really started just walking my dog. No gyms for me - I just know I don’t have time or money or inclination for gyms. I started walking my dog more. At one point, I just decided to start running (more like walking at first) stairs in my building. The activity just appealed to me, and it was short enough where I didn’t have an excuse not to do it - it wasn’t something I was pressuring myself into. I felt ready. That was key. So, I started running to the 7th floor and down, 3 times every night - sounds easy, right, but it really strengthened my legs! Then, I also always wanted upper body strength and arm muscle, so I started a push-up program. I never thought I would run (again, the whole racing thing really made me never want to run again). But a year into my healthier lifestyle, with my legs stronger and where my weight had come down to the ideal weight, my company was having a race, and I decided to sign up, just to see what my body can do. I decided to run the course really slowly beforehand, and it wasn’t unpleasant! So, I got into running. Right now, I run once a week. That’s all. Some people will tell you it’s too little, but I would rather start small and add on as I feel comfortable, rather than have it be too much (either as a time commitment or physically) and quit. And, wanting strong arms, I also started a pull-up program. My added sugar is down to 25 grams a day (35 on weekends), again, as I felt ready, and I feel great. My weight is back to my college/high school healthy weight. I really felt I had to work with myself, not push-push-push - with every step, I had to feel I was ready and it was my choice.
CT1417, Post #196 has a video that shows the proper position. And good for you if you can do it easily!
mp, my knee hurts today and I am wondering if it is from the postion.
I was doing so well, down 3.5 lbs. then messed up so now only 2.5. Keeping my calories low and lots of protein.
I do exercise and also walk daily but still spend too much time sitting. I have a standing desk but feet issues and sometimes cannot stand after everything else, especially if it is hot out. Tomorrow will do a lovely 6 mile hike to a mountain lake. The thing is that I have never lost any weight hiking. I eat a light lunch and yet it is like my body thinks hiking is just what it is suppose to do and does not use any calories to do it. Even when it is a 7-8 mile rugged hike 
I’ve been trying to find some research on patterns of weight loss, so if anyone has anything, I’d be interested in reading it. It seems like I plateau for 3-4 weeks, then lose 2 pounds within a few days to hit a new low weight. In between, my weight easily varies a pound or even more from day to day, with no real connection to diet/exercise from the preceding few days. Not too worried about it overall, just curious what exactly is going on!
No, @collage1 , you’re definitely not alone on this one. I hated it too for 59.5 years, the hard work, the pain, the intrusion on my already limited time. But what kept me stuck for decades was a really stupid thing: the weekday sweat/shower conundrum. It was a very real and very large barrier until recently. This is the problem: 1. I shower every morning before I go to work, non-negotiable. 2. I cannot go to bed with a bunch of dried sweat on my body, non-negotiable. 3. Working out before my morning shower would mean getting up at 4:00 a.m. or earlier and that’s not going to happen, non-negotiable. So that leaves only exercising after work and taking a 2nd shower on those days. Bad for my skin, bad for my hair, bad for my evening schedule, bad for drought-wracked California. But I could not come up with another solution which worked, still can’t.
But something has clicked in me over the past year. It might be my oncoming 60th birthday, I don’t really know. I’m making changes, and part of this big “click” was that one afternoon at work, I thought, “I’m joining a gym today.” It was so out of left field that I startled myself, but I didn’t question or analyze it – didn’t give myself a chance to talk myself out of it – just drove straight to a gym after work. I did text D, though, because I knew she’d encourage me, and she added something critical to the mix: getting a trainer. It’ll make you accountable for going, she said, and she was right. You can’t blow it off when you have an appointment with someone. And the shower thing is a PITA, but no longer an insurmountable barrier.
This probably isn’t helpful because without the click, I don’t know if I’d be working out, and you can’t make a click happen. But I hope it is helpful in the sense that I really detested even the idea of exercise, and if I can learn to like it, anyone can!
LasMa, I envy the men who can get in a quick workout at lunchtime. The whole hair/makeup/sweat/shower thing is a pain.
LOL, the banner ad was just encouraging me to start a career as a personal trainer.
Found this article online - this mirrors my experience to some extent:
Key Take-Aways:
- Everybody’s weight follows a predictable weekly rhythm – you gain a little bit over the weekend
and lose a little bit over the week - You weigh the most on Sunday night and the least on Friday morning
- The weekdays are when you lose weight
- The bigger the gap between your Sunday night weight and your Friday morning weight,
the more likely you are to lose weight over the next year - Weight losers lose their weight during the weekdays
Here’s a link to the full article: http://foodpsychology.cornell.edu/op/weightrhythms
I’m lucky enough to work on a campus that has a fitness center. I have lowered my standards of how “made up” I look for days when I choose to exercise before work or at lunch. Before work, I can go and exercise, take a quick shower and then dress and walk over to my office. At lunch, I can do a 30 minute spin class and quick take a shower, throw my clothes on, blow dry my hair (or let it air dry - it is quite short) and be back to my desk in an hour. I don’t normally wear make up so that’s not an issue. So if I don’t look FULLY up to par a day or two a week, so be it. I am clean, dressed appropriately, etc. Every hair might not be in perfect place, but that’s the expense of fitness. 
I definitely lose weight during the week. On weekends I drink wine, eat BBQ and have the occasional dessert, and dh makes waffles on Saturday mornings. I just accept that this is part of my routine. I also go to the gym with dh for two hours every Sunday and try to do something active on Saturday. (Mostly gardening currently.)
I find that doing baby amounts of exercise during the day - not enough that you actually need to take a shower is very helpful. Here are some of my favorite exercise routines mostly posted by interesteddad in the ginormous thread (which I ought to go back and read)
idad’s “geezer warmup” : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn_kkRIX_Cs
idad’s "kettleball Metabolic circuit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn_kkRIX_Cs
Four exercise ab workout: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXHWqZ5PZIk
One month to muscles: https://experiencelife.com/article/one-month-to-muscles/ (This is a great starting place, the youtube videos are helpful too.)
@oregon101 – thanks for the link. Turned off sound and read subtitles. I am going to pretend that I am not middle-aged at 50.
@GertrudeMcFuzz – that info is fascinating and confirms my own experience, especially with summer eating & drinking. Thanks for posting.
I don’t understand why anyone thinks you need to go to a gym to get fitter. I walk. I walk as much as I can, usually ten or fifteen minutes at a time. I admire the neighbor’s gardens. I walk my dogs. I park at a distance from the store.
After I had an incident at the dog park with a crazy guy with a nutty golden retriever, I took up running to get the dog exercise. I loved running in my 20s and I hated it when I took it up again. But habit took over and now I’m enjoying it again. A lot. It took really good well-padded shoes, but the Hoka One One shoes did the trick; my knees don’t hurt.
Cycling hills? Well, I live at the top of a hill. If I leave home on my bike, it’s a joyful ride down and a nice shower to wash off the sweat when I get home. It took two years before I could get home without walking up that hill, though.
This does not apply to me,but I know a lot of people who tell me they feel “odd” taking a walk - even in their own neighborhood alone - they feel they should have either a dog or a partner to walk with. Not for safety reasons, just don’t feel comfortable as a solitary activity.
Me, I PREFER to head out alone!
@mathmom: The second link you posted is the same as the first.
Oops! so this is the Ketteball circuit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpBySUgGwvs&feature=youtu.be
I really like ketteballs, for some reason they are just fun in a way machines and regular weights aren’t.
“Small goals and baby steps are great as they still get you there. I too have a sugar problem and have to pretty much avoid it (except for very special treats) or I crave it all of the time.”
Ahhhh!! @FallGirl! It’s easy , it’s easy, it’s easy! Take chromium for hard core sugar cravings, and alpha lipoic acid, too. When the sugar cravings wane, take alpha lipoic acid only. It is so easy, no willpower required!
@oregon101, thanks for posting where I could find how to sit/stand. It was kind of bothering me. I still can’t do it, but I can at least see how you are supposed to do it. I am in fairly good shape, but some things I simply can’t do. I have never been able to do a cartwheel, for example. I am curious as to how much of the population can actually stand like they show in the video. Does anyone know?