This is very good advice. When I first started wearing my Fitbit, I was in the 2000 step range. I started increasing my goal by 100 steps for the first few weeks and found that it was really easy to achieve. I made it to the 10,000 level within about 6 weeks.
The only exercise I enjoy is skiing (snow skiing). I will get in shape for skiing. But to continue to exercise takes great effort for me to make myself do it. I am usually glad I did it when I do, but I do not ever look forward to it. Just don’t. ’
I worked out with a trainer for about 6 mos 3 years ago, and then again, with DH, with a different one, for about a year and a half, until our recent ski trip. We didn’t find him terribly inspiring or motivating, so decided to discontinue with him. I have, however, kept up the exercising, whether it be in the gym, at home on the elliptical (VERY boring to me-- I prefer a treadmill to the elliptical) or walking/walk/running with DH or friends. Did a 3.5 mi walk/run with a friend (who has trained people with the Galloway method) on a trail this weekend, and met a friend at the gym 4 days last week. I stayed longer than she did, as she is just getting back into shape. Weather permitting, I am going to walk with another friend tomorrow after work. So, if I am with a friend who walks, I walk. If I am with a friend who runs, I walk/run. I cannot keep up with DH or DSs or DIL who are serious runners.
DH will walk with me, but its serious pollen season right now and I feel badly asking him to do so, as he is miserable. But he is willing to do it and suffer. Great guy, but that is a mentality I just don’t get. I don’t want to suffer, or dislike what I am doing. And I don’t want to injure myself and need surgery. I have bad knees and wear little support things when I work out. I do know the difference between injury pain and post exercise pain. I am ok with the latter.
I think this article is very apropos:
http://jezebel.com/5979805/honestly-being-the-last-one-picked-in-gym-class-messes-you-up
I would seriously like to know what the gym teachers of our youth were thinking when they ran their programs they want they did. It is very clear there are a lot of us forty and fifty something women who were scarred by this, and thus never developed (or took a long time to develop) healthy exercise habits.
I would have been so much better served if I had just walked briskly for an hour during those gym classes. I at least would have gotten some actual cardio exercise and had the chance to get the endorphins. How much exercise did any of us actually GET? Ten minutes to shuffle around and pick the teams, time spent standing in an outfield or whatever … Complete waste of time. I don’t think I actually broke a sweat once. That generation of gym teachers has a lot to answer for, IMO. Thank goodness it’s gotten better.
I don’t like to exercise because the sweat burns my face. But I put up with it because I know when I am done with my workout I will feel great.
I am a numbers kind of person so I am addicted to my HRM. I do the elliptical, row, or run/walk on the treadmill. After I burn 500-600 calories I am done with the cardio. If I don’t feel motivated before I go to the gym I tell myself I can quit at 300, but I never do it.
I don’t think you need to be fit to get the runner’s high. I get it and I don’t consider myself fit. This article suggests you need to know how to push your body without overdoing it.
http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/how-to-achieve-a-runners-high
If I am having a bad workout because of lack of sleep or whatever I mix it up by changing the type of exercise every ten minutes. Maybe even drop down for some push-ups.
I do a Pilates Cadillac class once a week and love it. I wish I could do it twice a week but the schedule doesn’t work for me.
I used to make my children sit on balance balls when they played video games.
I’m another “picked-last-in-gym-class.” My mother never exercised and was very lazy. I was more active than her, but I hated team sports because I’m naturally competitive yet I was so so bad at them. Instead of losing, I just didn’t play.
I got serious about exercise in my early 40s when my doctor told me that there was a really good chance I’d develop osteoporosis. I’d been a walker and a swimmer on and off, but that prompted me to see a trainer and add weights. Then, about 7 years later, I was diagnosed with osteoporosis, and my numbers were not pretty. I started running a couple years ago.
I’m retired, and I structure my days around exercise. When I did work, it was much harder to find time but I always tried to walk vigorously several times a week. My husband works 12 hours/day, and on many weekends, and it is almost impossible for him to find time to exercise – so I do sympathize with people who have crazy hours like that. The one piece of advice, which he does try to follow, is to try to incorporate activity in little ways. Don’t look for the closest parking spot – park further away and walk. Walk up the stairs. Don’t send an internal email to the person at work, but get up and visit them. When talking on the phone, get up and pace around.
If you have major health issues, like silpat, then your lack of exercise is understandable – although I’d suggest looking into something like chair yoga. I have some friends in their 20s who are overweight and are out of breath when they walk just one block. I really worry about them, because I fear that their inactivity and weight gain will result in health issues as they age that will make it difficult for them to add exercise into their lives.
I come from a family of non-athletic people, although we were always busy as kids doing chores, playing outside, or stacking firewood. But my parents would have gaped at the idea of “exercise”, a frivolous and useless activity for those who have Things To Do. And I was the chubby klutzy girl right through college. Bullied in the locker room.(In college I had an asthma attack in the pool and had to be pulled out by a male lifeguard, which put an end to swimming) And remember gym suits? What sadist thought they were good for adolescent girls? But I digress…
Exercise is like a spectacular showcase of all my button issues – body image, athletic ability, social exclusion, fashion sense, financial status. When I was an adult, I simply had no time, no money, no place (the basement floor? next to the dog crates, bicycles, and laundry?). And I resented all the “you just need to commit” people in their bicycle gear and running shoes. Go. away.
My son became ill and once he was out of the hospital, he had to learn to walk again, and I had to help. So we walked. To the end of the driveway, the end of the street, around the block. For months, we crept along and of course I would have run a marathon naked if it made him better. Little by little, I developed a habit.
I exercise irregularly (3-5 times a week) now – it seems whenever I get forward momentum, something happens to derail me. (For instance, this weekend I put a garden stake through my shoe and punctured my foot). But I still mostly dislike it – changing clothes after a long day, ugh. (new pretty workout clothes help – my mom got them for me) Feeling like an uncoordinated idiot, check (I exercise alone, always). Seeing no obvious effects, yes. Staring at the basement wall, thinking that I have laundry and paperwork I should be doing-- absolutely. And never measuring up to the bicycle gear-and-runners group, who are just so amused by those of us who “don’t have it”.
^^^ Congrats to your mom for buying you “pretty workout clothes” - they do make them in all sizes - and mentally putting on exercise clothes can say “in these clothes I commit to doing some work on my health” - you don’t have to buy skin tight running tights but you can buy looser yoga pants that mentally prepare you in the mirror more than a baggy pair of paint stained sweat pants!!!
Oops, too late to edit but I just re-read my post. I meant to say that I increased the goal by 1000 steps at a time. I’d still be trying to hit 10,000 if I only increased it by 100! 
@greenbutton, please don’t feel that you need to measure up to anyone else or that your “failure” to do so is in any way a reflection of the value of what you are doing. If others come across as “amused” by what you do, that just diminishes them, not you. In the fitness circles that I travel in, anyone with that kind of attitude wouldn’t last very long before someone took them to task and knocked their egos down several pegs. There is always someone fitter, stronger, faster or more skilled. I’m no slouch whether it’s on the gym floor lifting weights, out on a playground doing American Ninja type stuff or on a bike doing high performance long distance rides. The people around me are usually younger, faster and stronger and can out perform me. The real accomplished athletes are supportive and non-judgmental. There are no egos involved outside of competitive events and even in competition, we can all celebrate others’ successes and commiserate when they come up short.
The trick for most people new to exercise is that they do not set SMART goals for themselves. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time Bound. If you set incremental goals that meet those characteristics, you will achieve success on your own terms that you own.
It’s boring.
I’ve often wished I could get in touch with some of my old gym teachers. I did fine as far as being picked for teams (I was a tomboy and pretty decent at team sports) but I hated running laps and would cut across the field to get out of doing the whole thing. My old teachers would be shocked that I became a competitive long distance runner! The other thing we all hated was high school swim class when it was the “unit” we were in for PE. Our swim suits were provided by the school and were color coded by bust size, which all the boys learned! Plus- they were stretched out and hideous. That was pretty traumatic for many of us girls.
Color coded swimsuits! Oh, my. I’ve never heard of such a thing.
MichaelINKat is right - there is always somebody faster! My oldest son does NOT take after me - he was a fast runner in high school (4:26 mile). One year, he was given an “elite” number at a local 10K. He got to start at the front with the Kenyans. It was quite humbling for him to see them all disappear over the horizon in a flash as soon as the race started! He had permission to go into the elite tent at the end of the race, but he said he would have felt funny, because he didn’t belong with them!
I have found runners to be very supportive. Nobody cares how slow you are. My younger son DOES take after me. In one memorable high school 5k race, oldest son came in first and youngest son came in last! But youngest was cheered for as much as oldest. And the parents cheer for all the kids, no matter what team they’re on.
Here is an example of what happens when you get hooked on running. I worked from 10:30 am yesterday morning until noon today (not a typo), with one three-hour break and another one-hour break. Total. Then I had a hair appointment this afternoon. So I was exhausted and had nice-looking hair. But when I got home, I sighed, put my nice hair in a ponytail, and headed out the door to run in the cold. And it took me 45 minutes to go three miles. I know, I’m nuts.
Thanks MKat – I don’t encounter a lot of those people, and I am trying to run my own race, so to speak. Once I decided to measure “success” in ways other than a number on the scale, it has gotten easier to find it attainable. For example, I sleep much better, and am much less anxious, when I exercise enough to sweat. Something I knew, but had never believed.
I went to a spa once with a girlfriend that focused on healthy eating and exercise (and yeah, we were each hoping we could drop a few pounds, but I was in the few-pounds range and she was in the substantial-pounds range). In any case, part of the “attraction” was that they issued us gym clothing, robes, etc so we didn’t have to bring our own clothing. You guessed it - it was color coded by size. Absolutely awful.
I remember the color coded swimsuits in PE.
I had one P.E. teacher (both sophomore and senior years- lucky me) who would call people out if they made a mistake " Look at Susie, she doesn’t know how to catch a softball" etc. Nasty person. We also spent a lot of time in PE learning rules and having written tests on them. That would put anyone off sports.
The best PE class I had was when they did a “trial” co-ed class senior year. I caught a break getting put n the group with the male teacher ( one of the football coaches). I actually had fun playing volleyball in that class.
To answer OP, BECAUSE IT IS BORING! I excerise for over 45 minutes 5 days, at least, a week. I cannot wait until it is over.
^^^ But ya do it!!! 
Really, if you truly dread it, but still do it - well, that says a lot for your dedication.
I actually enjoyed gym class in middle and high school - but I don’t remember anyone ever picking teams. The gym teacher would simply split us into two teams with a wave of her arm, so you always made sure you were standing next to your friends.
I think we alternated sports/activities almost every 3 or 4 weeks so everyone found something they liked and were reasonably good at. I loved rip flag football and enjoyed volleyball and soccer as well. Everyone liked the modern dance segment.
My nemesis was the balance beam and the uneven bars in gymnastics. There was no way in hell I was going to do a forward or backward flip on that high balance beam. I remember fighting with my gym teacher telling her she couldn’t make me do something I was uncomfortable with - she insisted I had to try. I would just freeze -she finally gave up. And those 360 degree circle swings on the uneven bars - I just thought that was a disaster waiting to happen with someone losing their grip and flying across the gym. Passed on those too.
Great job, morrismm! I just pushed myself to do a measly 15 min on the elliptical while watching the voice. I do not like the elliptical. But I did it. My Fitbit wasn’t picking up my arm movement consistently so I had to exaggerate my arm movement a bit. did exceed 10K steps today. Good enough.
I merely remember all kinds of team sports played with balls. Basketball, volleyball, kickball, soccer, etc. The popular kids were the team leaders and they picked their friends. My saving grace is that I was at least normal weight / size so I was picked before the inevitable poor fat kid.
Then, no one ever explained the rules; they just threw you out on the field and expected you to a) magically know what you were supposed to do and what the rules were of the game and b) magically have the skills to kick, throw, hit or catch the ball without anybody ever actually showing you how to do it. I distinctly remember volleyball - how the heck was I supposed to know how to hold my hands to hit the ball and not hurt my wrists? What the heck was “spiking”? Why are we rotating? Was I supposed to know this through osmosis? Can you imagine if math or reading were taught this way?
So what did you do if you were unathletic like me? You stood to the side, hoping and praying the athletic kids who enjoyed this would swoop in and hit / kick / run after the ball. You didn’t actually get any cardio benefit because you just kind of merely trotted around the field; what was the point, so you could get to the ball, try to kick it, fail and be publicly humiliated? And what “team benefit” did you get? To be part of a team, you have to have a common goal and read each other’s signals. How were you going to get that when the athletic kids had the goal of beating the others and your goal was merely to survive and not embarrass yourself too much?
It could not have better orchestrated to lead to a lifetime distaste of physical activity / exercise. I seriously have a lot of unresolved angst over this as you can all tell
And the worst of it was that it didn’t build any lifetime physical activity skills, since the vast majority of adults rely on individual exercise like running, yoga, elliptical, walking, etc. to stay active because they can be fit it around life – not team sports, which require adherence to a schedule and other people to coordinate with you. I don’t know a single professional who would actually have the ability to commit to, say, a weekly volleyball game at the same time every week.