Day 2 of Week 3 How To Get Yourself To Exercise

Weight today: lost 1/2 to 1 pound

Total lost: 5 to 5 1/2 pounds in 15 days

1/2 cup of oatmeal: 150
2 tsp of sugar: 30
1/3 cup of skim milk: 30
coffee with 1/4 cup of whole milk:35
also with sweet-n-low:0
total:245
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protein shake: 120
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running total: 365

2 large eggs: 140
1 flour tortilla: 50
1/2 cup of fat free cottage cheese: 80
1/2 cup of peaches: 70
bites of kids food: 50
2 tbl of shredded cheese: 35
1/4 cup of whole milk on coffee: 35
sweet-n-low:0
total: 470
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running total: 835

2 slices of Natural Oven's Bakery oatmeal bread: 220
1 oz of mozzarella cheese:80
2 slices of turkey cotto salami: 90
total: 390
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running total: 1215

vanilla protein shake powder: 110
3 oz banana: 55
1/2 graham cracker sheet: 33
total: 188
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running total: 1403

Jell-o sugar free vanilla caramel sundae pudding: 60
low fat whipped cream: 10
total: 70
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running total: 1483

fitness: 1 hour weight lifting leg workout
2 mile run
Today's challenge: Today's going to go great! I can feel it!

Note on picture: "I yam sweet on my potato!" Meet your friendly neighborhood yam or also called sweet potato. I think these two look cute together, though, one may not be too happy when I eat it today. Yams are a great carbohydrate for you...even better than plain potatoes.

Extra note: Looked like the yams went on to live another day. Lucky them.

How To Get Yourself To Exercise

Before I talk about my exercise, I'm first writing this post for the faint of heart.

For the person who is already dreading exercise before they know what they might have to do. This is also for those who know how to excercise, have done it in the past and it may be old hat for them. Or maybe you've gotten out of shape and don't feel like doing it again.

I have been all of these people. I know how you feel. I know how it feels to be carrying 40 to 60 extra pounds and feel deflated at the idea of performing some sort of exercise when I'm already feeling tired out.

First you should know that getting started occurs with a conversation in your head. It is always a talk that you have to give yourself. Because you have to outwit your other self. Yes, there are two of you, the one who wants to do it and the one who doesn't.

This is how you do it.

You tell yourself that you aren't going to do more than you can handle. In fact, you are going to start out doing less than you can handle. Maybe even ridiculously so.

It is very important that your other self understands this, because you don't want fear of physical pain and hard work preventing you from starting an exercise program. When I first began exercising again after my six-year-old was born, I started running on the treadmill with only six minutes a time, three times a week. Other times it was walking for whatever I felt like I could handle.

So, you have to understand that you will never do more than you can handle, and if it becomes too hard you can stop.

Then next thing your other self will say to you is 'what's the point of exercising if I'm hardly doing anything?' You see I've had all these conversations in my head.

You tell yourself that first you are developing a habit and are starting out slow and will be building on what you've been doing. Secondly, that it is very natural to try to talk yourself out of doing things that are new. So, you can protest all you want, but it's still going to happen. Eventually it will get easier and more fun. You are looking forward to that day.

Also, you may not want to go the gym or go walking because when you do you feel heavy and out-of-shape and so far away from where you want to be that it just seems like a pointless cause.

You need to tell yourself that you are making a difference in your body, in your mind, and in your spirit. It will take time but you'd rather be heading toward your goal than to give up and always wonder what it would be like to meet your fitness goals.

Finally, quite honestly, for me the conversations never end. The protests never completely go away. At this point I simply say to myself, " Don't think, just do."

Sometimes you can spend so much brain power having conversations with yourself that exercise never happens. That's why you need to pound this mantra into your head at every turn, "Don't think, just do!" "Don't think, just do." "Don't think, just do!"

You will go through a lot of emotions when you first start working out, but whatever you do you must simply turn off your brain when it starts dwelling on anything negative about exercise.

You actually have the ability to do this.

You must make your brain think about something else, especially if it has nothing good to think about exercise. You must think of the positive things that you are gaining from exercise. It may be slowly...but slowly is always better than nothing at all.

It may take 5 to 6 six weeks of completing your physical activities before you begin to feel like you're in a routine and working out starts to become habitual like brushing your teeth.