EXHAUSTING THE DACHSHUNDS

Amy wrote, “So, I'm going to ask a question which I hope you can answer. How did you turn the corner about making exercise not a choice? I am in an incredibly stressful day job at the moment, and can barely drag myself home, let alone go to the gym.”

Amy, I am not a natural gym bunny. I am not an athlete. On my list of fun things to do, sports are right on up there with mathematics and dentist visits. I know there are people who do them for fun, but I’d rather have a Brazilian bikini wax without Valium than run a marathon, attempt to solve an equation, or get a cavity filled.

For people like me, in order for an exercise program to stick, there are several basic requirements:

1. You have to make time for it. Regular time, carved out of your day. This might mean giving up some couch potato time. We make time for the things that are important to us. Furthermore, it’s not enough to simply say to yourself, “I’ll TIVO ‘Desperate Housewives of Orange County’ and spend that time at the gym today.” You have to schedule it. Write it into your weekly calendar. Program it into your PDA and set the alarm.
2. You have to find something you like, or at the very least can tolerate. If the thought of working out at a gym brings back humiliating memories from high school, buy a couple of exercise DVDs and some barbells and work out in the privacy of your home. If you like to walk but live in a climate where many months of the year the weather will be too miserable to be outside, consider finding a place to climb stairs, invest in a mini trampoline, join a class at a community gym (as opposed to a commercial one; there will be more soccer moms and grannies, and fewer gym bunny hardbodies), or find some DVDs you like. Plug: I am partial to Petra Kolber. Fun dance workouts that anyone can do; and unlike some of them, she gives step by step instructions.
3.  It has to be easily accessible. You are not, on a regular basis, going to drive to a gym or a park that’s more than ten minutes away. You’re not going to rearrange your living room furniture every time you want to do your DVDs. You’re not going to haul dusty equipment out of the closet  under  the stairs or remove the load of dirty clothes from the handles of your treadmill. So when you’re choosing your exercise and scheduling time for it, also schedule time to research, clean up, or create a physical space in your life and your home to exercise.  There are several ways you can do this.  First, and easiest, simply choose a form of exercise that requires nothing more than exiting your front door and getting on your bike, or leashing up the dogs and walking the neighborhood. If you plan to do indoor exercise at home, take the time to clear a space which you can enter directly begin to exercise. Make sure you have everything you need there, all the time, so you don’t have to go looking for a DVD or your yoga mat. Store it in the room where you plan to exercise. If you plan to work out at a gym, choose one that’s close to home or work. Keep your gym bag packed with everything you need. Do it nightly and set it by the door so you won’t forget it. At first it may seem like a time-consuming chore, but as you get into the routine of it, it will no longer be a big deal.
4.  You have to have the proper clothing and equipment to make it enjoyable or at least doable. This means good shoes; clothing that fits well, moves well, and breathes well; any equipment you plan to use (such as a bike, DVD player, treadmill, dumbbells, etc.) in good repair and easily accessible. Splurge a little on the good quality stuff; it will make your workouts more enjoyable and therefore more likely to happen. And don’t wait until you lose twenty pounds to get new togs; you need nice ones that fit well, look good, and suit the workout right now. Again, you’ll be more likely to do it if you’re properly outfitted and feeling good about yourself.
5.  You have to have entertainment , if you are one of those people who find exercise for the sake of exercise boring. In this case, you need a workout partner with whom you can gossip; a music device loaded with tunes that get your blood pumping and make you want to shake your booty; an engaging Podcast (This American Life is my fave) or book on tape; a cell phone so you can talk while you walk (not for gym use, please, unless you’re actually hoping one of your fellow patrons will brain you with a dumbbell and put everyone out of your misery); a good book or newspaper to read on the treadmill or elliptical or bike.

When you’ve taken care of these basics, exercise will be much more intuitive, easy to do, and enjoyable. You may not make the mental connection at first --- it may be a chore for quite some time --- but eventually, it will be routine and I’m willing to bet by that time you will secretly enjoy it and miss it if you go too long without what my friend MezzoE calls a Moving of the Butts.

Personally, I  love the outdoors. I don’t mind moving my body if there are interesting things to look at. I like to bike. I like to hike.  Walking is good, easy, and cheap. Also, I own Dachshunds. Highly energetic, active, opinionated Dachshunds who have no compunction whatsoever about loudly announcing that it’s time to go on a walk, and keeping after me up until the moment the door opens and we go out. Did I mention they like to jog, and appear to share ancestry with sled dogs? Who knew thirty pounds of Dachshund could nearly pull a grown, overweight woman off her feet?  So this is where I started, just walking the dogs. Pretty soon, a new game emerged: Exhausting the Dachshunds. If I could exhaust Les Saucisses before they exhausted me, it was a satisfying workout.

After a while, it wasn’t enough to Exhaust the Dachshunds. I rejoined the gym so I could use the elliptical, which I also enjoy when I have some obnoxious, bass-heavy, 80’s rock-n-roll to keep me moving. The more I do it, the more I need longer workouts, greater resistance. Now I’m looking into personal trainers, to add some strength training into my program. The great thing is that, at least for me, I’m ready to add something new just about the time you’d expect the old workout might be getting stale, or my metabolism might need a boost. It’s important to me for the whole thing to be intuitive.

So this is where you start, if you are a couch potato. What do you like to do, or what did you used to enjoy, when you were a kid? Before adult responsibilities consumed your life? What can you envision yourself doing for half an hour, three days a week?

And if you really, really can’t see yourself doing a regular 30 minute routine, start even smaller. Load up your CD player with some dance tunes and climb up and down your stairs, or jog in place, or dance, for three songs. Then go about your day. Do it again later. Or do as our friend Twyla brilliantly does --- drop and do pushups or jumping jacks while you’re waiting for the washing machine to finish up. Jog in place during the commercials. Set your kitchen timer for five minutes and skip rope.

Finally, making exercise not a choice is a product of logical thinking, as any cognitive therapist would tell you and Beck certainly does. If it’s still hard for you to make the leap, I suggest writing some reminders for yourself. I have a couple that say things like, “Exercising and eating healthy on a daily basis are ways I show love to myself.” “Daily exercise is a non-negotiable part of my plan to stay healthy.” And even, “Exercise makes me look and feel great! I like it!”

Now. Get out there and exhaust your Dachshunds, everyone!

Comments

[Amy]

WOW. Thank you all so much for the amazing posts! I want to really re-read, absorb and then implement before I comment too much about them.

I will add that I once had a dr. who said, "Amy, would you leave the house in the morning without brushing your teeth? No, and it has to be the same with exercise."

I'm going to try to think that way for a while!

THANK YOU ALL AGAIN SO MUCH!

Amy

[100lbs]

Thanks for your wise comments, HS and Twyla. You both know whereof you speak!

I would like to refer doubters to www.pastaqueen.com. The blogger there has lost half her body weight, and she started at around 374 pounds, with no knowledge of nutrition, never having dieted or exercised in her life. To put it bluntly, she was almost completely ignorant of what it meant to have a healthy lifestyle. She started by just taking the stairs at work instead of the elevator, and doing a couple of laps of the parking lot at lunchtime. Eventually her mom bought her a treadmill and she started walking for a few minutes a day at home; then when the weather got good, on the trail near her house. And after a while, she started jogging. Now she runs marathons.

It really does just take putting one foot in front of the other. And a little bit really does help.

[H Skippety]

Twyla and Cindy are right (GREAT post, C!). I especially like Twyla's take on how little you need to do to start.

And here is what got me exercising again: deliberately doing zip. Couldn't seem to make myself get up and move, so I indulged myself completely.

I said, Okay, I shall do nothing. My routine is wimpy anyway, I told myself -- some walking, some stretching -- so what difference does it make if I quit?

So for two months, I did NOTHING. And whoa, what an eye-opener: I discovered that the results of doing nothing were my very best motivator to get back into exercising.

I discovered that if I do not exercise at all, I am guaranteed to be a disabled old lady. I found that I had difficulty bending over to tie my own shoes, because my joints (never very flexible to begin with) had become so stiff without regular movement. I got out of breath going up stairs, let alone walking a block. I had difficulty sleeping and relaxing. I was more anxious, as well.

Recently I read a study that said that two-thirds of elderly women (but only one -third of elderly men) need assistance with daily activities because they are physically disabled. My grandmother, at 89, is not one of them: she walks daily.

Having worked in a nursing home, and having provided care for my own disabled-old-lady relative, I definitely don't want to be a disabled old lady. Or for that matter, an out of breath, stiff-jointed, anxious, sleepless middle-aged lady, any more.

Two months going without any exercise whatsoever was long enough for me. Right now I'm taking a Pilates class at my church (it's tailored to middle-aged, non-athletic types), and doing some walking and stretching. I am also thinking of taking a t'ai chi class.

Oh! I should say, the best exercise program I ever did was to take belly dancing classes. A GREAT workout, especially for your midriff (but a lot of footwork and arm movement as well); & the workout clothes involve silky veils and jingly jewelry, and the moves are sexxxaaaay, and if you have a curvy womanly body, that's what it's made for. Way fun.

[Twyla]

Excellent post, Cindy.

I will emphasize the NOT A CHOICE part.

The question boils down to this:

DO YOU WANT TO BE SLIMMER?

THEN YOU WANT TO EXERCISE.

DON'T WANT TO EXERCISE?

THEN YOU MUST NOT WANT TO BE SLIMMER.

IF YOU WANT TO BE SLIMMER, NOT EXERCISING IS NOT A CHOICE THAT'S AVAILABLE TO YOU.

There is no way to get around it. Love it, accept it, and put that creative brain to work on how to make it work for you, on how to make it a part of your life you can enjoy. Start very very small. Realize that you may find you want it very very much indeed...give your psyche that chance before you shake your head in total denial.

And here's a hint: if it truly is a total drudge to you:

THEN YOU SET YOUR GOALS

TOO

HIGH.

Bring them down to something you can accept, even if that means I WILL WALK IN CIRCLES IN MY LIVING ROOM FOR TWO MINUTES AND I WILL DO NO MORE.

I'm serious. Start there if you need to. Commit to those two minutes every day. Eventually, your mind will accept the idea of three minutes, and the snowball will begin to grow.

When I started, my minute numbers were hardly there. They weren't in the double digits. By adding a little each time, I'm up to a workout regimen that would be fine for many athletes. All built

ONE MINUTE AT A TIME.

YOU.
CAN.
DO.
THIS.

I promise. Trust me, if you can't trust yourself, and take that first step.

Two minutes. That's where it starts.