How To Exercise Without Making Yourself Crazy

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beth ditto bra weight lifter

After Beth Ditto is done holding her boobs, she's totally going to lift weights.

Golda Poretsky, HHC
http://www.bodylovewellness.com

Until really recently, I had had a strict “no joining gyms” policy.  This policy was based upon good solid reason and logic — in the past, I would join a gym, go religiously for a few months, get sick and not go for about a week, and then never go back again.  Ever.  Plus, I wouldn’t even work out at home because it would remind me of how guilty I felt about not getting to the gym.

I know, it’s crazy.  But I know from friends and clients that I’m not the only one who does this.

Once I learned about Health At Every Size and took the pressure off myself about losing weight, not joining a gym was really great for me.  I would take long walks, do aerobics or yoga DVD’s, and I would do it pretty regularly.

But lately, I started feeling the pull to join my local Y.  They have a pool, daily water aerobics, really new weight and cardio machines, and a generally pleasant, laid back vibe.  I took a tour with my friend Girthful Girl and we both loved it. And since joining, I’ve been going about five times a week, mostly to do water aerobics but also to use the elliptical.  I absolutely love it, and I feel really good.

So how did I get to this peaceful, happy place with working out and exercising?

Well, there are methods to my madness.  So if you’re feeling kind of stuck when it comes to fitness or not sure how to do it without over-exercising/guilting yourself/obsessing about weight loss etc., I’d like to give you a couple of tips how to do it in an emotionally healthy way.

So here are my top five tips on how to exercise without making yourself crazy.

1. Do What You Find Fun.   Just because your best friend swears by hot yoga, it doesn’t mean that you have to do it.  It doesn’t have to be difficult or unpleasant to be really good for you.

Why? Because if you like it, you’ll want to do it, and if you don’t like it, you won’t want to do it.  It’s really that simple.  It’s not like phys. ed. class in school, where you had to do whatever the class is doing.  If you like dancing around your apartment — fantastic.  Great.  Do that.  If you like water aerobics, find a place that has it and do it.  It is worth the money if you like it and it makes you feel good.  When you exercise in a way that you actually enjoy, you still get tons of benefits, and it’s SO MUCH EASIER to do because you actually want to do it!

2. Be Open Minded & Try Different Things. Experiment with different kinds of exercise and see what appeals to you.  Be willing to try something new and revise your opinions.

Why? Because when you’re open minded, you may find that what was once true for you isn’t true anymore.  For example, even if you always thought you had two left feet, you might really enjoy a dance class.  Or, even if you always found the weight room intimidating in high school, you may not feel that way now, as an adult.  If you’re checking out gyms, try to get a free week or day at different gyms, and see where you feel most comfortable.  You don’t have to make a decision right away, and you may be surprised by which place you like the most.  (I also really recommend YMCA’s and YMHA’s because they’re usually less “hard selling” than commercial gyms.)

3. Don’t Keep Statistics.  I mean it.  Don’t track anything about the way you exercise.  Don’t track how many minutes of cardio, or how many pounds you lift, calories burned, or your weight or your measurements.

Why? You don’t need it, and it can make you crazy. You know when you’ve been working out regularly and when you haven’t. Your body tells you. You notice when your endurance has gotten better when you get less tired walking to the train. You notice when your muscles have gotten stronger when you lift a bag of groceries with less effort. The point of exercise is not to constantly compare (and judge yourself) against a standard from last week or last year or 20 years ago. The point is noticing how your body feels. And if today your body feels tired and you only do a little, that is fantastic too because it means you’re listening.

4. Schedule Your Workouts. Block out time in your schedule for classes you want to take or working out at home.  Make that time as sacred as possible by not scheduling anything else during that time.  Be realistic about the time you need, including time to stretch, shower, etc.

Why? Exercising really is “me time.”  It’s time that you are putting aside, just for you, to make you feel good.  Putting your favorite classes or home workouts in your schedule is a signal to yourself that your health, well-being, and personal time is really important.  I literally schedule my water aerobics class (and travel time and shower time) into my schedule and don’t schedule clients during that time.  I know that no matter how crazy my day is, I have that time blocked out just for me and I can look forward to it.

5. Invest In Workout Clothes, Sneakers, Etc. That Are Right For You, Fit You And Make You Feel Good. When you have sneakers that fit right, clothes that fit, etc., exercising is so much easier and more enjoyable.

Why? It’s really hard to concentrate on exercising when you’re worried that your bathing suit is too tight or your sneakers are worn out.  Wear clothes that make you feel good —  even put on some makeup if it helps.  Truly, it’s better to wear one outfit that you like over and over again, than wear really old clothes that make you feel embarrassed.  I notice when I have things that support my workout, (like these prescription goggles that I bought recently) then I’m more likely to workout and really enjoy it.

Alright, hotties, let’s get cookin’!  Let me know if you use these tips (and feel free to share your own) in the comments section below!

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Golda is a certified holistic health counselor and founder of Body Love Wellness, a program designed for plus-sized women who are fed up with dieting and want support to stop obsessing about food and weight. To learn more about Golda and her work, click here.


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10 thoughts on “How To Exercise Without Making Yourself Crazy”

  2. how many pounds you lift

    If you’re lifting weights, it can be damaging to not know how much you can lift – for example, if you are used to one machine being set at what you can do (but you don’t look at the numbers) you might injure yourself if someone left it at too high a setting.

    If tracking which weights you can lift is really difficult, perhaps bodyweight exercises would be safer?

    1. @Living 400lbs, I agree that you need to look at the numbers when using weight machines, but I don’t think it’s really necessary to write them down. I think most of us remember what we were capable of the last time, and if we can’t, we can always start out at a really light weight and see which feels challenging/right.

  3. I didn’t know they made prescription goggles; that’s awesome!

    Also, I have something to add to this:

    [I]n the past, I would join a gym, go religiously for a few months, get sick and not go for about a week, and then never go back again. Ever.

    I used to love going to the gym, when I was in college and it took me maybe fifteen minutes to walk there. When I moved back home, the closest gyms are too far away (and on too-busy streets!) for me to walk to, so I would have to 1) schedule my workout around when people can drive me, rather than when I *feel* like working out, and 2) ride there in a car, which always makes me nauseous and dizzy. Which is *exactly* how you want to feel when you’re starting an intense day of heavy lifting and running, right? Yeah, no.

    I’d keep that up for a few weeks, maybe a few months, before finding it just too hard and letting my membership lapse. (I’ve let two gym memberships go like that so far — I loved the gym, I loved what I used to do there, it’s just that getting there was such a bitch to a carsickness-prone nondriver!) So, instead, I’ve been amassing a home gym, and working out in my basement. That’s been working okay, even if I can’t do as much with my relatively limited weight set as I could at a real gym.

    So, where you live and what your particular scheduling and mobility issues are also comes into play on the gym-membership issue.

    1. @Lindsay, Hi Lindsay! That’s a really good point. That’s part of why I worked out at home for so long — it wasn’t always easy to find a close by gym that I really liked. I really do like working out at home too.

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  5. I think your advice is mostly good, but I disagree with the keeping statistics part because for me I want to know if I’m progressing, can I walk further, can I lift heavier weights, am I faster. Now I wouldn’t obsessively write down every workout because that could be as triggering as weighing every day, but maybe once a month or so, write down some stats so you can see you are improving, even if it’s slowly. And the measuring has to be the same each time. I do think the stats tracking is dependent on the kind of person you are.

    1. @Kate, I think you’re right, Kate. I think if you like to track your stats and you do it in a way that’s not triggering, then it’s okay. I just think that it’s easy to overdo it and make it a source of stress.

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