What Motivated Me to Start Exercising
I wasn't taking good care of myself and I caught a cold. Soon after that, I caught the flu and then another cold. I realized that my lifestyle was wearing me down and it was time to get moving.
What I Did
After being sick for so long, I made the decision to change my life. I was active as a kid and played a few sports, but I no longer had access to those. I decided to start with exercise videos, because that fit my budget and I was familiar with aerobics (I loved Jane Fonda!).
How I Did It
I started by doing exercise videos several times a week, whenever I could find the time. I mostly did Jane Fonda, because that's about the only decent instructor I knew about. I soon became bored with that and ended up quitting for awhile. I realized that, if I wanted to stick to it, I would need to find activities I could do for the long term. I started running and I also found more great videos (through Collage Video) and I started lifting weights after a friend of mine suggested it. That was a huge turnaround for me and I've never looked back.
Lessons learned
- Start anywhere - There really is no best way to do it. You just pick something that sounds good (like walking or videos) and start doing it.
- Try to find someone to workout with - It really helps to have a buddy.
- Don't worry so much about how much you're doing or how hard you're working. Just do something regularly and go from there.
- Don't push yourself too hard at first. Let your body gradually get used to working out.
