When I started my exercise regimen, I weighed almost 200 pounds and I had reactive asthma, sciatica, and uncontrollable back pain. Even more disconcerting was the fact that I couldn't pick up my 20 pound child for more than about 30 seconds or walk to the park that is 2 blocks from my house. I was truly out of shape. But when you're starting at the bottom, the only place to go is up.
We'd had our Wii Fit for about 4 years, and most of the time, it just collected dust. I wasn't convinced it was a great workout, but at the time, I figured it was all that I could handle. I dusted it off and stepped on only for the cheeky little voice to tell me I was obese. Maybe the point is for it to make you mad enough to work off the weight. The first time I was on it, I did 20 minutes of the free step workout which is basically stepping on and off of the 2 inch platform. I burned 94 calories, and I thought I was going to collapse.
The next day, I did it again. It was a little easier, but it was still giving me a workout. Besides the 20 minutes of free step, I added a couple of 1 minute games that burned an additional 6 or 7 calories. It wasn't a lot, but it was an improvement.
And that's the idea. Improvement.
I didn't start out with goals of running 5K races and climbing hundreds of flights of stairs, but I accomplished those things because I only had 1 goal: For every workout, I was going to get a little better. I would do more minutes or increase my intensity or try something new. It didn't matter what I was doing as much as it did that I tried as hard as I could and tried to better myself.
I worked my way up from the Wii Fit and started visiting a gym when my husband's company gave us memberships. When I walked that first half mile on the treadmill, I felt the same way I did taking those first steps on the Wii FIt. But again, I just kept making it better. I would raise the speed, incline, or duration every time. I started off walking 3 mph for 10 minutes at a 0 incline. Now when I need a "quick" workout, I can go at 3.8 mph for 30 minutes at a 15% incline with no trouble. But that has taken almost 10 months of work!
Yes, work.
Exercise isn't easy, and it's not always fun. It takes dedication and persistence. But it does get easier. The best thing you can do is to just start moving and find something you can tolerate for a few minutes a day. Find out what works for you even if doesn't work for anyone else. So go ahead and walk around your block, jump on your Wii Fit, or do some jumping jacks in your living room. And tomorrow, do a little more. Just keep improving.
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