What is it that fuels fitness freaks? And where can I get some? Not talking about roids or HGH, here. :)
This is because people only want the long-term goal of fitness, weight loss, happiness, and attractiveness. That's all they think about. They only feel positive feedback when they see their actions as part of a pattern that leads to long-term results. This is logical, but it only works as long as you stay confident and optimistic. Therefore, for many people, it's emotionally tenable.
An easier way is to forget about the long term results (to the extent possible) and focus on the short term. If you want to exercise now, no matter whether it is part of a longer-term pattern of performance leading to life-changing benefit, then it's a lot easier to do it. Your decision doesn't have to run a gauntlet of skepticism about your past and future performance. Concentrate on appreciating the immediate benefits of a single workout: you'll elevate your mood, feel better about yourself, like yourself more, burn some calories, and shake off some rust. If you can't help thinking beyond today, just think that you're strengthening the behavioral and physical foundation for future exercise, which is all you can do today. Let tomorrow's you worry about tomorrow's exercise.
I've had more success in getting myself to exercise the past month or two than I had previously, and I think this sentence sums it up pretty well. Don't start thinking about yesterday or tomorrow, just focus on how good you're going to feel in an hour when you're finished today.
1. The most important tip is simple: Exercise six days a week. What you do in the beginning is basically irrelevant. Your job is to form the habit which is much harder to do if you only go three days a week (who smokes only three days a week?)
2. Some may disagree, but I also highly recommend doing your exercise in a gym. It's too easy to put off if all you're doing is going for a run outside or some sit-ups inside. If you fail to go to the gym, you'll feel worse. This is mostly about making yourself feel bad for not going. Also, other people exercising around you will help motivate you (and the scenery is nice... unless it's an all-male gym ;)
3. It helps to be somewhat vain and narcissistic, both of which I admit to being. I don't like being flabby because it presents a poor image. Even if I have nobody else to impress, I still have to impress myself, which when it comes to physicality is not a trivial task.
4. If your discipline is based on seeing quick results, you will fail. Nothing happens quickly at the gym, except injury. It takes about six months to transform yourself, anybody who says differently is wrong. You need to find the granular results; weight lifting helps with this. If you gain weight, even a little weight, every week in your exercises, that should be enough.
5. It's hard being a "noob", especially at a gym. Don't let it get you down. You need to quickly learn one very important fact: at the gym, everybody is always in better shape than you, no matter what shape you're in.
Sooner or later, and probably without noticing, you'll have a fitness addiction. You'll begin feeling terrible if you don't exercise every day. You'll feel bad unless you're slightly sore. Oh, and you'll have a body worthy of admiration (or at least fear ;)
That being said, I've been awake almost two hours so I really should get to the gym... it's back and shoulders day! Good luck!
I've found that martial arts (Tae Kwon Do in may case) are great if you're not a gym person. With Tae Kwon Do I didn't have to think about "a plan". It was all pretty much laid out for me. First I get yellow tag, then yellow belt and so on. Having these goals is a great way of keeping motivated.
Yes! It's hilarious. I learned this on the running trail near my house. Only a narcissist (which I doubt you really are) naturally compares himself or herself to weaker people. Most of us only see the people who are better than us. It feels exactly as it would if the others weren't there at all. Even when I consciously look at a fatter guy and tell myself I'm better off than him, my reaction is emotionally blank: "So?" But when I see a buffer, faster guy, the fact that I'm less fit than him seems extremely important.
Now, I just see exercise as part of being a complete person. we're supposed to have a sound body in addition to a sound mind. Most techies that I meet don't seem to care for physical fitness. It's the nerd role in reverse. Just as we thought it stupid that athletes never studied, we're pretty stupid if we don't get off our butts and exercise.
My personal philosophy is that we're here for a limited time period- I want to spend that time maximizing my genetic potential as much as possible - in the classroom, with my interactions with other people, and in the gym.
Also weight training is in many ways like programming. You know how when you first started, you didn't really know anything, and it was a frustrating experience? If you have ever tried to teach any of your non-technical friends any programming, you would know what I mean.
But if you are any good at programming, you have been "in the zone" where it feels like your brain is working at more than peak capacity and you just know exactly what algorithm you need, where to write it, what library methods to call, etc. Feels good right? Ever want to give it up?
But you had to get past the newbie frustration phase in order to get there.
Same thing with working out, once your body gets used to it and starts getting into gear. Let's say you go 3 times a week for 1 hour each time, I would guess maybe about 6 months .. by then you will start finding yourself "in the zone" and once you start being able to get there consistently, you won't want to stop, and then it just snowballs from there.
Get up early and do something every day. Don't spend time with people who impede you. Surround yourself with active people. But don't push yourself too hard. Always get plenty of sleep.
Find an activity you enjoy that involves physical labor, and do that thing. Since you enjoy it, the 'work' of exercise won't feel like work - it will be something you want to do because you enjoy it. Explore different outdoor activities and sports, and you'll find one that suits you.
Presently for me this is building a small farm. Before that it was learning to surf. Before that it was cycling for distance. The neat thing about all these is unlike gym time you are building real skills as you do them and they are rewarding beyond the calories burned and the physiological changes.
The gym is hard because other than the physical effects it is dead time, and you know it.
Although for some people the iron is that thing that is quite soothing: http://www.gittlen.com/rollins.htm