As you know, exercise has never made my list of things to worry about. I do not like exercising and have always thought that it wastes time. Since I never exercise, my sporadic attempts at it leave me tired both mentally and physically. Therefore, I never get to the point where I experience the positives – the rush of energy, feeling good about myself, lethargy without exercise etc. This rejection of exercise is compounded by the fact that I have never felt a great desire to lose weight nor experienced any acute health problems due to my sedentary lifestyle. The only time in my life when I made an effort to exercise was in the months before my wedding because I was terrified that I would not be able to fit into my wedding dress.
However, exercise started becoming an issue last July when we moved to Farmville. With no friends around, with the pressure of a 3-4 teaching load for the first time and with the tenure-track application cycle, I felt stressed and irritable constantly. On top of that, this was the first time I did not walk anywhere. I started driving to school, not walking to campus as I did in Cville. I did not have to walk around campus much either. So, believe it or not, my lifestyle became even more sedentary than before. And I started putting on weight!!! All these reasons made us think of exercise more.
The question always was: what form of exercise regimen could I stick to? Gregg is more determined and will go out for walks. But I do not like walking outside when it is too cold or rainy. The other option is a gym membership – but I hate gyms. I do not like exercising in front of other people, I do not like fitting it in my schedule, and I do not like spending money on something I do not use. We could use the University gym but I do not like exercising around my students. The third option was to invest in some home exercise equipment. It would allow us to exercise every day in a private setting at any time we want. But we rejected that idea last year.
Since we have moved to Lancaster, however, Giggs has cut down on our stress level but the sedentary nature of our lives has still been an issue. Besides, I am still putting on weight. So, finally, this weekend, we bought a treadmill for the apartment. All I plan to do is walk on it for 30-45 minutes a day. I walked on it on Saturday and Sunday and though I am sore and tired, I plan to keep using it.
I know that most people exercise. Why do you exercise, when do you exercise, how do you exercise? Any tips on exercising on a treadmill will also be appreciated.
3 comments:
We go to the gym and I find that I really need to exercise to maintain my mental health. The endorphins definitely put me in a better mood. Sadly, we both need to workout to control our back and neck problems. Corey and I take turns walking Moby every morning. We probably give him a one mile walk. We've gotten lazy here though since we have a yard. When we were in New York, we probably walked Moby 3-4 miles a day. We recently started running with him too.
I think that variety helps make the exercise much more pleasurable. I alternate between different forms of exercise like yoga, spinning, and the elliptical machines. Corey just bought a tennis racket so we may start playing tennis. We also wanted to add biking to the mix.
About your treadmill, you probably should vary the incline to get a better workout. You can try one minute at a really steep incline and stay for longer periods at moderate inclines. You can also measure your heart rate to make sure you are getting a good workout.
I'm GLAD you are exercising now. It's good to get into heathy habits.
I have been doing pretty high intensity cycling and aerobics classes for the last couple of years. However, I am trying to do lower impact stuff now, like walking, the elliptical, and pilates because I've been very sore lately (not in a good way).
Interesting post Nitu.. We have a fitness center in our development that is small and pretty anonymous, so I find that is a great option. I like walks like Gregg but like you Jim does not!
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