Perspiration Inspiration

Okay, I admit it. I am having a heck of a time getting motivated to exercise. There are two things going on: the first is minor, I'm recovering from a cold. Today I feel fine, but for several days, I haven't. If I can get to the point of exercising even when I don't feel well, that will be a big break through.

Second, and this is the real issue, I just don't want to. It's in my head. Here are the "reasons" my mind makes up: It hurts, it takes too long, it takes even longer because I then have to take a shower.

It does often hurt. Chronic knee issues means most forms of exercise (all I've found, actually) hurt both during and afterward. I'm not exaggerating or being dramatic and it is very liberating to tell the truth about this. However, what I do also know -- and have had medically verified -- is that though it hurts, it isn't actually making my knees any worse. It's not damaging them, it just hurts. So it's a matter of being willing to hurt. This whole issue with my knees has presented a double-bind for some time; it hurts to exercise so I don't exercise but I need to exercise to effectively lose weight; I'm overweight and being overweight hurts my knees. You can see the conundrum.

I can overcome the other "reasons" not to exercise. It's the first one that trips me up. All of that said, to be fair, I do exercise, just not as much as I want to. I'm averaging 3 to 4 hours a week right now -- I want to at least double that. I read a great blog about exercise this week. The author points out that the real difference between skilled athletes and himself is that they don't cancel their practice to pay bills or catch a tv show. It's their job so it's their priority. I've said several times that my big job right now is getting this weight off. Time for me to put my money where my mouth is.

Here's my commitment. No more excuses. I am calendaring my exercise and I am doing it, every day. And I give myself permission to whine a bit about the pain for the first couple of weeks. Stay tuned!