My Love/Hate Relationship with Exercise

I HATE EVERY LITTLE THING ABOUT IT EXERCISE

• I hate knowing that I have to do it:
  • Just knowing that I have to run on my lunch hour makes me not want to do it.  Every minute that precedes said lunch hour is spent in an internal debate about why I should or shouldn’t go on the run.  It’s a toss up by lunch time whether I have talked myself out of it or not.

• I hate getting sweaty for it:
  • I sweat…A LOT.  I always have and I always will.  I can sweat just sitting in a chair doing nothing, so it is so much worse when I actually get active.  I hate that I go through so many different articles of clothing because washing them no longer gets rid of the stink.  Yes, I sweat that much.  The number of tank tops and sweatshirts I have tossed because even I couldn’t stand the armpit stench anymore is pretty amazing.
  • I also hate that once I have gotten active and sweaty, there is no real way to cool myself down short of a cold shower or maybe a nap.  It makes it really uncomfortable to carry go on about your day when I work out in the middle of the day and don’t have access to a shower/nap.  I can’t tell you the number of times I have apologized for profusely sweating for no reason to a cast member at rehearsal for a play.
• I hate that it takes time out of my day:
  • In order to get in a work out that makes a difference in my day I have to go for at least a half an hour.  Given that I like to sleep a lot and usually have some sort of play rehearsal going on that limits my work out time to usually my lunch hours during the week.  That gives me a half hour to go for a run and then I have less than 30 minutes to prepare my lunch, eat and change to get back to work.  Just thinking about it makes me sweat – see above.
• I hate that no matter how many times I run, I still hurt:
  • It’s not in what my husband would call a “bad hurt” like something is broken or torn, but in the sore muscle way.  I’ve been running for three weeks straight, shouldn’t my shins and calves be getting used to this by now??  It’s not that they hurt so much after as it is during.
  • What does hurt after is my knees and hips and ankles, and I know that is probably the sheer weight that is coming down on those joints but it doesn’t make me like it any less.
• I hate that I hate it:
  • I desperately want to be one of those women that look forward to every single workout and become addicted to it.  Sadly, that is not me.

UNTIL I WORK OUT

• I love how I feel after a workout:
  • I love how it clears my mind and gets me back in control of my emotions.  I have fought depression all of my adult life and exercise seems to be the only way to combat it without chemicals.  I have managed to ween myself down to half the dosage on my anti-depressants this year but I still kind felt off, unless I work out.
  • After I work out I am at peace.  My thoughts are clear instead of jumbled and nothing really bothers me.  I have a pretty hot temper and so to say this really means a lot.
  • I have had pretty bad anxiety for most of my adult life as well.  At one time it was so intense that I was very afraid of large open spaces.  I couldn’t walk outside without having something to hold onto.  While that has gotten a lot easier over the years I still have a tendency to panic over nothing for no reason.  That dramatically decreases on the days I work out.
  • I love how I still feel pretty good even the next morning.  I love waking up in the morning, stretching and feeling like I gave my body a run for it’s money the day before.
• I love how it motivates me:
  • On a day when I have no desire to be productive, after a work out I am on a mission to get sh*t done.  I cannot be idle so I have no option other than to get to work at whatever task is at hand.
• I love how it lowers my blood pressure. 
  • When I was 26 years old and over 300 lbs I was put on blood pressure meds.  When I was TWENTY SIX!  As I lost the weight I was able to ween myself off them and haven’t taken them in many many years but my BP tends to run on the low end of high still.  When I work out consistently I notice that it drops a significant amount.

As you can see, I have quite the love/hate relationship with working out.  In theory, the good should outweigh the bad every time, but it doesn’t always work that way.

What are your reasons to get out there and get a work out in?

What are the most common reasons that you bail on them?