A Blog for Blogging's Sake

What do you do when you have an earnest desire to be healthy, but just HATE exercise? I haven't exerted myself more than enough to stretch in the past 7 days, and every day I go to bed feeling horribly guilty. But when I've been at work or class all day, and am on the bus home thinking "I could go be terribly uncomfortable and unhappy for an hour, or I could go sit on my couch with a book and tea for three hours"...what do you think I choose?

I've tried it all...
"Work out in the morning so you just get it over with and feel good for the rest of the day!"
   No good. They don't call it a comforter for nothing.
"You just need to find a way to make exercise fun!"
   The only time I have ever had fun exercising was playing frisbee golf with 6-year-olds. Best summer of my life. Unfortunately I don't know where to find a team of frisbee-playing children in Chicago. I also enjoy cycling, but that depends on the weather (and regardless is much less fun amidst city traffic). Even yoga, which appears to be so relaxing, requires my body to do things it can not.
"Have a plan, a goal, a time limit, a schedule (I cheat); buy new work out clothes (the thrill doesn't last); sign up for a class (I simply did not go); have a great playlist (I ran out of music)" etc etc etc...

So you may just think, "wow, she's hella lazy". Maybe so, but here's what I'm getting at: why should I force myself to do something that I truly do not like? Isn't my happiness and mental health worth more than being able to run a half marathon that I hated every minute of? Unfortunately, I'm so stuck in this mindset that exercise is RIGHT and that's what STRONG people do and people are more FULFILLED when they exercise because they're so happy being healthy - so even if I think I could be happy without exercise, I can't because I just feel bad. And I feel bad when I do (*Though I do feel good afterward, consider also the extra time commitment which takes away from other obligations and enjoyments and leads to stress, increased tiredness, knee pain).

That last part was a mess. And this is probably really silly sounding to everyone else. In sum I wish I could be someone who just loves working out and actually looks forward to it. I wish my hobbies did not involve sugar and chocolate and sitting. Yet they do, and I apparently can not fully embrace something I know is bad for me, though I love it; and I can not forget about something I know is good for me, though I hate it.