How do you break out of your sedentary lifestyle?

[lacieloo]

I'm super sedentary; I move very little, your average couch potato, and if I'm just going about my daily routine I'll get only 1,000-2,500 steps per day. What I want to know is, how do those with sedentary lifestyles find the motivation to increase their activity level? Are there any tips or tricks that could be offered to me?

[Vicki.1]

What great encouraging words. Will certainly remember these words.

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[buttontapper]

I often do my 10,000 steps indoors, using a few tricks:

1. Definitely set the silent alarms on your Fitbit, so you can remind yourself to get up every hour and walk at least 250 steps. This will only take about 5 minutes out of each hour, and since you get 8 alarms you get fit in 2,000 steps right there. I usually just march in place near my desk, so I can get right back to work when I'm finished.

2. While you're up and stepping, you could also double up and do 500 steps every hour, which would get you 4,000 steps by the end of the day.

3. I usually try to plan at least one 30-minute walk every day. I can walk to my local library or the post office, in order to have a specific purpose for my walk, and walking to and from those landmarks make for a nice quick walk and net me about 5-6,000 steps.

4. Another great way to get in some steps is to play games. I like playing Pokemon Go because you have to walk in order to get most of the game to function. So I'll go out and catch some imaginary creatures for half an hour, which makes walking in the same places more fun, and gets me points in the game, yay! 😉

5. Once I week, I try to do the equivalent of a 5K walk, which is about 3.10 miles. I mapped out a route in my town that'll net me 4 miles on a loop, and like to do this on the weekends. That'll definitely bump up your weekly totals! My route also passes a Starbucks, in case I need some extra motivation or a drink to warm up or cool off.

[SunsetRunner]

Jog on the spot whilst watching tv

news, big bang theory, etc

[SunsetRunner]

I'm just starting and 10k was too hard to reach unless I went shopping or anything outside of the house (I'm total housebody). I did the same, set 7k as my daily steps goal. Much easier to get to and have that motivating vibrate and animated celebration go off!! 

Nice comment/suggestion :))) btw: Happppeee Turkey!!

[SunsetRunner]

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@whosails wrote:

I find that I am moving better now. Set your Fitbit for 4,000 steps a day and it will cheer you each day when you reach that goal. When you can reach it fairly consistantly set it for 5000 and so forth. That bit of a cheer makes a huge difference. It is all about confirmation in your ability to reach goals.

Good job Fitbit!

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@whosails wrote:

I find that I am moving better now. Set your Fitbit for 4,000 steps a day and it will cheer you each day when you reach that goal. When you can reach it fairly consistantly set it for 5000 and so forth. That bit of a cheer makes a huge difference. It is all about confirmation in your ability to reach goals.

Good job Fitbit!

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@whosails wrote:

I find that I am moving better now. Set your Fitbit for 4,000 steps a day and it will cheer you each day when you reach that goal. When you can reach it fairly consistantly set it for 5000 and so forth. That bit of a cheer makes a huge difference. It is all about confirmation in your ability to reach goals.

Good job Fitbit!

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I'm just starting and 10k was too hard to reach unless I went shopping or anything outside of the house (I'm total housebody). I did the same, set 7k as my daily steps goal. Much easier to get to and have that motivating vibrate and animated celebration go off!! 

Nice comment/suggestion :))) btw: Happppeee Turkey!!

[Corney]

Answer these questions:

1.  Why did you purchase a fitbit?

2.  Are you happy with your life style?

3.  What do you want to accomplish?

4.  Motivation comes from your inner being, are you self motivated, or is someone else telling you to change your life style?

5.  You must want it for yourself, you must want to go through your daily life with more energy to do things you want to do.. 

There is no secret as to why people take charge of their life style, they want to feel better about themselves and have decided to do something about it.

It takes 14 days to change one's behavior, but only 3 days to break that habit.  Take charge of your life, find an activity you like to do.  It's a misconception that exercise has to be fun.  When I go down to my basement and work out on my rower or stationary bike or elliptical I'm not having fun, but it feels good because I'm taking charge of my life, in those 45 to 75 minutes, I'm in control of my life.  I exercise today because it felt good yesterday and I'll exercise tomorrow because it felt good today.  I enjoy the challenge, and I like feeling good about myself, and more important I like the feeling I get after it's all over.  In conclusion, after you have answered those 5 questions, the motivation must come from you and only you.  It's not going to be easy, you have to decide for yourself if it's worth it or not.  Good luck!

[Daves_Not_Here]

The Original Poster started this thread over a year ago and has never re-posted, so I believe we are answering in the rhetorical.  But hey, why not be another echo in the chamber?

I believe it is helpful, when trying to figure out how to make a change, to discover how others in similar situations have made the change.  In the case of breaking out of a lifetime pattern of sloth into activity, lifelong fitness buffs and gym rats may not be the best source of advice or inspiration, as they have never walked in these shoes.  Much better to speak to a former fat lazy slob, who, through blind luck and the grace of God, was somehow fortunate enough to make the change.  I am eminently qualified to speak in this regard:

Me, 8 years ago: 50 years old, fat, lazy, slobesque.  My ankle, broken and arthritic for 35 years, prevented me from running or hiking.  Even golf was painful.  I found (and find) the tedium of going to the gym to be boring and monotonous.  The only physical activity I enjoyed was snow skiing, but, given the dearth of local ski slopes meant I had at least 355 days a year of inactivity.  Also, I had stupidly accepted the conventional wisdom from our esteemed medical establishment that, in order to control your weight, you must starve yourself while eating from the Standard American Diet, which is designed to increase your appetite resulting in obesity, heart disease, diabetes and subsequent transfer of your life savings to the aforementioned establishment.  So given the choice of dying young and possibly going to heaven, versus the certainty of self-inflicted hunger and gym-induced hell, I was on Plan A.

Then, one day by chance, a client asked if I might join him on a charity bike ride.  I defaulted to my standard answer when it comes to client requests, yes, before realizing I would also be invited to join training rides (oh, crap!).  Well, one thing led to another, and pretty soon, I realized I had found an enjoyable physical activity I can engage in 365 days a year, and have kept it up since.  I may meet my grandchildren after all.

So, that's what worked for someone with no willpower, no self-discipline, and a bad attitude -- finding an enjoyable activity, preferably one that can be done with others.

[Natsuko]

Dave, you are so right. I joined a gym with my friend and managed to lose some inches which thrilled me. It was difficult because our schedules didn't always mesh and I put off going alone.  Then I tore a rotator cuff in my left shoulder, then my right and the doctor told me not to go to the gym until I finished P.T. and healed. I am finally cleared to go back. I decided not to worry about going with anyone else. I am going for me!  My doctor commented on what a great resting heart rate I had. To be honest  it felt better than hearing I looked great in my jeans. I am going to go back to hitting the gym three times a week, and adding a few steps or minutes to each workout. I hate feeling like a torpid slug. If I can add  50 steps to each workout, it is a victory. Even going to the gym is a victory.

[Corney]

Daves_Not_Here: Believe it or not I was not always a gym rat. I did
nothing but go to work, which was not very physical, come home and watch TV
and help with child care. Then one day I found I was not happy with doing
nothing, I was tired all the time and stressed out by work and home. I
made the decision to change that. I bought a cheap pair of running shoes
and started running after having never run before. I worked up from
running 1-2 blocks to finally running 1 mile. After reaching that 1 mile
milestone the rest came easy, plus I enjoyed the solitude of running early
in the morning, because it didn't take away from work or family
obligations. I then read every book written by Dr. George Sheehan. The
motivation to keep up the running came from within me, plus I enjoyed it.
To keep me motivated, I entered 10K races, finally working up to 2
Marathons. So I will continue to stress, the motivation to get off ones
butt, change behaviors and life style must come from within the person.
Change can only happen when 3 things occur. The person must admit they
have a problem. They must take ownership of that problem, and have the
courage to change. Have a good day!

[CynLa138]

I use to be very active. Wake up at 3 am and go to the gym for an hour and then head off to work and come home to put in another 30 minutes. Once a week I would go out dancing for 3 hours. It worked wonderfully and I lost over 70lbs. I floundered for over 7 years and gradually the weight came back. Then arthritis really kicked in. I had to have arthroscopy surgery on my R knee and then breast cancer. 

So, now I have the fitbit and I really like the accountability it gives me. I am being nice to myself and not trying to get back to what I was doing all at once. I am trying to be more active day by day. I have been more tired and the monitoring of my sleep with the Fitbit shows me only getting less than an hour of deep sleep. I know that I need more exercise to correct this. If this isn't motivation for me to move, I don't know what else will do it. I monitor my food and water intake. And I like that it shows how many calories I need to consume to counter the calories I am taking in. 

I have learned to change my eating habits from another program that I will incorporate with Fitbit and hope, within 6 months, I will have lost enough weight so I can have a knee replacement that will make my recovery less daunting.

Good luck to all on this forum. Be positive and kind to yourself. Take it one day at a time. ~Cyn

[SunsetRunner]

Thank you CynLa138 for your response and sharing your story. Cheers :)))

[Corney]

CynLa138: I love your positive attitude. Take it one day at a time and
you will be rewarded!

[floridagirl99k]

Someone else mentioned Leslie Sansone.  I LOVE Leslie Sansone on a rainy day.  She's on Youtube too.  A couple of years ago I became rather sedentary because of some family issues.  Now I need to become active again.  I have a Surge HR but it wasn't motivating me.  I got a Flex 2 and I'm making my goal of 8,000 steps a day and usually hitting 10,000 because of the Flex 2.  It reminds me to move every hour, it's waterproof so I don't have to worry about ever taking it off, and it's super light weight.  Sometimes I'll just march in place while watching TV (I have a treadmill I got for a bargain too).  Go to the grocery store, Wal-Mart, the mall...or any place else, make one lap and then leave.  Park far from the store when you go.  I have very bad feet problems and my foot is hurt right now but getting better.  The reminders to move are helping my foot get better because it's getting stretched out at least once an hour.  

[Jen237]

The hardest part of aiming for a healthier lifestyle is getting started.  The first week or two of increased exercise and healthy eating can seem like a real effort.  Once it starts to feel like a normal part of your every day life though, and you start to feel the benefits, it can become enjoyable.  Over the last ten weeks I've been going to the gym and eating far healthier meals.  For the first few weeks I was obsessively tracking everything on my fitbit and weighing myself (far too much).  Now that I can see and feel the rewards, and the routine is part of my day, I hardly think about it, it doesn't feel like a hassle, and I'm buzzing when I feel a little less wobble around the stomach or my clothes feel a little looser.  One step at a time and it all builds up to a big difference. 

[SantiR]

I have tons of floors in my house. That helps me a lot. Also, the reminders to move feature from Fitbit helps me to keep moving each hour. It's so useful! 

[BostonGirl1983]

Needed this.  My job is active, but when I'm at home I sit on the couch or putter around the house.  I also have weird hours so sometimes I'm eating dinner at 9pm.  I joined a great gym 5 mins from my home and have only been once.  I use my stressful job as an excuse to be lazy at home and not go to the gym.

Back in the day I counted calories religiously and went to the gym 4-6 times a week.  I love the gym, it's getting there now that's the problem.  I went back to school as a 30-something and gained a lot of weight from stress eating.  So here I am!

In any case, I read through a bunch of replies and I really appreciate everyone's ideas.

[Daves_Not_Here]

Hi @BostonGirl1983 -- here's an idea that might work -- every day, walk or bike to the gym, maybe do 1 or 2 exercises, and walk back.  That way you get some walking in and no pressure to commit to a time-consuming workout.

I started going back to my gym to use the sauna and I'll hit a machine or two while I'm there.  

[BostonGirl1983]

Hi @Daves_Not_Here, that would be a good idea except I have to go on the highway to get to the gym ha. But I appreciate the thought!

[Corney]

BostonGirl1983:  My answer to your question may not be pretty, but it is the truth.  Any change in behaviors requires 3 things.  1.  Identify the problem,  you are living a sedentary life style, and by asking your question it seems that you see that life style as a problem.  2.  Accept ownership of the problem.  Accepting ownership means not blaming other things or persons for the problem.  It seems you are using your stressful job as your excuse, if you really want to start changing your lifestyle, stop using your stressful job as an excuse, but start using it as a reason to exercise.  Exercise is a great way to relieve stress by increasing Endorphins and Enkephalins.  You live 5 minutes from a gym that you don't use, walk to the gym and find some kind of exercise you enjoy. 3.  Have the courage to change, that courage must come from within!  Change is not easy.  It takes 14 days to establish a habit.  I ran early in the morning so it didn't take away from my job or family.  If I had waited until after work I would have come up with numerous reasons not to run, too tired, I have to help with the kids, we have to go somewhere etc.  If you really want to change, you will find a reason instead of excuses.

[BostonGirl1983]

@Corney I didn't ask any question, actually, all I did was read through a few responses and picked up some motivation. Maybe you meant to reply to the o p?