exercise is hard

So I just got back from my nightly workout … boy, what a conundrum I have.  You see, as I put in my 45 minutes on the treadmill this evening, I had plenty of time to analyze and over-analyze my exercise habits, or lack thereof, and try to figure out why it’s so hard for me to keep a regular schedule.  I’m sure it’s the same problem that a lot of people run into, but here are my thoughts…

For me, it seems to be all about getting over that hump and actually physically getting myself to the gym – once I’m there, I’ve yet to want to wimp out and leave early, and usually I actually end up pushing myself harder because I’m finally there (as in tonight’s episode), but ultimately just getting there seems to be my big obstacle and I’m not sure what else I can do to motivate myself to take that initial step.  It was kind of bizarre because while I was “working it” tonight, with Eye of the Tiger blasting strong and no one around to critique my singing along (best workout song EVER!!!), I surprised myself by realizing that I don’t actually mind physically working out like I would think that I might.  I know that it’s something that I really need to do for myself and I feel good even during the act itself, but it’s getting that first foot out the door that’s been a killer for me lately.

And the problem is, my options are kind of limited unless I want to drastically change my daily schedule to accomodate this … which maybe I’ll just have to, I don’t know.  Right now I’m working 9:30am – 6:30pm (often later), so my day usually gets me up shortly after 8am and I try to be home by 7pm.  Sara’s been working afternoons this month, so if I can dodge the other distractions, my plan is always to get down to the gym as soon as I get home and get it out of the way before I get sidetracked.  Unfortunately, I usually end up getting sidetracked with Internet, housework, writing – you name it, and when the time creeps up to pass 10pm, if I haven’t eaten yet I normally fit that in and don’t have any time left to go exercise at all.  I suppose one option could be to get up earlier and go workout before I go to work, but that causes issues because obviously I don’t like getting up early, and I don’t really care for working out first thing in the morning in public anyways (I just feel “yucky” until I get my morning shower – the sweating from exercise makes it much worse…).

I think the obvious then would be to simply work on my motivation so that when I get home after work, I just get out and go do it before I do anything else.  This is hard because there’s always laundry to start, dishes to clean up, and of course, plenty of websites to read up on!  But I’m only asking for every other night from myself, so you’d think that I should be able to pace myself and make it happen.  I really have to make it happen because one night a week is just a bit less than what the doctor ordered!

Anybody got any tips to lend for staying motivated and actually getting the ball rolling???  I’m told that once you get two or three weeks into a full-blown routine, it becomes much easier because your body just expects it – just like shaking a habit – but I’ve yet to get three solid weeks of exercising every other day like I want to, so I wouldn’t know.  Aside from just making a bee-line to the bedroom to get my workout clothes when I get home and tuning out absolutely everything else, I don’t know what else to try, but I’m certainly open to new ideas!

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