70 lbs. down. Now I can rant about obnoxious fitness fanatics.

[nachosgrande]

122. Some thoughts...

First of all, a sincere congrats on your weight loss. I'm glad you've found the discipline to make the healthy lifestyle changes to lose the weight. And I agree with you that exercise can seem barely tolerable (or intolerable) when you're first starting out and your body hasn't adapted, or when you're engaged in physical activity that is otherwise unstimulating (for instance, eliptical or treadmill running).

Having said that, I believe your post is making excuses for people not to exercise. The crux of your argument, which I touched on above, is that exercise can and will always be an unenjoyable or even intolerable activity for many people. I tend to think (barring some sort of physical ailment like arthritis or some other extraordinary disability/disease/injury) that this is baloney. When you first take up any strenuous physical activity it is going to suck/hurt/whatever because your body has not adapted to handle the stress being placed upon it. Your body/brain is basically telling you that you're insane and that you are going to kill yourself. The key (for myself and many other friends/family members etc.) is to just acknowledge that regular strenuous exercise is going to be miserable for a good two to three months before it moves into the tolerable zone. And that at some point during the tolerable zone, especially if you can get up to doing 30-60 minute strenous aerobic workouts, your body will adapt to the activity and you will actually start to enjoy it and look forward to the mental and physical benefits that a good workout provides. I tried for many years to lose weight, but it wasn't until I committed myself to regularly working out, regardless of how much it sucked, that I was able to drop 60 pounds. (That was six years ago and I've kept it all off) Once I was truly in shape, exercise (whether it be lifting weights, running, playing pickup basketball, hiking, kayaking etc) became "fun."

The other excuse you make is that all of the other responsibilities of life make it unreasonable to find time to exercise. I agree that's certainly possible for people who are truly stressed - single parents, working multiple jobs, long commutes, etc. But my guess is that the vast majority of Americans can easily find 30-60 minutes a day for a quick run, bike ride or some yoga that are otherwise wasted watching TV or surfing the Net. My wife and I both work and go to school full-time while raising a 3 year old (with no outside financial support), and we both managed to find the time to successfully train for and complete a marathon this past fall. And no, we do not have a nanny nor are we financially well off.