Doug Freyburger wrote:

The leads me to a question:

If you've never felt any pleasure from exercise, how have you ever
stuck to a plan? Or *have* you ever stuck to a plan? No matter what
I attempt, I go about 4 months and get so bored I quit. It does not
matter in the least that I do fine in those 4 months. I feel better,
so? I can feel better by doubling my brocolli helpings.

I stuck with the plan while I was training for soccer, but now I live
in Chicago and even if I could find a 40's league it would only meet
4-5 months per year ...

Luna wrote:

I used to walk and jog for exercise, and I never felt a high
from it, in fact I felt the opposite. I felt nauseated and I
hurt everywhere and I was choking for air and I'd have a
pounding headache for hours afterwards. I learned after
joining Curves that the level of intensity I was used to was
way too high, my heart-rate was off the chart the first time
I worked out. I don't go strictly by the chart now, those
numbers are just averages, but as long as I keep the intensity
as high as I can while still being able to talk, I actually
do get a high afterwards.

I have tried various exercises that I did go overly intense
and I did get pounding heart and so on. But when I was in
training for soccer in high school I was in good enough shape
that I could jog around the world without a pounding heart
yet I got no pleasure until I was on the field and I think it
was the competition or the game not the movement then. When I
was in bootcamp the same situation was true by the end; I was
in good enough shape that none of the exercises but a long
run got me winded but there was no pleasure.

So that's a pitfall for me but it isn't the whole answer.

Robyn Rosenthal wrote:

I do not enjoy lifting weights. I do not enjoy HIIT cardio.
However, I dislike exercise far less than I dislike being
weak & saggy & flabby.

Okay. I guess it's a matter of scale. I'm in good enough shape
that I don't break a sweat if I walk 3 miles in an hour. It
takes at least 4 in an hour to sweat at all by the end of it.
So while I constantly preach "walking really is exercise" and
"you don't need to go to the gym for it to count as exercise"
I'm in that trap a bit myself.

M Shirley Chong wrote:

Do you ever have an endorphin rush? Different people vary but
almost everyone does. Is there any activity (not necessarily
exercise) that makes you feel giddy, happy, exhilerated,
raises your pain threshold and lifts your mood?

Good point. Driving too fast (might be way I like ice skating,
the wind in my face), certain head to head competitions where
it's a game I like for its own sake, assorted activities alone
with my wife.

If you can experience an endorphin rush in any way, you can
probably experience one via exercise. The trick is to figure
out what type of exercise triggers it for you.

So now I have a homework assignment. Chuckle. Thanks.

For some people, the idea that they will be healthier as they
age is motivation enough

Yeah, it is a matter of degrees I think.

If you learn well from books, an excellent resource is
SELF-DIRECTED BHEAVIOR: Self-Modification for Personal
Adjustment by David L. Watson and Roland G. Tharp. It's not
about exercise, it's a book about how to motivate one's self
by using self analysis and the principles of operant
conditioning. It's not a difficult read although it is used
on the college level as a textbook.

I do learn well from books and this sounds like the ticket.
Thanks for the second homework assignment. Amazon time!

Roger Zoul wrote:

Are the presence of endorphins thought to be related to some gene?

Level not presence. I think. As M Shirley Chong's questions
led me down that path there are some non-exercise related
situations that trigger them for me. So the goal is to figure
out how to mesh triggering situations with activity.

Do you look better? Are you stronger and better? Do those
things even matter to you?
....
Sounds like a value system or lack of one, to me. If you don't
find value in the benefits that exercise can bring, then you
won't do it for very long.


Good point. It seems to be a matter of scale.

I'm in good enough shape that I can walk and walk and walk, so
I'm in better shape than a lot of folks who still have lots to
lose. But I'd *like* to be in *bette*r shape. So how much do
I want to be in *better* shape that I'm willing to put in
consistant effort for it?

I deliberately park as far as I can in the parking lot at work
and I take the stairs in the several transitions to get to my
desk. If I was winded by the end of that 6-7 minute trek I'd
be a lot more motivated to get into good enough shape. But I'm
already in "good enough" shape for that. I walk 15-25 minutes
per day just as a part of how I park and go from point A to
point B. A lot more minutes at least weekely.

Walking with my wife. If she sets the pace it does not matter
how far or how fast. I will not sweat or breathe hard. If I
set the pace about half way through she sits on a park bench
and waits for me to return. I have to walk that much extra
faster to be able to sweat or breathe hard walking.

And that means I'm at a point where value systems are the
issue. I have enough value on "good enough" that I'm in "good
enough" shape. Now I'm at the point where I'm past the emotional
do-it-or-else issues. Now I'm at the point were I intellectually
think I should be in even better shape than merely "good enough".
And I've tried to act on the basis of intellect alone and I've
been able to maintain that for stints of 4 months each time
I've made the attempt. I've spent 4 months moving from "better
than flabby but not appearing strong" to looking strong. And
without an activity that gives pleasure on its own, the boredom
of the effort has outweighed the extra conditioning. It's a
cycle I've been through numerous times.

Thanks for the thought provoking discussion, folks.

Doug Freyburger, on Atkins since 1999-06-21