Week 5 Bonuses

The Art Of Joyful Movement

As Dawson wrote in the description for the lesson this week, for many people “exercise” is a dirty word. It conjures up fear, resignation, and memories of failure. As you’re likely beginning to understand, these negatives energies and emotions are NOT motivating. Plus, if you’re already feeling like a failure because you can’t lose weight and keep it off, then failing at your exercise plan isn’t going to remedy the situation.

In my many years of being a fitness instructor and personal trainer (I started when I was 20 years old), I’ve had the opportunity to learn about WHY people don’t exercise. Some of the more common “excuses” are “it’s hard, I don’t have time, I just don’t like it” and so on. I call them “excuses” respectfully, because I’ve been doing this long enough to know the “real” reasons exercise is challenging for so many people. And I’m thrilled to be able to help people discover these and then start healing!

Let’s take a look at YOUR obstacles when it comes to exercise. Grab and pen and paper and start writing down all your experiences with exercise, from early on in life until present time. Consider the following questions to help get you started. I’m going to put some of my answers, and some examples of others, in italics to help get your thoughts flowing.

1. Did your parents lead active lifestyles? Did they exercise? If so, what did they do, and why? What were their attitudes about exercise, especially as they related to weight?

My dad “dabbled” in exercise with some running for a few years and my mom took aerobics with me a couple of times as a teen,

but overall our family was not active. We didn’t go on family hikes or walks with the dog (probably because we didn’t have a dog)! In our house, we never really talked about using exercise for weight loss (which I see as a blessing).

2. As a young child or teen, were you encouraged to play outside or be active? Do you remember movement being fun for you? Or was it torturous?

I remember riding my bike around the neighborhood with friends during grade school. And I remember riding my bike around the town as a teen – by myself. It is a fond memory that actually made me smile as I wrote this.

3. Did you participate in team sports? Which ones? What was the experience like? How were your coaches? How were your parents?

I personally never participated in team sports. In grade school I was only the swim team, but I always got the green “participation” awards. In junior high I remember a friend asked me to be on her church baseball team but they stuck me far out in the field. I’m guessing they just needed a body. I also remember being picked nearly last for any team exercises at school activities. And I remember not making the cut for cheerleader or drill team. No WAY was I going to try out for basketball or anything else. To this day, team sports are not my thing.

In contrast, my daughter played sports starting at a young age. As a result, she had to deal with all sorts of coaching personalities. These were all learning experiences to say the least, but much of the education came with pain. She plays volleyball in college and the coach is horrendous when it comes to weight and body size. She makes rude comments about what the girls eat and literally tells them they are fat. It takes a lot of tapping on my part not to kill her! My daughter and her teammates are overly obsessed about their weight. Fortunately, my daughter understands about tapping and we have many discussions about mindful eating, which helps her get through the trauma of the coach’s comments.

4. Were you “forced” to exercise as a child or young person? If so, was it to lose weight?

A dad brought his 6 year old daughter in for weight loss counseling a few years ago. He was convinced that the little girl just needed to exercise more and his plan was to get her up at 5:30 am and have her run on the treadmill for 30 minutes each day.

She broke down in tears in my office. Of course this wasn’t going to happen, and if it did it was NOT going to be a positive experience.

5. Do you exercise because you believe you have to in order to lose weight? Pay special attention to the answer to this question.