Exercise - What is that?!

I have always been overweight and I've hated it. I tried this diet, I did water aerobics for a while, and then tried that diet and then another exercise routine and then yet another diet; nothing ever seemed to work. Fairly recently, two people in one day, asked me if I'd been losing weight, I thought "I don't know." I went home and weighed myself and I was down by 15 pounds. I really thought that the scale was lying to me, but then I started to notice that my clothes were getting looser; I know that can't lie.

Right around March of this year I stopped drinking soda (which I'm finding out is a big step in weight loss), my hubby started cooking more at home as opposed to us eating out, and I haven't been eating as much as I used to. So maybe I can pin down the main points to my weight loss. However it feels weird because I didn't really stop eating what I normally eat and I haven't counted calories at all. I guess it is the little changes in eating habits that really help.

I am happy to say that since March I have lost a little over 30 pounds! It feels great. However even though I have lost the weight, I still feel fat. Now maybe every girl always feels "fat." But I still have this thought in the back of my mind, "Jessica, maybe if you were working out, you would feel and look better than you do." Every time I think about exercising, that's always as far as it gets. I am so uncoordinated it's not even funny. My hubby laughs at me because I can't even clap and sing at the same time. Wow, that's probably not an admission that I should let the whole world know about...O well it's out there. Anyway, because of being uncoordinated I won't go to an exercise class. I just won't. I came across this picture the other day and it made me go "Wow..." Every step on this picture is sooooo true.

Because of my coordination "issues", I've told myself for a long time "I can't do it." Even in my own house, with the door shut, following a YouTube video, I told myself "Nope, can't do it. I can't keep up. I'm not coordinated enough to even try to do that."

Lately, since I have been losing weight (which I also thought I could never do) I've been thinking, "I want to exercise." In May, I went to my neurologist and she recommended trying yoga because I have been struggling with anxiety. Here again, I thought "I can't do it." But because my doctor recommended it, I went from "I can't do it" to "Yes, I did it!" I still have anxiety issues but now I know that there is something that I can do to help myself.

So having accomplished being able to do yoga for relaxation, I thought "I'll try to do yoga for exercise." Very quickly, I stumbled down to the "I can't do it" step. So when it comes to exercise lately, I have been stepping between "I want to do it" and "How do I do it?" I wish they were real steps because then I would at least be getting exercise. LOL

Last night I finally told myself, "Jessica, you're going to go and find out HOW to exercise. Find something that you CAN do." I looked on YouTube for videos, because I find those work best for me. I can workout without leaving my living room and avoid exposing my lack of coordination to an entire classroom of people. I found an 8 min video called, When you think you CAN'T workout." (Yes that is a link to the video) My interest was peaked so I watched it. Afterward I thought, "I'll try to do it." I didn't have all of the things that she used in the video, but I found stuff around the house that could work and I tried it. Turns out I can't do it as easily as the woman in the video, but Obviously I didn't die either.

After my workout, I was inspired and wanted to blog about it, but couldn't find this stupid picture. I knew it was on my iPod but my iPod was in desperate need of a break. So I went looking for the picture on Facebook, couldn't find it. Then I ended up on Pinterest thinking, "Surely someone has it posted there as inspiration." No one did, but I did find an awesome website through Pinterest that I am Definitely going to use!!! There are some specific areas that I want to work on but didn't know how on earth I could target those areas; this website tells exactly how.

The website has an "Exercise Finder" (Yes, another link). The exercise finder has an avatar that you can click on what ever part of your body that you want to work on and it will take you to a place that has listed exercises for that specific area. Pure Awesome!! Just what I needed! I clicked through a few of these and kept thinking, "I can do that, and that and I'll try that one."

I am inspired. I feel like I turned a corner or have at least taken another step up to "I'll try to do it" and "I can do it." I'm sure I'll be on those two steps for a while but at least I've moved up from "I can't do it."

Now that I have rambled on, I hope to inspire a few of you who maybe think that you CAN'T do it. You. Can. Do. It. Trust me, if I can do it, anyone can do it. :)


Hopefully Your Exercise Inspiration,
Jessy <3