I have always been skinny, however I lost around five kilos since I started working as a registered nurse - making me even skinnier! I don’t like exercising. I don’t seem to feel the post workout endorphins that people talk about. I work in Coronary Care Unit where the work is a mix of 12 and 8 hours shifts (mostly 12s). On a typical day at work, I walk about 12,000 to 15,000 steps. Although every hospital in Australia has a ‘no lift policy’, the work could still be very strenuous and physical. I need to repeatedly kneel to check chest drains and empty catheters and routinely help patients move in and out of bed.
There are some good reasons why I SHOULD be exercising. The biggest reason I suppose being my crappy genes. My father had his first heart attack at the age of 24 (same age as me!) requiring him to have a cardiac stent. Later in his 40s he had his coronary bypass surgery and a simultaneous diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes. He had been into exercises such as yoga and trekking but was below the recommended 75-150 minutes of exercise per week.
Another big reason is that I work in a cardiac unit. The evidence is right there everyday when I look at the angiogram reports of narrowed coronary arteries. Or when I dress the non-healing leg ulcers of diabetic patients. Doing 12 hour shifts also means more days off plus I live on my own. But voila, I still find myself shying away from the much-required exercise.
I have had a gym membership for the last two years and initially I used it quite regularly - for about the first two weeks. I have since been paying for my membership in the hope that I may end up using it. Maybe it makes me feel like I am doing something for my fitness, while in reality I am not. The problem is simple - I lack motivation. But is it really that simple?
Since I am skinny, I don’t feel the need to exercise. I am quite comfortable with my current body even though my family and friends have advised me to gain weight at several occasions. I feel I am not unfit because I can walk/run around without being overly breathless. My blood results are all normal including my lipids profile (cholesterol).
I do not mind aerobic exercises as much as strength training. The problem however is that aerobic exercises make me lose weight and I don’t want to be lighter than I am now. I have never enjoyed strength exercises such as lifting weights. I find them very boring. Post workout nausea is also a major turn off. In addition to these, I tend to get sore knees after leg exercises and it is not the same soreness one gets after a leg day at gym. I found it was impeding my performance at work. I got my form checked by a PT who didn’t find any major flaws with it and advised me to do less of leg exercises. The thought of having a buffed upper body with chicken legs didn’t seem very appealing to me.
Now, if I ever exercise I use a workout app on my phone. It involves body weight exercises involving full body training. The workout is high intensity as it involves circuit training with 30 seconds of each exercise and 10 seconds of interval in between. The app is a great way of staying fit but only if done regularly. Just like taking a pill, you are much more likely to remember having it if you take it the same time everyday. Shift work makes it much harder to continue routine.
I can go as far as my childhood saying that my school (overseas) never encouraged sports and no one in my family was overly enthused by fitness. But I know none of these are solid enough reasons for me to not exercise. Maybe I am being short sighted and not seeing the whole picture. But in the end it just comes down to the fact that I do not enjoy it.
Maybe I can start having a buddy that helps me stick to it. That could again be a challenge when most of your friends are working different shifts. Or maybe I need to join some sort of group training. I know I am the sole custodian of my health. After revisiting all these harsh facts it will be interesting to see whether I am able to stick to a successful exercise routine.
Catch up on the full episode of How to Exercise here;
