One of the first excuses you will use to avoid exercise is that you will think you’ll hate it. You apparently know this ahead of time. You’ve done every form of exercise imaginable and you hate every one of them.

You also know that there’s no possible way that you could grow to like it, no matter how long you tried, no matter how hard (or easy) it was, and no matter what it was. You just know this indisputable fact. You are convinced that your body will never tell your brain that you’re having even the slightest hint of enjoyment. Forget about any satisfaction you could ever get from a job well done. Your brain won’t allow that either. You’re just doomed to always hate all things exercise … and all things nutritious.

I have a bunch of kids … well, four to be exact. Our newest one is Silas. So far Silas is a good eater. And I’m confident he will remain that way. Why? Because we will teach him to be.

Say what? You can’t teach that. You’re either born that way or you’re not.

Well, yes and no. Sure, some people have pickier palates than others. But the other part of it is conditioned. We will teach him. Just like his sisters, we will teach him the importance of trying new things. We’ll teach him that just because he didn’t like it last time, he might like it this time. And furthermore, we’ll teach him that sometimes you have to try things repeatedly without much time going by between them and you’ll learn to like them.

Not possible.

Oh no? We were once on a weekend trip to Great Wolf Lodge. Gigi, who was 3 at the time, didn’t want to go down the kiddie-slide. I knew she’d like it so I didn’t give her a choice. With her mommy waiting at the bottom, I plopped her down and gave a little nudge. Down she went and no, she didn’t like it.

Too bad. I raced down there, grabbed her, took her right back up to the top of the slide and did again. This time, she didn’t hate it quite as much.

Rinse and repeat. Third time down she was smiling.

By the end of the trip, she did everything that she was big enough to do. She just needed some encouragement and to try something multiple times first.

Well, yeah, but that’s something fun. That’s not food.

Oh yeah Mr. or Miss Know-It-All? Silas’ sisters eat green eggs (put eggs in the Vitamix with a healthy handful of spinach and blend and scramble). They eat salmon. They drink veggie smoothies. They eat cottage cheese, trail mix, plain yogurt, and so on. Are there things they don’t like? Of course. But there are also foods we made them try repeatedly and now they like them (yellow tomatoes, grapes, spinach pizza, apple skins, and on and on).

Well, that’s food… it’s different.

You complained because it wasn’t about food! Now it is and you still don’t want to hear it.

Fine. How about this? Remember the first time you heard about the birds and the bees? Probably didn’t sound so great. Maybe even said you’d never do it. How’d that work out for you?

Well, that’s different too.

Ugh. I’m sensing a pattern here with you.

Here’s the thing: It’s not different. You can learn to like it if you try different things, be consistent, and don’t give up. Being positive about it wouldn’t hurt either.

I’m not inherently drawn to Yoga. I want to love it, but I’m just not there … yet. I do like that calmness. I like being more flexible. I like hardly moving and sweating a ton. I’m a Downward Dog learning new tricks (NOTE: For the uninitiated, Downward Dog is a Yoga position. For those who already knew that, my apologies for the lousy pun). I’m committed to making it one of my favorite forms of exercise because I believe in it’s effectiveness. And you know what? I like it more now than I used to.

Same goes for running. I don’t naturally like to run. But when I trained for a marathon and built a good base, I started to really like it. It was liberating and empowering to know I could go out and run 15 miles without a second thought. This didn’t happen overnight. It took some time. And if I don’t stick with it, I have to relearn that joy. But I know I’ll get there because I’ve done it before.

So don’t presume you know what the future holds. I’m not suggesting you’ll love every form of exercise you’ll ever do if you do it long enough (there’s not likely any amount of water ballet I could do that would get me to like it). But there are enough forms of fitness available (just look at the library of home fitness programs) to appease even the most persnickety of you out there.

So STOP being a hater!

Try new things. Stick with them.

Be intentional. Be patient.

Open your mind. Your body may follow.

Start My Coaching!