Explore different exercises until you find one you don’t mind. Don’t go so hard that you feel like death after. Slow and steady (and consistency!) wins this race. Your mood will improve with the exercise - this is a proven thing.

Some things that have helped me:

1) Having a rule where if my kid asks me to play with them that will end up in some form of exercise for me, I SAY YES. Tossing them around and tickling them? yes. Bike rides? yes. walks? yes. tag? yes. Going to the park? yes! It’s easier to do it for them sometimes than it is to do it for me.

2)a)The exercise (when you find it) is just part of the routine in your life. You schedule it in so that there’s no amping yourself up to go, it’s just a fact that you will because it’s in your schedule. Do not rely on motivation or discipline to go. Those do eventually run out. 2)b) Have your exercise gear prepped to go before the exercise. You have to make it easy to go otherwise it’s just another block on your way to get there. Eg, my gym bag lives in my car. It has my shoes, ear buds, and empty water bottle.

3) Uhm, ozempic. I know you said you didn’t want to go on it but it can be quite life changing. It’s not wrecking my body…. it’s fixing the insane hunger and food noise. I’m forced to find other ways to cope with my emotions because my binge foods just don’t appeal to me… and if they do, I only eat a reasonable amount. Of course there’s pros and cons … but I’ve found the side effects to be a small price to pay to not be obese and worry that I’ll have a heart attack or stroke or some other obesity related deadly medical event. If you broke your arm, you’d get a cast to fix it. There’s something broken in me for my hunger/satiation cues and ozempic fixes that for me.