Overcoming laziness

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So basically, my problem is that I'm a lazy son of a &%*$^. But it's not just me being lazy. There is an actual problem. My muscles are perpetually sore. My lower back feels like crap. And my feet ache like a mother if I've been off of them for any significant amount of time. The best way to describe it... I feel old. Like, honest to God geriatric. This is a definite problem when you consider that I'm 26. The only time I'm comfortable is if I'm in a chair or lying down. I don't skip class because I want to. I do it because this chair is as close to sweet, sweet percocet as I'm able to get. It even reclines!

However, as I sit here and soothe myself, I've noticed that while I've always been a big fella, I'm getting bigger. I've gotta be somewhere up near 280lbs, now. I try to go outside and do a little bit of exercise every day, but a lot of times I just lack the will to drag myself out of my chair. So, since this is a Health, Fitness, & Sports forum, I thought I might ask your opinions. Is there something I can do to increase my stamina? Should I go see a doctor? Or am I just lazy?

I guess I could offer: ANYTHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING. I have a tendency to hold myself to standards that are too high, and think that falling just short of these excessive standards "might as well be nothing." BUT THAT IS FALSE. Even so much as 5 steps is better than 0 steps. The next time you do get up, don't focus on some lofty exercise goal - focus on THE NEXT STEP and getting just a few more steps. And when you really want to sit down again, try to squeeze out a few more steps. EVERY STEP COUNTS.

And if you do set a goal that's kind of high, and meet it, EXCEED it a bit if you can!

Lose about 100lbs and you'll feel a LOT more energetic.

I used to feel fatigued all the time, but ever since starting taking dexedrine for adhd (stimulant) I've had a lot more energy and stamina to exercise. Now, even without it I can do a lot more than I ever could before because I've gotten into much better shape. Not sure if you do have add/adhd, but it is a possible medical explanation for fatigue & lack of stamina. However, reality is that at 280lbs you're not going to feel like going for a run, and the weight is going to cause stress on your muscles/joints/bones and going to cause pain. That's just the reality of being obese.

Rome wasn't built in a day. Start small and be persistent. Go for walks, drink water. Walk every day. After a few months you'll be walking farther and feeling better for it. A few more months and you might start mixing it up with a bit of jogging. A few more and you might just break into a run. etc. Whatever form of exercise, you can't expect to start today and be good at something by tomorrow & in shape/feeling good. It took a long time to get out of shape, it's going to take a long time and a lot of work to get into shape. Expect that, accept it, embrace it.. just get moving and keep moving and in due time you'll be better and better off for it.

edit:

And have a "Why." If you have a REASON why you're pushing yourself to get in shape, a goal, then you'll be far more motivated to do it. If it's just an arbitrary "meh, I really could do with being in better shape," then there's no passion to carry on working hard on it. If you have a certain goal weight, an event you want to participate in, a sport you want to be in shape to try, a job you need to be in shape to get, a person you want to impress (even if it's yourself) etc etc - a reason.. if you've got a "Why," it'll be much much easier to do the hard work and stick to it vs. quit. Find your "why," and then use it as your mantra to keep going.

Thanks for the responses. You guys give good advice. I popped a Monster and that got me up long enough to go for a walk. Not a great solution, mind, but you know, at this point I'll take it. The problem for me is the getting started, more than anything. So getting out of the chair is a good start, I guess. But my other problem, and this I think comes from the fact that I do, in fact, have ADHD, is the fact that if I don't see results, I lose interest. I can build a shed and see my progress immediately. Not so with the exercise. I just have to get over it.

As for the ADHD... I don't know about Dexedrine, but Adderall is out. It's amazing, I used to cop some and I felt honest to god functional. I had so much energy. But because I'm a former abuser of various substances, I can't convince anyone to prescribe it to me. I know most ADHD meds are amphetamines, and thus controlled. Are there other options?

Thanks again for the responses.

I'm really super lazy. Working out actually gives me more energy but it hurts sometimes and I just don't do it. I thought I would exercise more after getting a puppy but I actually just wind up going outside and lying down in the grass and pretty much just watching him jump around and play.

When I didn't want to run a few years ago I used to have my friend drop me about two miles from home and after two miles I didn't want to stop so I would keep running.

I don't run now... because I'm lazy, but if I don't want to walk I force myself to take my dog out and after a little while I get more energy and stop slacking.

Yeah, I got nothing.

you're still young enough to change course with relatively little drama. the first thing you might consider [based on my own experience] is to ditch all white foods to the local food bank pantry- i mean anything white/refined, like sugar, white flour, potatoes, white rice, anything starchy like gravies and puddings, sweetened [non-diet] beverages, desserts et al. you have a choice of either "tasting good" or "feeling good" - a stark choice but a choice nonetheless. you should replace these foods with lean proteins, a very limited amount of soy as it tends to make some people gain weight [estrogen-like], oats/quinoa, brown rice, fish/turkey/chicken/tvp. "salad should be the main dish." i learned that if i eat the salad [with low-cal dressing and such] first, it takes the edge off my appetite so that i eat less of everything else. always drink a glass of water with every meal, it also displaces food and keeps you well-hydrated which will make you less hungry and with a clearer head. eat several small meals per day so that you don't have a chance to notice a growling empty stomach and want to binge later on. eat a comfort food in small quantities no more than once per day.
when you feel like barcalounging, that is your body's signal for you to get up off of it and work out. for exercise, consider a bike, or just plain walking around the neighborhood or at the gym on a machine set to a speed which is tolerable but represents exertion. do this every day without fail, except perhaps on sundays if you believe in a day of rest. your exercise will have been sufficient if you break a major sweat. if not, there hasn't been enough exertion to be useful. do this exercise for an hour and include intervals of high exertion alternated with slower exercise. this will improve your cardio fitness and also build muscle on load-bearing exercises. building muscle is the same as raising your metabolism which will accelerate your weight loss and fitness improvement. your sore back and legs/feet will also appreciate the weight loss. when you are young, this all is relatively easy to do but when you wait decades until you're an old man like me, believe you me that it gets WAY tougher! so please, do it NOW while you are still young! you can do it!

^^ What he said.

You also might want to go easy on the caffiene, the law of diminishing returns is in effect with that stuff.

If you can incorporate exercise into your daily routine, it'll be easier to maintain. I walk to the gym and school, parking at my school is a pain anyway. Maybe you could find a really easy, pain free place to park, then walk to school from there.

Dexedrine, Adderall, and 15 out of 16 ADHD meds are stimulants derived from the ephedra root - so, it's unlikely a doctor will prescribe any of them to you having been a past stimulant drug abuser.. which is really too bad if you do legitimately need them. The 16th drug, Strattera, is the only non-stimulant drug and increases norepinephrine instead of dopamine & is very expensive and probably won't do much of anything for increased energy.

I dont know if it's legal where you are, I think it's illegal here.. but someone local has told me otherwise recently, but if it's possible to get some ephedra root or ephedra tea to make tea out of, legally, then that would be a way of getting as natural a dose of ephedra stimulant as possible & w/o a prescription.. but again, it may not be legal, or possible, or easy to avoid becoming addicted if you've had past issues.

If you must use a stimulant drug, I'd avoid Monster and all of those chemical soup drinks and just take some caffeine pills. If that's what it takes to have the get-up-and-go to lose the first 50lbs or so, then so be it, so long as you're not taking unhealthy doses of the stuff to try to use the drugs to burn fat vs. exercise. Take a couple pills (a couple cups of coffee worth of caffeine) not 5 or 10 - as too much caffeine won't be good for your heart, brain, kidneys or anything else.

As mentioned, diet can be huge. I've found that of the many foods I've cut out of my diet, that cutting out anything w/ gluten has certainly made me feel a lot less sluggish - that would be included in cutting out anything white if you go that route. (sugars, breads, pastas etc.)

Drugs may be out.. but so what? So what if that means you spend a lot more time walking than running? Just get moving.