@uticus I started out bike commuting before that exercise was for aesthetics. And then I added running just when the weather was nice out and found I liked it. It felt good to be able to keep up with other active friends and family. My husband and I prioritized biking for transportation on a regular basis. So at first it was really just trying to focus on general cardiac fitness goals.
And then I had kids and I wanted to be able to do daily things with them easily like lift and carry them (more important when they were toddlers), and then do fun things with them, like keep up with them at the playground, go mountain biking, just ride bikes around, go climbing, swimming, etc. and then my daughter showed interest in skateboarding so I gave it a try and realized how much plyometrics and lifting would help with that. And it just makes daily life so much easier to be able to confidently lift and carry things. I sleep better. It helps me manage my mood. I am hungry for things that help support the activities I do and so that I have the energy to have fun (like, I know that if I eat certain thing’s running will be uncomfortable).
I enjoy running, biking, and lifting and my goals are around consistency and performance-ish based. So I try to run 2-3 times a week (in the summer), bike 2 times a week (1 mountain bike ride, 1 road ride), and lift 2-3 times a week. My running goal is to increase my base mileage over the summer so I can lengthen my long runs in the fall (when I can’t mountain bike as often). My lifting goal is to be able to deadlift my body weight by the end of the summer and be able to do a pull up (no timeline, I’m just gonna work on it consistently by following a plan until it happens)
I also stopped weighing myself. Tracking other positives of exercise like my mood and how well I’m sleeping helped me too.