Nah, I was rake-thin throughout my teens and early 20s. Didn't smoke. Didn't do any formal exercise.

My later weight gain, I blame on my workplace canteen, and drinking culture among my peers.

And now, yeah, I need to exercise to feel well.

You haven't explained to us what your "proper motivation" was.

How did you go from being someone with no interest in exercise, to someone who really wanted to race bikes?

It sounds like you're motivated by your top-10 finishes. What do you think motivates the people who come nowhere near top 10?

From what I can tell, most people with gym memberships in the UK don't actually go there and exercise. So it's money down the drain.

Commercial gyms prey on people's lack of self-control:
  - "I know, if I join a gym, I'll definitely do exercise, because I'll want to get my money's worth"
  - "Hmm, I haven't been to the gym all month. Still can't get the money back now. I'll definitely go next month...."

I'm pretty sure most gyms couldn't cope if all their customers chose to actually use the facilities.

A vanishingly small proportion of people with "weird electrical problems", as my GP described it.

But I think the OP is actually right. You know, I love running. But even if I'm running 6 days a week, the first 3 weeks after a long layoff are not fun for me. In fact, most of the time I hate it. Then, suddenly (and seemingly magically) it becomes fun. I can't really describe what the difference is, but one day I start feeling my body moving. Everything is effortless; I can go faster or slower and it doesn't hurt my body. I start to think, "How fast can I really go?" and I start to push myself. I get out of breath and my muscles get tired, but not like it is in the first 3 weeks. It doesn't actually hurt.

I'm glad for you. I'm not sure whether or not I've experienced that. I guess I'd know if I had. I've run 5 or 6 10K races in the last 4 years and in the approach to those I was running 3-4 times a week for a few months, so it's not as if I'm not giving it a fair shot.

I also think that the old "exercise releases endorphins" thing is a factor. I have never experienced any kind of euphoria from exercise. I believe people who say they have. I think it's just a physiological difference between people.

The skiing thing's interesting isn't it? People I know absolutely love it, but only get the opportunity to do one week a year -- so they're managing to have fun without committing huge amounts of practice and achieving mastery.

Yep I'm in the UK.

I have a cycling poncho. That works pretty well. But cycling in driving rain is actively unpleasant, and I'm not willing to put up with it if it's avoidable. So I don't cycle if it's doing more than a drizzle in the morning, or if the forecast says proper rain later. Arriving at work drenched is not an option. Getting home drenched is acceptable but I'd prefer to avoid it if possible.

I'm also nervous about the combination of darkness, ice and other traffic, so when it froze hard I didn't cycle.

For people like you and me, exercise is like doing the dishes. We don't do it because we enjoy it, we do it because we don't want a pile of dirty dishes in the kitchen.

Maybe you're young and/or lucky enough that you don't need exercise. I had to start because my lack of fitness was affecting my sleep.

I'm personally not in the least attracted to team games.

But on a practical note, for those who are -- where do you find people playing these games who are happy to welcome newcomers with no stamina, coordination or tactical affinity for the game?

It just seems like an opportunity to have a rotten time, upsetting your team mates (perhaps delighting the opposing team).

I'm sympathetic to this view, but you can't deny that some people have severe gluten intolerance, and I'm willing to believe that the severity of that intolerance covers the whole spectrum from "completely tolerant" through "discomfort and ill health" to "could die".

There are realistic claims that the action of yeast breaks down the compounds in wheat that many people are intolerant of -- but that this takes time. Modern bread products made with high-gluten flour and an artificially rapid rise (Google the Chorleywood process) don't give the yeast long enough for that breakdown to occur. Bread that rises overnight is tastier and better for you.

Sorry if I guessed wrong, but I bet you didn't need to try very hard. I bet whatever exercise it is that you do, you saw people were doing it, thought "that looks fun, I really want to try that", tried it and had fun. Or at worst, tried it, had no fun, but thought "That was no fun, but I can definitely tell that when I've practised a bit and got the hang of it, it's going to be fun."

Some of us aren't wired that way. I went skiing last year. I did it as a kind of favour to my sister, who really enjoys the snow. I thought, well I don't see the appeal, but she enjoys it, and lots of other people rave about it, and they can't all be wrong. I did 3 days of lessons, and from what I understand made better-than-average progress. It was alright. I'm glad I did it, but I wouldn't do it again. On the fourth day, I decided that the cost of an extra day's equipment hire -- and the discomfort of walking in ski boots -- outweighed the benefits, so I wandered around Whistler village while my sister rode the mountain. When we were due to meet up, I stood at the bottom of the run watching people coming off the mountain with massive grins on their faces. It made me feel a bit flat -- these people are having a wonderful time; they're prepared to spend large amounts of time and money on clothes, equipment, travel, lift passes, because they enjoy it so much. Why is there not an exercise I enjoy that much?

People like me have to repeat that experience over and over again, with different sports, before *maybe* stumbling upon the one that clicks for them.

Or, as I do, run around the block once in the while, because although it's no fun, it's cheap and keeps your heart and lungs working.