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Comment by diminoten | Hacker News Reader

Eh, it's always hard to get in and stay in shape, just like it's always hard to create and maintain any habit. Not all of us ever get "used" to a pattern of behavior, so there's always a fight to maintain anything resembling a pattern.

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Personally I just cycle everywhere. It's the fastest way to get around the city where I live (if you are willing to bend the traffic rules a bit). I am aware that it won't work for everyone, but I am surprised at how few people cycle.

There is a bit of a motivational hump to get over, but once you are over it (forcing yourself to cycle half an hour for as week maybe?) then it doesn't seem like a problem at all.

Could be a regional thing. Where I live, cycling is for many people the standard way to go around. But then, most people are students around this city.

There are quite a few cities in Belgium and the Netherlands that promote cycling though. :)

Only the northern part of Belgium though (Flanders). The rest of the country has quite poor infrastructure for cycling, especially when compared to the Netherlands.

I would love to cycle to work in Brussels but I do not feel comfortable doing so.

I don't know about Brussels specifically, but if you are worried about the volume of the traffic you can probably try cycling in off hours, mainly at night, and/or using the pavements liberally to build up the routine.

I'd not like to cycle in Brussels either. Mostly cause of the (car) traffic there. Neither would I feel that comfortable at night in certain parts of Brussels :D

There is a clear difference between becoming fit and staying fit, no? Overweight depressed and no prior sports history to fit can easily take a year of hard work. Maintaining basic fitness (not big gym bill or 21k in 90 min fit, but regular happy fit) and a healthy BMI is really just adapting lifestyle and not even having to work out. Walk to the groceries, walk during lunch and f.e. when calling with friends. All true that these last examples are all adaptations of a healthy lifestyle, which I expect to be harder to adapt to for those with mental health issues.

In my experience that's not true with a general level of fitness. I would say that if you get into reasonable shape and have a habit of moving daily that after 3-6 months it becomes hard /not/ to move. ie; you feel antsy and sluggish if you haven't moved for a few days and feel in need of a long walk, etc. The default state of humans is not sedentary.

My point is your experience isn't universal, not everyone is like you. Some people simply don't have it as easy when forming and maintaining a habit.

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