Exercise

Ok here's my situation...

I work at a job where I sit 10hrs of the day as a secretary. I work 12hr days and I cannot make myself exercise! I have the basic problem areas: muffin top, little love handles, and thighs rubbing together slightly.

How do I:
1) Get the motivation to excercise?
2) What exercises do I do to work these specific areas?

1. Focus on the positives of working out. --increased energy, improved mood, overall you will feel better.
2. Set a schedule. If you plan to workout when you get home from work, then set your clothes out the day before as a reminder.
3. Commit to 20 minutes -- surely you can take 20 minutes out of your day. You can gradually increase your time when you are ready.
4. Find something that you enjoy, or at least kind of enjoy.
There are many 20 minute DVDs that do cardio and/or strength training.
I do Kathy Smith DVD's that are 20 minutes each - I often do 2/day, but some days I do 20 min of cardio and 20 strength training. I also have Jillian Michaels 30 day shred, which are 20 minutes each.
You could walk a 15 minute mile.
It's harder to lose weight when you sit all day - don't burn a lot of calories that way. You could try getting up every hour and taking a quick walk around. There are some chair exercises you could do at work, if you have your own office or don't mind looking silly. Maybe try using a pedometer to see how much you are walking now and then increase by 100 steps every day.

You can also work on increasing your activity level throughout the day. Take a walk on your lunch, use the stairs when you get a chance. Do some push-ups first thing in the morning and then some crunches and planks in the evening when you watch tv. There's nothing wrong with getting your exercise piecemeal, so if 30 minutes seems like too much, do a few minutes whenever you get a chance. It's not easy but you can make it work. I also have a desk job, followed by evening commitments 3 days a week, so I find that doing a Jillian Michaels video first thing in the morning is a great way to get my exercise in (and out of the way!). She'll do wonders for the problem areas you mention, although her 20 min workout is more like 30 minutes from warm-up through stretching/cool down so plan accordingly. Motivation generally has to come from within but for what it's worth, getting up early to workout helps a bit- if I'm going to purposely rob myself of some perfectly good sleep by setting my alarm to go off early, I'd better have a workout to show for it! That alone keeps me from flaking out on many mornings. Where there's a will, there's a way- we're all busy but if you make exercise a priority, I promise you can make it fit into your schedule.