When I began consistently working out in the gym at age 24, I did not know that lifting weights and finishing a cardiovascular workout would take more internal and mental strength than the obvious physical strength required to perform athletic skills. Not only did I find it difficult to maintain exercise and nutrition consistency, just getting to the gym and finishing a workout was the actual fundamental struggle. I have been an athlete my entire life. I enjoyed going to practice with my team mates or running on my own when training for season. It seemed easy to stay in shape when training for a particular sport. However, once I finished school and stopped playing soccer in adult leagues, with work and an active social life, staying fit and healthy became a challenging struggle. At age 24 I was a waitress, a nanny, I worked in a medical office, and I took full advantage of the Key West lifestyle of bar hopping and relaxing with a beer on a boat. I knew that I was not at my optimal fitness - I had a small but prominent beer gut and I was amazed at how my butt kept on getting bigger! I was self-conscious and intimidated by the gym. Again, I was an athlete who spent most of her time on the field or the track. Going to a gym every day was not something I enjoyed.
When I began going to the gym, knowing I had to do something soon or I would just keep on gaining weight and getting lazier, I had absolutely no idea what to do. I invested in several magazines and workout videos, but still felt like a wondering soul amidst hundreds of pieces of equipment and an array of group classes I knew nothing about. My first trainer completely changed by entire life, introducing me to a new approach of health and fitness and actually teaching me how to make fitness a lifestyle. Honestly, it was a pervasive experience, intimidating as well, vulnerable to say the least, and each workout tested my endurance and my character. Yet it transformed my life and made me the person that I am now.
Changing my body and becoming fit and healthy from the inside out not only tested my physical strength, but with each rep and set and session on the treadmill, I began to discover the person that lied beneath each layer of fat and unhealthy lifestyle choices.
Making fitness a lifestyle and committing to an exercise game plan challenges not only your will power and physical and mental strength, but your fundamental core values are also put to the test and are forced to be more clearly defined and self-responsibility becomes an absolute necessity. It is a choice to be fit and healthy, and this is the most important piece of information I learned in my first two years of working out and going to the gym five days a week.
We have a choice to how we feel about ourselves and how we treat ourselves. We have a choice to work out or remain sedentary. We have a choice to eat to fuel our bodies or to eat to calm our emotions. We have a choice to take responsibility for our behavior and actions. And within this choice we discover our strengths and our weaknesses, and then it is completely up to us to how we respond to what we discover.
Do you want to spend each day wishing you were more fit and healthy, or do you want to know that each day you are making progress on your short term goals, producing forward momentum, and making choices that promote optimal longevity?
What is your choice? What can your body do? What does health and fitness mean to you? How do you feel about yourself? What are you working for?
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