Exercise is not always fun. For some people, it's rarely fun. I'm sure there are some people out there who would swear that exercise is never, ever fun. But, as we all know, it's kinda necessary to stay healthy. Especially in today's world, where many jobs don't involve a lot of movement, and we're constantly being told that to be fat is to be very unhealthy -- which is not necessarily true.
But regardless of your weight or the way you look, exercise is important. You know you should do it, and maybe you're good about it -- you go for a run every morning, or you regularly play a sport. But maybe you aren't so good about it. Maybe you spend a lot of time at home, watching TV or studying. Maybe you get to the gym once every week or so. And I'm certainly not here to shame you -- I want to make that clear. My parents can tell you that, more than once, they've had to bribe me into getting some exercise. So, yeah. No judgment here.
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I've certainly struggled with motivation, in many aspects of life. But the one thing that I'm constantly having to push myself to do is to go be active for an hour or so. The biggest argument I use against it is that I simply don't want to. My mind is in a constant tug-of-war battle between "Treat yo' self" and "Go exercise, you lazy lump."
I've pretty much always been towing the line between a healthy and unhealthy weight. It helps that I'm young and have pretty good genes, so all the things that are usually affected by an unhealthy weight still function pretty well for me. I've managed to plateau myself at a not-terrible weight, and so far I've avoided the freshman 15. But I still have to work myself up before I go work out -- meaning, it normally takes about an hour or so to convince myself to go do something.
I've found a couple of things that help. For one, I joined a club sports team -- ice hockey. I have practice three times a week, and that's fun enough that I actually enjoy the workout. I have also been lucky enough to find a group of friends that have similar fitness levels as I do, and we go to the gym together once or twice a week. In both cases, I've got a good group of people with me that turns working out into a social event, and that makes the entire ordeal much more enjoyable.
So I guess you just have to figure out what works well for you. Especially in this time of trying to make a New Year's resolution stick, it's super important to find a good motivator and use it. Equally important is to find something you actually enjoy. If you hate running, don't run! It sounds simple, but you really have to take time to separate the things you like doing from the things you feel like you should like doing. Seriously, go turn on some music and have a dance party in your living room. Download a fitness app. Do sit-ups while binge-watching a show. The world of fitness is your sweaty little oyster. Go forth, explore your options, and have fun doing it. I believe in you.
