I’ve previously documented my attempts to be less of a fat nerd here and here. I’m still making those attempts and, over the past two weeks, have been making some progress. A big part of that progress involves regular exercise.
I hate regular exercise.
For the better part of two years regular exercise has been a part of my life. It’s not out of the ordinary for me to run, hit the treadmill, go on a hike or spend time on the elliptical. No matter how much I exercise, though, and how regular I do it, I still don’t like it.
I’ve spoken to plenty of people who describe the high they get while running. In my whole life I have never experienced that high. I’ve never had an out of body experience while pounding pavement which makes me forget that I’m running. My highs generally involve food and the elation that comes from a good steak or Chick-fil-A waffle fries.
Even though I get no joy out of it, I still exercise almost every day. When I was younger exercise was a means to get thin so I could get a pretty girl. Now exercise is a means to stay healthy so I can spend as much time with the pretty girl I have and the family we hope to raise together. And even with the motivation of my wife and our eventual kids, I still hate working out and it’s a struggle to drag myself down to our apartment complex’s gym.
I feel like a dog that has to be tricked into taking a pill with peanut butter. I have to trick myself into working out with the promise of ESPN in the gym or catching up on podcasts. I’m no dog, though, so I constantly have to find newer and better peanut butter.
Perhaps the best peanut butter should be motivation from God.
I’ve always had this tension between God accepting me for who I am and knowing that God wants me to take care of myself and be healthy. Obviously God loves me whether I have a BMI of 20 or 35, but I think he’d rather all of us live healthy, active lives so we can bear his kingdom as long as we possibly can.
Exercise is good for our bodies.
Exercise is good for our relationships.
Exercise is good for our souls.
But I’d still rather eat a hamburger.
I’m going to go find some peanut butter to get this workout over with.
What’s your attitude toward exercise? What helps motivate you?
Never really needed it. I have to force myself to eat sometimes.
And before you say, “lucky you” no it is not lucky. Just different.
I would never say lucky you. I love eating too much.