Fitness: It Just Has to Be

Any given day you can find stories of amazing people doing incredible things in the name of fitness.  My Twitter feed each day is filled with people posting euphoric updates about their grueling workouts and cheering each other on to achieve more. It can be inspirational as all get-out and I love it!

It can also be intimidating.  I mean, sometimes exercise isn't amazing. Sometimes the workout is just a means to an end: calories burned, body mobilized. We all live for those days when we feel like an Olympian, but sometimes fitness just IS. I think that's okay.

We have so much pressure in our lives to do more, be more, and achieve more.  We don't just run, we train for a marathon!  We don't just lose weight, we reclaim the body of our youth!  And sometimes, on the quest to achieve these amazing things, we forget that fitness doesn't have to be amazing. It just has to be.

You don't have to run a marathon.  Just run.
You don't have to have the body of a supermodel. Just slim down and maintain it.
You don't have to be amazing. You just have to be healthy.

It's not a cop-out, and I am not giving you an excuse to slack off.  It's just a reminder - fitness doesn't have to be a mind-blowingly awesome endorphinpalooza of achievement every single day. So chillax. But!

You do have to get exercise every day.
You do have to eat clean and healthy every day.
You do have to take accountability for your health every single day.

Some of those days will have you feeling like a superhero - those are great beyond words!  Some days will just be what you do because you're a healthy person.

And if you can do those things in this hyperactive world, that's pretty amazing.

Crazy is the New Normal

Sometimes it seems like there are so many obstacles in our way to fitness.  Here we are three weeks into the new year and some of us are still trying to hit our stride and create the routine that will make exercise just another part of our day.  It can be really easy to throw our hands up and say, "I just need things to be normal again!"  Any number of things come up during the day or the work week that throw a hurdle in our way and make us think that we just can't work with this.
But here's the thing - there is a very good chance that things will never go back to "normal."

Work will always be crazy.

People will always have something for you to do.

Your kids will always have some last-minute thing come up.

Crazy is the new normal. You have to be able to work with that.  Luckily, it's easier than you think.

Think about it - the things you need to do to get and stay healthy - exercise and eat well -  are completely within your control (assuming that the thing that comes up isn't something that severs your limbs. In that case, yeah, you're screwed for a while).  I will pretty much guarantee you that no one is going to come up to you during the day, pry open your mouth, and shove food into it.  Even when your day is crazy, you control what you eat.

The other thing you need to do to get and be healthy is exercise.  Unless your limbs have been severed off or you are otherwise immobile, this is also in your control.  Yeah, I know you're busy, that's why the gym opens at 5:00 am and some are open 24/7.  Go there. Get up early and go!  Or stay up late and go!  Or go at lunch!  Just go!  I'm busy too, and that's why I go workout when the rest of my family is sleeping and no one needs me. 

Life is crazy and will likely never go back to normal.  Crazy is the new normal - work with it!