"I meant to start working out, but it's 10PM on a Monday - mise well wait till next Monday to start!"
"I already ate breakfast, so I can't work out now because then i'll get cramps!"
"When I graduate, THEN i'll start eating healthy."
"I'll start exercising in February so then i'll be beach body ready by summer."
"When I get paid in two weeks, then i'll buy that gym membership!"
Oh the lovely lies we tell ourselves to validate our procrastination, but they tend to be exactly that - lies. Few follow through with any of these excuses, and many tend to just keep saying them over and over again. These are also the type that mark "mildly active" on the calorie goal app, even though the most exercise they've done in the past month was walk to the fridge. A few months ago, this was me. I am queen of procrastination in general, but when it came to exercising and eating healthy I had made every excuse in the book to put it off. Until one day, I realized that no matter what these months are going to go by, and it is only up to me to make these months worth it.
As you read this with one hand on the trackpad, the other in a bag of chips, you speculate, "Hm, but is the effort to work out even worth it?"
Why yes, yes it is, and heres why.
1. Exercising makes you happy.
You're rolling your eyes at this one I know for sure, but this is no lie! Not to say I haven't yelled at Shaun-T while doing the "Insanity" workout because I didn't want to do another set of burpees... exercising has genuinely made me happy. Looking in the mirror and seeing muscles come out of nowhere, being able to pick up thinks I would've never attempted, and fitting into my favorite pair of jeans I haven't worn in years - these things make me happy.
Even deeper than that, it's psychological.
A recent study stated that that serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine levels in the hippocampus were significantly increased by exercise, suggesting physical activity can help even help manage depression.
2. Your family and friends are depending on you.
Many parents will tell you that they wish they were in better shape to play with their kids, but now they are far too busy to even start the habit of exercising. If you don't make the effort TODAY to start working out, you never will. The busyness of life WILL catch up to you.
Your friends and family love your best, energetic, and healthy self. Take care of yourself because you mean more to other people than you may even realize.
3. Because you can.
There are many people who would die to have two legs that can run, two arms that can lift a dumbbell, or the heart than can take a BPM above 130. You are so amazing, and you don't even realize it yet!
You can lift heavier, swim faster, dive deeper, or run longer. Our bodies are not static, they are dynamic and are constantly changing. It's up to YOU to make the best of the body you've been given, and live it to it's fullest.
4. Stress won't seem as, well, stressful!
Most of us know that stress can tear apart your body before you even realize what is going on. Stress can cause memory loss, anxiety, depression, nerve damage, gastrointestinal issues, the list goes on.
When you exercise, your body releases "feel-good" hormones called endorphins, which can help combat the influx of cortisol and adrenaline your stressed out brain is producing. Not only that, working out can easily get your mind off of that ten page paper due, (which you probably should have waited last minute to do anyway...)
5. You'll live longer.
This is actually a proven fact, and a study has shown that exercising can add as many years onto your life as quitting smoking can!
Exercise strengthens your heart (this is why when you exercise your resting heart rate over time lowers!) Heart issues are the number one cause of death in America - it's time to start taking care of your heart today before it's too late!
6. Your immune system will improve.
If you're like me, you tend to catch every bug that comes your way, regardless of how many vitamin C tablets you consume or preventative DayQuil pills you pop. Even watching NyQuil commercials can somehow get me sick! (Okay, there I might be exaggerating).
According to many studies, those who work out are half as likely to get the common cold than those who do not. That's reason enough to start working out if you ask me!
7. You'll gain confidence.
When I first started working out, I would still catch myself looking at other people who were thinner than me and suddenly kept wondering if working out was even worth it. To counteract that, every time I became jealous of someone else's appearance I would tell myself something like, "well, I bet they didn't do 30 reps of jumping squats like I did last night". Granted, this may totally not be true, but it helped me stop comparing myself to other people and begin to be proud of what I was currently doing.
Not only that, looking great can definitely make anyone feel better! (As long as you don't let it go to your head, of course). And on that note...
8. Your mirror will thank you.
Working out will start to begin to tone your arms, legs, core, butt, etc! Seeing the fruits of your labor is one of the best rewards of exercising and eating right. To me, thats worth not eating that tub of ice cream (although sometimes I wonder...).
That being said, regardless of what you weigh or look like, I have no doubt you are more handsome or gorgeous than you realize. Do not find your self-worth or identity in the mirror.
