For most of us, just the thought of going to the gym is painful. We make up excuses like "Well I ate really good today so I don't need to" or "I already did my cardio today by taking the stairs."

If we were being real with ourselves, the gym is an intimidating place full of fit people doing weighted squats while I'm breaking a sweat just looking at them. Behind our numerous excuses lies a deeper problem than just motivation.

Going to the gym is also about self love. I'm not talking about the kind of self love that means you embrace how you look no matter how curvy or even skinny you are. I want to define self love as, "caring for your health by exercising regularly and maintaining a healthy diet."

While the first definition is just as important as the second, most of us forget about the second. We become too focused on our outward appearance that we forget that the inside needs to be taken care of as well.

Also, focusing on our outward appearance can lead to disappointment, like when we go to the gym 7 days a week and don't lose a single pound. The question we should be asking ourselves is "How do we FEEL?"

"Does my body feel good?"

"Can I tell it has been getting the amount of water and right nutrients?"

"Am I tired all the time or am I mentally alert?"

When we start asking these kind of questions, the gym is less intimidating and suddenly you want to go to the gym because your mind and body want to feel refreshed instead of thinking about all the super fit gym rats who make us feel bad about ourselves.

Next time you go to the gym, don't get on the scale first. Don't get on the scale afterwards. Don't even look at the scale. Don't look in the mirrors in the weight room. Don't worry about the "fit" girl next to you. Just go in there and do what makes you feel good and confident.

Do this because you know that being healthy is important. Do this because you want to prove to yourself that you have the endurance and the grit to do what's best for yourself even when it's not easy. Do this because you want to feel better, not just look better.