Do you ever get up some days and feel as if your entire body has been stuck inside a box for a decade and moving your extremities would be borderline torture? When my mom or older brother would tell me about their aches and pains I would remind myself of how taking care of my body was paramount for my future. If I didn’t stay healthy when I was the youngest I will ever be then how can I picture a future that is different from the one that my mother or brother were showing me?
Most of life staying in shape has come easy. Running around and playing outside is embedded in every childhood memory I have. I didn’t have a problem waking up in the morning and just going.
Then birthdays starting coming more rapidly and years started to feel as if they were shrinking. I wasn’t bouncing back as quickly as before. I graduated high school and being on a sports team wasn’t a possibility anymore. For the first time in my life staying in shape felt daunting.
Those freshman fifteen weren’t a lie and I was headed into my third year of college in the worst shape of my entire life. I had probably gained almost thirty pounds of just fat during my time at school.
I guess the best way to describe it was that I just finally hit a roadblock. I didn’t want to be out of shape anymore. I didn’t like the feeling of being tired from just walking the stairs or being uncomfortable when tying my shoelaces. Things that I had done subconsciously before were now my daily struggles. Though minor they stood for what I had done to my body. How I had damaged it without caring for my future.
If I hadn’t hit that roadblock last year I would easily be forty to fifty pounds overweight, for my body frame, right now.
But I started doing the things that I had forgotten my body once loved. I ran and lifted weights and then ran some more. I cut out all the bad food that had gotten me in trouble. I started playing sports and learned to take care of my future. It took me less than a semester to get back to my pre-freshman year weight.
Staying motivated helped me reach my goal. Yet once I achieved it staying the course became difficult. I didn’t have a reason to work out anymore. I had lost the weight and junk food started to taste better and better.
I’m in this constant back and forth with myself when it comes to working out now. There are weeks when I don’t miss a day and then one missed workout turns into a month of doing absolutely nothing.
I stopped working out a couple days ago so maybe I’m writing this so I’ll feel guilty. Making excuses got me in trouble before so I know where this could lead. Staying in shape is what I need for a productive future so I guess I’m going to force myself to go find my running shoes now.
