Why to Hit the Gym
By Natasha Gupta
High-paid, well-educated financial analysts spend hours looking for the best investment. As a budding financial analyst and never-recovering fitness addict, I will tell you that the answer is you. Your body. Invest in yourself today and see rich dividends for the rest of your long, healthy life.
"First you make your habits, and then they make you." I cannot stress this enough because developing healthy habits early in life will make your old age a lot more pleasant. Sunday yoga in your twenties could mean Sunday yoga in your seventies - and that's saying something.
"Slipshod methods produce slipshod results." On the topic of weight-loss pills, fad diets and steroids, I'm only going to say this: If you could buy ripped arms, toned calves and chiseled pecks we'd all be first in line at Costco, packing that in bulk. But that's not how it is, is it?
Your body is your Earth-given piece of clay; sculpt it how you want. You can fill it with junk or you can craft it into something you're proud of. Every day, you make decisions that shape and mold your clay. Sculpt wisely and sculpt responsibly.
How many obese 80-year-olds have you seen lately? The habits and health you build now can lead you into a long future. A healthy lifestyle impacts more than your waist size .
Work it out. Channel stress, depression, anger and general emotional distress into a workout. Seriously, just try it. Reach for your iPod instead of a donut next time you're upset and let your body's endorphins lift your mood. Boyfriend cheats on you? Take up kickboxing and punch like no one's watching.
Knock back the water. When it comes to exercising and drinking enough water, treat every day like you're a teenager taking a drug test. That'll do the trick.
Make exercise fun. The thing is, working out doesn't have to suck. If you hated running in seventh grade, no one says you have to run 10 miles on the treadmill to get a solid workout. Experiment with fitness classes, exercise routines or workout programs until you find out what's right for you. Hit the gym with a friend to keep you motivated and on track. Learn to make exercising the highlight of your day and you'll be giving yourself the best gift of all: fitness.
"Nothing worth having comes easy." Nothing frustrates me more than people who work out for a month and complain that their body hasn't changed. Are you kidding me? You spent years filling your body with junk and you think it's going to take a month to fix? Please.
You only truly regret the opportunities you miss. Have you ever heard anyone say, "I regret working out today?" No. Nor will you, ever.
Try not to exercise as a means to an end, but instead as an end in itself. Don't just exercise in order to attain that "perfect summer beach bod." Make exercise a part of your daily life.
You're going to have to make a lot of trade-offs in life, but exercise doesn't have to be one of them. Six-pack of beer, or six-pack of muscle? If you play your cards right, you can have both.