As most of you know, my charming, delightful husband had a crash on his bicycle last week. Thankfully, he never rides without a helmet, and it probably saved his life. However, he is now laid up on the couch recovering from surgery on a badly broken elbow. While we are both very happy that there are not more serious injuries, there is one aspect of a broken elbow that is pretty difficult to overlook…

He only has use of one hand while he is recovering.

I have heard him say several times that, “you take for granted having use of both your hands until you lose one.”

Despite being in a lot of pain, the most difficult part of this whole ordeal for him is that he won’t be able to ride his bike for while or really be any more active than walking. While walking is a great way to enjoy nature, get some fresh air and some exercise, for someone who is used to pushing themselves routinely to the point of near-vomiting, it’s hard to sit still. Sometimes we just don’t realize how capable we are until that capability is taken away.

The fact that humans even exist on a day to day basis is pretty amazing. The things that humans do, even in the face of an astounding “disability”, that go above and beyond anything that was considered even remotely possible are even more amazing. Why, then, do some of us limit ourselves with “I can’t?”

Exercise is not just a means to better physical fitness. Of course, that is one of the side effects. However, when we exercise with regularity our fitness increases in every aspect of our lives. Quality of sleep improves, leading to more productive time at work and with friends and family. When we fuel our bodies with quality nutrition to support exercise our bodies run like a well-oiled machine. Mental clarity increases. That rush of endorphins makes you feel like you can take on the world. Truth be told, you can.

In fact, you are OBLIGATED to. You owe it to yourself, to those you love, and to those who love you to be the best version of you that you possibly can. So pay your debt.

Get up off the couch. Move, breathe, and enjoy everything that your capability grants you.

I am a member of a Facebook group that is comprised entirely of women and is designed for encouragement and support for the members in their fitness endeavors, focusing primarily on triathlon. Recently, a member of this group posted the below photo.

This woman assumed this photo had been photoshopped (it was later explained by a rep for this company that they use real athletes as their models and never photoshop their bodies) and referred to it as disgusting. One woman referred to another woman’s body as disgusting. While I agree that photoshop is used far to often in the images presented to us in the media, it does us no good to attack one another’s bodies, and this mind set of judging another person’s body actually goes against the anti-photoshop movement that is currently gaining steam. My first thought upon reading this post was “how wold this make a woman whose body naturally looks this way feel?” This thought struck me immediately especially because this comment was made to a group of triathletes, who in general tend to be very fit, athletic, and lean people.

Consider everything our bodies are capable of: our hearts beat continually, we breathe without even thinking about it, we can sing and laugh and dance and move and just LIVE all thanks to our bodies which are some miraculous combination of elements and star dust. How could any body be considered disgusting?

As I mentioned, I found this post particularly disturbing because of the number of fit women in the group. However, there are also women who are just beginning their triathlon or fitness journey who have not yet met their physical goals and some women in the group who have no physical goals whatsoever other than to finish a tri (or start one) and to celebrate what their bodies are capable of, with no concern over how their body may look while doing so. This got me thinking…

Why do we put so much emphasis on “bikini bodies” or “summer bodies?” I realize that due to the warmer weather we tend to wear clothing that reveals more of out bodies, but if you want a bikini body, PUT ON A BIKINI and BAM. You have a bikini body. I hear all the time in the fitness industry “summer bodies are made in winter.” While it’s true that you have to work hard all year around to maintain aesthetic fitness goals, that only applies to you IF THAT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU. If you want to lose weight to look “better” in a bikini, then by all means get after it. I wold hope there is also an underlying desire to be more healthful as well. But this constant pressure that you have to look a certain way to wear a bikini or go to the beach and actually be comfortable and enjoy yourself is absurd to me. Think of all the ways you experience life through your bikini body: sun on your face, warm sand on your feet, cool water, the smell of salt water (hopefully you’re not stuck on a Lake Michigan beach….), the sound of waves crashing. To me it seems you already have a pretty amazing beach body.

It occurs to me that the company through which I choose promote health and fitness is called Beachbody and I think this can be off-putting to some people. However I think of it as I just described above. Everyone already has a beach body. When I say that I mean that health and fitness are for every body. Not everybody, but every body. Your body is beautiful regardless of its shape or size, and you owe it to yourself and that beautiful beach body of yours to be as fit and as healthy physically and mentally as you possibly can so that you can shuffle your bikini body down to that beach (or wherever your happy place is) and experience the wonderful things your body allows you to do.