For obvious reasons, there is a huge focus on physical results and transformations in the fitness industry. How much weight we’ve managed to lose, and how dramatic our before and after photos are largely determines how “successful” someone is at any given point along their fitness journey. I think this is why many of those who start said journey bound and determined to succeed end up doing just the opposite. When you compare your “before” to someone else’s “after”, when you don’t see drastic results right away, and when you find out that achieving those results actually takes a tremendous amount of hard work, it can be very easy to be discouraged.

I think we need to focus less on what we lose, and MORE on what we GAIN. To be completely truthful, I have been going through some STUFF lately and it has taken an incredible toll. I am tired, and sometimes just the thought of getting up out of bed is daunting. But on my off days, I roll out of bed and get immediately into my workout. On days that I work, I lace up my boots and after a 12 hour workday I come home and retreat to the workout room. Often, when people get overwhelmed, a workout, which takes valuable time and energy, is the first thing to get tossed by the wayside. For me, this is not the case. My workout time is valuable to me because it means so much more than physical results. My workouts are a time for me to de-stress, to release any feelings of frustration or doubt before starting my day or after it ends. Fitness has shown me that a physical workout can provide much more than a physical result:

-The feeling of accomplishment from completing something that I thought seemed impossible.

-The friendships I have developed from a common love of fitness/sport/competition.

-The catharsis that comes from throwing some weights around.

I attended an event yesterday where a very moving speaker who is himself a military and law enforcement veteran and who coaches other veterans told two stories that really struck a chord with me. In the first, he mentioned that his own experiences in the military and afterward in law enforcement led him to experience post traumatic stress disorder. He was angry, having outbursts, and turning to food to ease the pain. Eventually, he realized he needed to make a change and turned to exercise to help appropriately vent his feelings. Due to his own commitment to fitness, he reached out to a friend, who was also in law enforcement, who was struggling with some mental health and chemical dependency issues of his own. After training together for a few weeks, that friend admitted that before his friend who genuinely cared about his well being reached out and offered the gift of fitness, he had planned to commit suicide.

SHARING A WORKOUT WITH SOMEONE COULD LITERALLY SAVE THEIR LIFE. In more ways than one. Physically, mentally, spiritually… there are so many arenas in which improving fitness can improve quality of life.

So, please, I encourage you to focus less on how much is lost, and instead on how much is gained. The possibilities are endless.