Is the word exercise a dirty word to you? You’re not alone
Jodi Davis
| 3 min read
Sometimes I look back at my past and wonder how I convinced myself to believe something that was not logical. For over two decades I felt that many of the negative feelings and opinions I had about my weight issues were only felt by me. Nobody else could feel the way I did. I was the only one.
Now I know better. It doesn’t necessarily make it feel any better because it just means that others encounter some of the same negative feelings and opinions as I did.
Those negative feelings and negative opinions consumed me. They also had a tendency to control how I lived especially in one particular area of my life: when I had the chance to become healthier, my negative feelings and opinions always had a way of stopping me from trying. This negativity continues to show itself, especially when it comes to exercise.
We know that exercise gives us the opportunity to become healthier, but it has to be looked at in a positive way. If exercise is thought of in a negative fashion, then it will be avoided completely. And when a person takes it to the next level of negativity, they can actually refer to exercise as a dirty word. Think it doesn’t occur? Think again! Exercise was a very dirty word to me when I was morbidly obese. I didn’t want to hear it and I certainly never said it. Ever.
That is probably the reason why I had to laugh when I heard those same words come out of another person’s mouth, not that they were comical but because they were way too familiar. Marcus, who also lived the morbidly obese life, shared this with me regarding his opinion of exercise when he was 102 pounds heavier.
Exercise was a dirty word to him too.
Then something changed. Marcus started to exercise. He still considered exercise a dirty word but because he sold his home quicker than he had expected last year, Marcus needed to pack his belongings … quickly. He soon discovered that his pants were becoming baggy and the only change he had made was moving more. He was losing weight because of exercise. Exercise was no longer a dirty word to him.
Exercise was becoming enjoyable for Marcus; it was taking off his excess weight rather quickly. In January 2013, Marcus signed up for his very first gym membership and now works out in that gym several times per week. Marcus not only loves to exercise but he enjoys where he is doing it. The gym, The Renaissance Athletic Club, includes employees that are attentive, knowledgeable, encouraging and have the ability to motivate him when he needs it. Everything about exercising is now positive. The negative feelings and negative opinions regarding exercise no longer exist.
The 102 extra pounds that Marcus was carrying around on his body no longer exist either.
It has been a lesson for both of us. We understand that because we had a negative opinion towards exercise, we were unwilling to try it. Once we tried it, we not only liked it, we loved it! Marcus and I are living proof that those negative feelings and opinions can change.
They must change, so you can get healthy. It is time to turn the negative into a positive and go for it!
