“Exercise is good for your mind, body, and soul.”
Susie Michelle
My husband is what some would consider a health nut. He hasn’t eaten sugar or drank carbonation since he was sixteen. He absolutely loves to exercise- loves triathlons, mountain biking, and running up mountains just for fun.
We spoke on the phone for the first time over seven years ago (I had never seen him, but he spotted me at a young adult event and scouted out my phone number from a friend).
He called me up to ask me out for a date, and I remember one of the first questions he ever asked me was “Do you work out?’
At the time I remember being so flattered- I believed he was asking because he thought I looked so good. Though he did think I looked good, I found out later he asked because he was determined to only marry someone who loved to exercise as much as he did.
That was not me. I never exercised, and never wanted to. I never played any sports in high school, and I always tried to avoid any physical exertion in gym class.
Well he married me anyway. He said he had a ‘list’ of what he wanted in his perfect wife, and I met every standard except for exercise, so he decided to go for it (secretly planning on changing me so I would grow to like exercising).
“No matter who you are, no matter what you do, you absolutely, positively do have the power to change.” ~Bill Phillips~
We’ve been married now for just over seven years, and he’s been trying to convert me from the very beginning.
At first I would make paltry efforts at it, just to impress my new husband. I remember when we went hiking together, and I tried to race him running straight up a hill. I did well until I got to the top, then almost passed out. I think he was kind of embarrassed about it.
Another time we went to a family reunion in Colorado, and went hiking. My husband or course wanted to run up to the highest point. I tried to follow the best I could, running slowly behind. My uncle said of it later, “I think that’s the only time I’ve seen Rachel run, following behind her new husband.”
My husband did every thing he could think of to try and get me to exercise daily. He tried bribery, he tried educating me on the importance of it, he even threatened to tie me behind the bumper of the car (that was a joke).
Sometimes I had a poor attitude and outright rebelled, I thought, “Why does he keep harassing me about it so much? Why doesn’t he just leave me alone?”
Well, four children have come, and the weight has fluctuated a bit (understandably). I’ve never been ‘fat’ by most people’s definition. I’ve never been ‘fit’ either.
“Exercise is done against one’s wishes and maintained only because the alternative is worse”
This last year, I finally decided to try out exercise, and give a real effort to it. I don’t know what finally convinced me, or if Greg has just been slowly brainwashing me all these years and it eventually had it’s effects.
Maybe it was living in Costa Rica that just made me feel alive and want to run through the hills full of energy.
Whatever it was, I started exercising on a more consistent basis. Now, it hasn’t been every day, but I have done some type of exercise a few times every week.
Guess what? The results are amazing! The last couple of months, I’ve really pushed myself in running on my treadmill, and I’ve done things I never thought were possible for me.
I ran 5 miles straight for the first time ever in my life, and I ran three miles in 26:45! I realized the limits were all in my mind- I didn’t think I could do something like that. But it feels so empowering to overcome those limitations.
Besides that, my body has slimmed down even more. I never thought my rear end could be so small! My thighs don’t even touch any more, and I’m actually developing some muscle.
I ran into a friend the other day who I hadn’t seen for a couple of years. I was wearing a sweat outfit, had a hat on and no makeup. “Wow Rachel, you look so good!” was his sincere declaration.
Look so good? How? Why? Then I realized- it was the exercise. After four children and seven years of marriage, I still fit into my pre-marriage clothes. Yes I do look good. And it feels good.
“Fitness - if it came in a bottle, everybody would have a great body.” ~Cher
It has been hard- though some people think ‘You’re so lucky, you’re just naturally skinny’- but ‘fat’ for everyone is different.
Being over your ideal weight is fat. And it takes effort to lose it. And there is a difference between being smaller than someone else, and being fit. I may have been smaller than most people, but I wasn’t fit, by any definition of the word. That is where exercise changed all that.
I didn’t like it at first. I had a hard time getting started, then I had a hard time running more than 10 minutes. I had a hard time pushing myself to a point where I actually started sweating.
The same thing can be said of exercise that is said of reading; The more you do it, the better you become at it; the better you become at it, the more you like it; the more you like it, the healthier you become.
I have become healthier. I noticed the last time I went hiking with my family. I used to get tired and try and shorten the trip (because my husband could hike for hours).
This last time, I felt so energized, alive and more enjoyment than usual of the experience. And the benefits are more than physical. I think clearer, my mind is more active and creative, I have more self-discipline, I feel empowered.
I know I can do things I never thought were possible. My character has actually developed more through exercising.
“Movement is a medicine for creating change in a person’s physical, emotional, and mental states.”
Carol Welch
I never understood before why my husband was so adamant about exercise. I couldn’t comprehend why he was so passionate about it, or why he continued to ‘harass’ me about doing it.
I know now that he only wanted to share with me something that had brought so many benefits to his life, that had helped to develop him into the person that he is today.
But as I woke up this morning in my fit, trim, energized and beautiful body, I just had to say, “Thanks Hon, for harassing me.”
