I love health, I love fitness but let’s face it, staying fit and healthy is hard and it’s a life time commitment. Maintaining a low body-fat percentage is not always fun. Dragging your ass to the gym when you’ve only had 3 hours of sleep is not fun. Trying to eat clean the entire work week while your company feeds you free beer and food (that’s not always healthy) is not fun. Extreme dieting and extreme exercising is not fun— especially when you put those together.
Being happy is my first priority.
Being fit and knowing I can do over 100 burpees continuously makes me happy but looking good with a nicely chiseled physique will never give me the same fulfillment because I know what it takes to maintain those things— and the thought of living my entire life trying to maintain that already makes me cringe. It’s simply not sustainable for me and I’ve learnt that once I’ve achieved a certain look, it will never be enough and I would always want more.
Maintaining my fitness and being awesome at burpees is easy for me simply because I love training. The physique part is all about diet and I hate dieting— food is a huge part of my life and one I refuse to give up. I’ve accepted I look good the way I am now and I’m at a state where my look is easily maintained so I live a very good and balanced lifestyle. I believe I’m truly blessed because I know where to draw the line so I can maintain my health and happiness.
I don’t go to extremes but just enough to stay happy.
Next time you are struggling in your journey to a healthier you, ask yourself, “am I really happy?” Does having a super-ripped bodybuilder’s body make you happy? If it does, is that long-term or short-term happiness? Are you only happy when you get to show off your body when you go out (and let the compliments roll in) but when you come home, you sulk in your own grief? Is it worth it? If yes, then keep on going. If not, re-think your journey. When you start, you have to realize you are in a lifelong commitment so if you aren’t truly happy but you want to stay healthy, you will have to know where to draw the line.
