An Exercise Craving?

This isn’t going to come as a surprise to anyone, but I love exercise. I crave it. Even when I’ve had the worst day imaginable, nothing cheers me up better than a heart-pumping, calorie burning, muscle building workout. All those endorphins race through my body and make me feel incredible!

But here’s the thing: I don’t think I’m alone. In all my years of helping people get fit, I’ve never heard someone finish a workout and say “boy, I really hate how I feel about myself right now.” That’s not to say they aren’t tired or sore, but they never feel badly about themselves for breaking a sweat. In fact, most people feel really good about themselves after a workout, which has always made me wonder why most people have so much trouble convincing themselves to exercise. On the other side of the spectrum, how many times have you succumbed to the temptation of a fast food lunch, only to feel badly about yourself afterwords? It’s a strange problem, isn’t it? Something that’s great for our bodies and our minds and makes us feel so good when we’re done—exercise—we have trouble convincing ourselves to do. But something that harms our bodies and makes us feel badly about ourselves—eating unhealthy foods—is something we crave. What gives?

The answer, as frustrating as it may be, is habits. While body type is, to an extent, genetic, being overweight (with some rare medical exceptions) is not. What a lot of people who struggle with their weight don’t realize is that they’re not necessarily more or less genetically inclined to being overweight, they’re just hooked into unhealthy habits. There’s no “exercise gene” that people who regularly workout inherited from their parents, just like there’s no “eat fast food” gene. We’re a product of our environments and the habits those environments build. As a result, our bodies start to crave the habits.

So here’s my goal: I want you to break your unhealthy habits. I know it’s easier said than done, but that’s not going to stop me from saying it, and it’s definitely not going to stop you from doing it, right? Because I know once we develop those healthy habits, we’ll feel so much better about ourselves. Not only are we going to know that exercising is going to make us feel great afterwords, our bodies are going to start craving that feeling, just like our bodies now crave fatty and sugary foods. Can you imagine that? Craving exercise? But it’s possible and that’s what I’m going to teach you with Reshape the Nation. I’m going to teach your bodies how to crave healthy habits, and, as a result, you’re going to feel so much better. I’m going to teach your body that sleeping until 8 AM doesn’t feel nearly as good as getting up at 6 AM and going to the gym. I’m going to teach your body that fries dipped in ketchup don’t taste nearly as good as carrots dipped in hummus. And I’m going to teach your body how munching on popcorn at a Sunday afternoon movie isn’t nearly as exhilarating as gulping down water from the top of a mountain you just hiked.

Our bodies crave things based on habits, and habits aren’t easy to break. But we can break our habits and make new ones by focusing on the end results. When we know we’ll feel better about ourselves once we do something, that’s the best piece of motivation we need in order to do it. From there, your body’s natural instincts will take over, and they’ll start craving the healthy habits.