My Why, Why I Exercise

Have you truly thought about why you exercise? Like the true, deep why, not the I want to lose weight why (because this is one of the biggest reasons people typically start exercising). My point is that although on the surface you may be striving for weight loss…why are you chasing weight loss is the true question…

So, let’s talk about it…

The best way that I can think about to talk about this topic is to share my own personal why. I will admit, that there was a point in my life where if someone asked me why I exercise I would have responded with “to lose weight”…but as my exercise story has evolved and changed over many years…it is no longer my response…in fact weight loss isn’t even on my mind if someone asked me why I exercise.

Great Ashlee…so why do you exercise really? Over the years as I have dug into this there are a few things that come to mind but at the end of the day I’ve found it boils down to 2 things…

• Physical health
• Mental health

So let’s dig into each of these a little more starting with physical health. As someone who has chronic diseases that run in my family (on both sides) exercise took on a different meaning at the time that these started to become common knowledge. Exercise became something that could help prevent or manage this conditions down the road if they do make an appearance in my life at any time. I also know that as I age I want to be able to continue to do the things that I love and exercise and movement will help keep these things in my life in the long run.

Although on the surface mental health wasn’t the reason I started to exercise I would argue that over time it’s become even more important than the physical health. We know that we feel better when we exercise but when you truly start to experience this first hand it changes everything. On days when I don’t exercise I feel more sluggish and tired…it’s just a fact. Despite getting up very early each morning and struggling through pulling myself out of bed I know that once I do I will feel better. Throughout this pandemic exercise has been my saving grace. It’s my alone time (yes, I’m one of those weird people that prefers the headphones in and for everyone to leave me alone), it’s my happy place, it’s become so important that the days without it are just blah. It’s actually a complete coincidence that this blog post is coming on Bell Let’s Talk Day, but a happy coincidence nonetheless. When it comes to mental health I don’t believe that exercise alone can solve everything, but it can certainly be used in conjunction with other treatment options to help those dealing with mental health struggles.

Exercise for me is healing for both my body and my mind. I challenge you today to think about why you exercise, why you really exercise…it’s deeper than just weight loss. Maybe it’s because you want to be able to keep up with your kids or grandkids, maybe it’s because you have a specific hobby you want to be able to do for the rest of your life. Maybe it’s because want to be able you want to feel more confident. Maybe it’s because you are concerned about your health. Dig deep and find the reason why. It’s there we just have to find those reasons. Once you find the true why try using that to motivate you (instead of your weight loss goal), I am willing to bet that it will be a whole lot better at keeping you accountable. Finding your true why is so beneficial on your health journey. Ask yourself the hard questions today and dig for those answers, I promise they are worth it.