It’s All Hard

Let’s be honest with one another. Being healthy is hard, right?

I mean you have to make some serious sacrifices to obtain the fitness or health goal you are looking for. You have to sacrifice your time and energy. You have to wake up early and go to the gym before work. You actually have to sweat at the gym and put in the effort instead of mingling with friends between sets or scrolling your Instagram feed searching hashtags like #foodporn. You have to give up happy hour and that amazing deep dish pizza with friends for meal prepping foods you never even heard of before like quinoa and kale.

There are many complex reasons that make weight loss a challenge, reasons that go deeper than simply calories-in versus calories-out.

It’s hard to commit the time to a healthy lifestyle, right? Let’s face it, you work too much, commit yourself to too much and don’t even get enough sleep most of the time. The fast-paced way you live leaves you exhausted, stressed and hungry for comfort food. You even begin to feel too busy to take care of your health. You convince yourself there just aren’t enough hours in the day to make that workout or prepare healthy food for the week.

It’s also hard because your not even guaranteed success. You’re afraid to start because you just might fail, and wouldn’t that be embarrassing? I mean what would your co-workers say if you attempted to get in shape and then failed like everyone else. You’re also afraid to start because you just might succeed, and change makes you uncomfortable – even if it’s change in the right direction.

I’m here to tell you that it’s all hard.

Yes, I’m agreeing with you. It’s hard to be healthy. It’s definitely not convenient. It’s not the easy road and it is filled with obstacles and challenges. But guess what?

Being unhealthy is hard too.

Walking around with chronic lower back pain all day from inactivity is hard.

Taking multiple prescription medicines in the morning and constant doctors visits are hard.

Not having the energy to play with your kids is hard.

Being at risk for illnesses like type 2 diabetes and heart disease is hard.

Walking around uncomfortable in your own skin is demoralizing.

Never putting on that two piece bikini because it doesn’t fit right is hard.

Thinking less of yourself and not having self confidence isn’t easy.

You have to choose which hard you want.

You have to decide whether you want the hard of going to the gym and eating right, or all the negative outcomes that come with being unhealthy. You will become whatever you focus on. Focus on all of the ways that losing weight and getting healthy will make your life better. Envision that better life everyday so that it goes from being new and scary to familiar and comfortable.

Remember that it’s your choice – Which hard will you choose?