Exercise Should Be Fun

I’m not Christian, but here I am acting like the riff raff and shoving holiday goodies in my face.

WTF?!

Cookies? Yes. Brownies? Of course. Champagne? Required.

All of this merriment has me watching the scale, and if I’m 100% honest, I’m watching it rise. Whereas last year I was in peak marathon shape, this year I’m walk-running a 5K and wondering why my yoga pants are so tight.

(Could be the snickerdoodles, but I’m not going to judge. What did the snickerdoodles ever do to deserve that kind of scrutiny?)

Fear not. I haven’t given up on exercise. This past weekend, I ran an awesome 5K and met a bunch of people just like you and me — getting through life’s battles and trying to make the right choices despite the onslaught of marketing that tells us that high fructose corn syrup loves us more than our parents.

(Which might be true.)

As I tried and failed to run up a series of hills at this weekend’s 5K, I looked around and saw family members and co-workers laughing at themselves as they slogged up hills, too.

I was grateful for the shared experience of trying, flailing, laughing and persevering.

Sometimes people forget that exercise should be fun. You feel me on this? Running, biking, walking, yoga, pilates, boxing. Exercise is the gift you give yourself. It’s something that you should do because nobody will do it for you. And when done with some regularity, exercise is something that satisfies you more than a job or a spouse or a candy bar or a weird sexual encounter at an HR conference.

(Well, maybe not a candy bar.)

And, dammit, exercise should be fun. In our culture, we have elite athletes and everybody else. But sometimes those elite athletes can suck it. I love it when people overcome obstacles and achieve goals, but you don’t have to battle ISIS or qualify for the Boston Marathon to enjoy physical activity. You just have to lace up your sneakers and move.

So if you’re like me and find yourself eating too much during this holiday season, don’t stop eating. Please. For the love of god, you can only eat like this once a year. Get more fudge!

But make sure you schedule some regular physical activity — not because you care about your weight, but because it’s fun and you deserve it.

You especially deserve my snickerdoodles. They’re pretty good.