Fit Guilt: Do You Ever Feel Guilty For Working Out?
By admin
I don’t.
I used to.
I used to feel guilty waking up on Saturday mornings to go for a run.
I used to feel guilty stopping work in order to get a workout in.
I used to feel guilty for meeting up with girlfriends while my husband was busy being “productive”.
Why?
Because I felt as if it was selfish.
You see, when I’m working out and Dan’s not… he’s working. Getting things done to move our business (and life) forward. I felt bad, almost lazy for not doing the same.
My guilt was so deep that I would wake up as early as 4:30 on a Saturday morning to get my run completed without disrupting my to-do list or a weekend morning with my main squeeze.
Dan never asked me to do this, and to be honest, I never told him this was the reason for my early morning wake-up call. He would always tell me to sleep in a bit and go later.
I put this guilt on myself.
Early morning wake-up call! Can we please note that at 6:14am it was already 77-degrees? Wowza.
Does that even make sense?
I am going to go out on a limb and say yes, because after talking to my friends, it seem a lot of us ladies feel this way.
Not necessarily about the whole work thing but perhaps for reasons such as…
- Guilt of leaving your kids instead of spending time with them.
- Guilt for leaving your spouse when you only have so many hours in a day for quality time.
- Guilt for leaving dishes in the sink or an un-vacuumed floor.
But you know what changed? What made that stupid nagging pain in my stomach go away?
Being Selfish Is A Requirement For A Happy Life
Yes, that’s right… we (you and me) need to be selfish to be happy.
If you don’t do the things that you and your body crave, what happens? Resentment builds and life get tough.
There is no doubt in my mind that being selfish helps strengthen relationships, productivity, happiness and overall worth.
And exercise? Well, that’s just the #1 thing to be selfish about.
This is a non-negotiable topic in my house.
My regular fitness makes me a better wife, trainer, boss, workout, and person.
Selfish? I think exercise is the most selfless act I can do!
Exercise Is The Most Selfless Act You Can Do
- Study after study after study has shown that exercise increases productivity and mental focus. You want my full attention? Make sure I got a workout in!
- If you’re a mom feel guilty for leaving your little one(s) to get in 45 minutes of exercise, remember that kids are copycats. If they see you being active, they are more likely to want to be active as well. I think we can all agree that parents want to be the best roll models for children. Lead by example. As kids grow older, they will want to do the moves that you do!
- 40 million people are affected with anxiety disorders (source)… I’m one of them. Exercise truly is the best medicine. A teaspoon of medicine a day (even just 10 minutes) can be a quick way to boost mood and alleviate stress. Making you a happier wife, mom, person. People like to be around happy people, not stressed anxious people!
This list can truly go on and on and on, but this isn’t a post on the benefits of exercise. We all know it’s good to move and sweat.
This is a post about our own personal demons that try to stop us from getting done what we know we need to.
Guilt… it’s just another excuse to stop us from accomplishing our fitness and health goals.
How I Freed Myself Of Guilt
For me, it took a single event to change.
One Saturday my alarm began to buzz for my running call. I got up, put my clothes on and went into the living room to finish waking up. I couldn’t wake up, I was exhausted so I went back to bed for another hour.
When I woke, I felt ready to go and did my thing. When I got home instead of Dan commenting on how late I was, he congratulated me for sleeping in.
Wait… what? Stop the music…
You mean, Dan didn’t mind me going later? For going into “our” Saturday?
Well then… okay. It was then that I realized all my guilt was self-inflicted and stupid.
Now I run later (except when I want to beat the heat!), I workout when I need/want to and I do it happily. And I’m not a zombie because I actually sleep!!