Do you enjoy being active?

So when I signed up for the Eugene marathon I got three months subscription to three magazines. I quickly chose Runner's World and Sports Illustrated. I didn't know what to pick for my third, so I just checked the one that sounded the most about physical fitness: "Fitness." I have now found that Fitness magazine makes me laugh more than gives me information on fitness. The "how to shed 10 lbs" and "why haven't I lost the weight?" cover the magazine.

Everything in the magazine is focused on weight and body image. That shouldn't be the core focus for fitness. I see the same thing as I pass by gyms: "Shake the weight before summer"

Is it the magazines or gyms fault? They're just trying to reach to the largest consumer audience. Research they have done must draw them to reach out to people to focus on weight loss as their number one reason for being physically active.

I am here to tell you to be physically active in something you enjoy doing. Make fitness fun! If your sole purpose of exercise is to lose weight then your going about it the wrong way. Losing weight should be the bonus to exercise. I'm not saying you can't be excited about losing weight. If it's your number one objective though, exercise will start to feel like work. Then doing workouts becomes an extra stress in your life when it should be a stress reliever.

If you don't get any enjoyment or satisfaction running on a treadmill besides saying "I hope I lost 3 lbs with that run," then don't run on the treadmill. Find something else you might enjoy. Go for a hike and enjoy the outdoors. Go for a leisure bike ride. It doesn't have to be physically draining. Just active movement.

It might just need to be a mindset change too. Certainly not many enjoy running on the treadmill or running in general. I am not saying that you should never run because you don't like it. Maybe you need to find something you enjoy about running and focus on that. The feeling of accomplishment after the run. Or the runner's high that will soon kick in. If there might just be one tiny thing you like about running, biking, swimming, etc. focus on that one thing. Maybe down the line it will be more enjoyable and you'll feel more accomplished.

Also, we all have a little bit of competitiveness in us. Go play a sport. Even if you're bad at it. Just play and have fun. Tennis, soccer, basketball, frisbee, or whatever you like. Go do it and have fun. I know when I was in college I felt like I hardly ever did a "workout." I played maybe 2-3 sports a day for 2-4 hours. It was tiring, but I hardly noticed because playing new and old sports is my passion. Don't be self-conscience about swinging and missing at a ball. Just laugh and enjoy yourself.

Physical fitness should not feel like work one bit. It should be fun! Be active but enjoy what you do while doing it!

Sports, run, bike, swim, hike, dance, garden, lift weights, yoga, wii fit...etc...