The Best Exercise Advice I Ever Received

By Linda Michaels
CBN.com Producer

CBN.com –I was surfing the Web one day when I read a sentence that would totally transform my attitude about exercise. Before I explain, let me say that I am one of those people who consider exercise to be a four-letter word—something to be avoided at all cost!

I am totally athletically challenged. And just the word “exercise” used to result in gym class flashbacks of relentless humiliation. But now I’m looking forward to exercising every night. The reason? It was that one sentence that turned out to be the best exercise advice I ever received.

The words were, “If you don’t like exercising, then quit.” It was the title of an article and I think you can understand why such a headline would grab my attention.

Yes, this is it! Just give up!

But that’s not exactly what the article was saying. It was suggesting that unless exercise is fun, you are not going to continue doing it. So stop doing anything that isn’t fun.

Well, now I was in a quandary. The thought of using exercise and fun in the same sentence seemed ludicrous. But if there’s one thing I love, it’s a challenge. So I set out to find something that I would truly love to do.

I’m overweight and out of shape, so anything competitive was out of the question. I wracked my brain and decided that the only time I truly had fun when my body was in motion was when dancing. The trouble is, I am one of those people who should NEVER be seen dancing! (Just trust me on this.)

Well, that was easy enough. I would dance in private. So I found some exercise videos that were basically dance videos. And, well, it worked. I had so much fun dancing to the video (even though most of my moves were NOT in sync with the dancers) that I put in a second video and danced for another half an hour. Ninety minutes of exercise!

The night before I worked out to my first dance video, I had decided to get on my treadmill again. I have bought and sold three treadmills in my life because it always “seems” like the perfect solution for getting in shape. But after 10 minutes, I was bored to tears and got off. Clearly the problem wasn’t endurance, as I had thought. It was boredom!

Now I'm addicted and can't wait to exercise each night. And as a former exercise hater, this is nothing short of a miracle. I should add that this miracle took place after I asked the Lord to help me with my desire to be more fit..

So I’d like to challenge you today. Find an exercise that you think you can really enjoy. Maybe it’s swimming, biking, tennis, or frisbee. Who knows?

I know I thought there was no form of exercise that I could actually enjoy doing. But now I’m a believer that anyone can find something they love.

If all else fails, do what I did and ask the Lord for His help. No one knows us like He does. I believe that prayer resulted in a divine moment—the moment I read those words, “If you don’t like exercising, then quit.”

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