Your Love Affair

by Kris Pitcher

Remember when you first fell in love? Oh, you were so excited, you could hardly stand it! You felt all tingly inside, your palms would get sweaty and you just hoped you could actually form a complete sentence around your new love.

You dated, and it was so romantic. It felt so special, exhilarating even! You could hardly wait to hold hands...and the kissing! Wow! Was that great! You thought your heart was going to beat right out of your chest!

Yeah, exercise isn't going to feel like that. Period. You're not going to feel tingly and excited about it. You're not going to blush after...for the same reasons. Sorry.

You are fooling yourself if you think this is how most people feel about it. We call this, "setting yourself up for failure". See, you thought it was going to be like a love affair - then when it's not...you can just quit. Again.

Well, I'm here to tell you it's more like brushing your teeth. You need to do it because it's the right thing to do. You do it because you don't want your teeth to fall out, because it's standard practice, because everyone else with nice teeth does it.

Exercise isn't going to make you feel all giddy and crushy. You're not going to want to make out with it. If you've fallen into this trap, I'm here to pull you right out. But, I do have good news.

It will make you a little sweaty, and your heart will palpitate. You'll also feel really good after (not the same kind of good, but really good). You will be really glad you did it.

You will also have a love affair with your results. You will feel pride in taking care of yourself and control of your life. How's that for a love affair?

So, I'm sorry if this is news to you, or if you slipped into the love affair fairytale about what you expected exercise to be. I'm not sorry about being able to be honest with you. Having realistic expectations for what you think this whole thing is going to be, or feel like, will keep you moving toward your goals. That should be your love affair.