How many times have you had a friend tell you, “I can’t tomorrow. I have a doctor’s appointment.” Or maybe they are taking a parent to the doctor. What about the person at work who is always missing because they have to go to the doctor or are sick.

Too many times, I have received an email saying, “Hey Rich, I need to start on something asap. The regular gym has never worked for me, but I need to get going now; at my yearly physical, the doctor told me my XYZ’s were all out of whack, and if I continue down this path, it won’t be good.”

We do this to ourselves. We eat like crap and never set foot into a gym. We complain that CrossFit is too hard on our body as we put more trash into our mouths, sit around more, drink more, smoke more, and sleep less.

There is never a doctor that goes, “Well, sir, it looks like you have bad knees, and that is what led to your heart disease.” We constantly use excuses to find a reason not to do something, especially exercise.

Last week I wrote a blog about stopping time through fitness by improving workouts in the gym. I used examples like running a faster mile time each year or lifting more weight than you did last year. No matter how much or how little you improve, an improvement stops time.

People get too caught up in what the scales say and not enough about what the doctor says. I have known many people in my life that looked like they could be on the cover of a magazine but have more internal health issues than I can count.

Aesthetics doesn’t mean health. Stop focusing so much on what you look like on the outside and start focusing on what’s going on inside your body. Each year you should see things improving like blood pressure or bone density. More often than not, if we are becoming healthier on the inside, our physical appearance will change for the better as well.

If you are struggling with getting your fitness journey started, do not go sign up for the $30/month place where you are left to yourself to figure out how to improve your fitness. Hire a trainer or join a CrossFit gym. Yes, it’s more expensive, but I can promise you the doctor bills that come with being sick will cost you a lot more.

FITNESS IS A LONG GAME. This isn’t something that is going to happen overnight, or in the next couple of months, or even next year. It could be a long time before you see serious, LASTING results. It takes time, but it will be worth it. Invest in yourself.

See you tomorrow,

Richard