Less Is More: Stop Wasting Your Life By Endlessly Working Out
It surely won’t take much to convince you that we live in a society that has become too busy for it’s own good. We are constantly looking to get things done faster and more efficiently so that we’ll have time to… well, do more things. More, more, more is the mantra of Western society and it has permeated fitness and nutritional lives too.
photo credit: WTL photos
I’ve come to realise that what’s important is what’s important. Everything else is optional. What I mean by this is, if we cull from our lives that which is secondary and focus on what is of first importance, then we’ll be getting less but more important things done. Then we’ll truly see that everything else is fluff.
Working out and eating right is important. Working out every day and eating absolutely no unhealthy food, is not important. It just isn’t.
For those that are striving for a better, healthier body, without wasting their lives, ignoring the unimportant is of utmost importance. In the book First Things First, Stephen Covey asks the question, “How many people on their deathbed wish they’d spent more time at the office?”. A great question for sure, but I’m also going to add to it for all those who find themselves labeled as health or fitness nuts, how many wish they’d spent more time in the gym?
The conventional wisdom of the day will probably make you react by saying you will indeed wish you’d spent more time in the gym. And don’t get me wrong, I encourage consistent regular fitness, and for people who have spent their spare time watching TV and eating junk food, and haven’t set foot in a gym, they probably should have this thought on their death bed! But if you really think about it, lying there on your death bed you’ll be reminiscing about what you could have done that would count.
Spending time in a gym, or hour-long runs, or whatever other fitness method you use, are not activities that reward you the more you do it. Yes, you should keep active, lift weights, run the odd sprint and do plenty of walking. And if you truly enjoy it then don’t let me stop you from doing it every day. But know this, there is a point when you reach the optimum level of fitness activites after which you begin going back down the other side of the bell curve.
photo credit: Drewski Mac
Don’t waste time being ultra fit if it means letting life pass you by.
Yes, being too much of a “fitness freak” is actually detrimental to your health. Our bones, our muscles, our ligaments all need time to restore and repair. Remember those times when you woke up feeling sick and you had a workout anyway? You would probably have done better to sleep in another hour or two.
Even if you are benefiting from the extra workout, or Hitler diet, you’re probably hurting yourself (or others) in other ways.
What about that time you refrained from eating the main dish at a meal with friends or family because “you’re on a diet”. You would probably have done better to indulge for one meal and enjoy the therapeutic benefits that fellowship and sharing food together bring.
You don’t have to be guilty when you skip a workout!
The worst thing about being a fitness freak is that you voluntarily take on the feeling of guilt whenever you don’t go 100%. Listen folks, a life of always feeling guilty for not working out enough, or not eating the right foods, is not a life at all. Life is to be enjoyed and while we were made to have a purpose and be busy doing that, there are definitely times where relaxation (even laziness) and indulgence are part of living.
Besides, your purpose in life is not to be continually working out! Fitness and nutrition, among other things, are tools that will empower you to live out that purpose.
So, how about skipping today’s workout?
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Comment by Greg
6 October 2009
The question about spending more time at the office is poignant. A question that we must ask ourselves is WHY try to be fit. Is it for the sake of fitness, or so we can enjoy our lives.
Comment by Elliot Wilson
7 October 2009
Thanks for your comment Greg. You’re right in that it ultimately comes down to a person’s mindset.