Red Pill Blue Pill

So the alarm goes off, you hit snooze. Not today!  Whatever exercise regiment you have planned can wait until after lunch. . . or maybe after work. Or. . .maybe I'll just do it tomorrow.

The days turn into weeks, the weeks into months, and months into years.Your procrastination and lack of motivation have spiraled out of control into overweight and unhappy you. Everyone has that something deep inside of him or her that gets actived once he or she hits rock bottom: it's that moment when a person wakes up and realizes the only way to dig oneself out is to get off one's a** and try. But you are scared of being a better you! So, self sabotage sets in: I'm meant to be this big because it's in my genes; I can still move around; I'll just use this extra weight as an excuse to go shopping.

We all have millions of reasons why our health and well-being often take a back seat to the rest of our lives. It only becomes an issue when we are going on that long-awaited vacation and want to feel good in our swimsuit; or when our health professional tells us we are at risk for high blood pressure, high cholestrol, or diabetes; or the few extra pounds have translated into a daily inconvenience because we can no longer walk up a series of steps without some difficulty breathing. Whatever your motivation, find it and run, or at least walk more than you presently do!

You have to want to be a better more fit you.

You have to want it so bad that your friend bailing on the workout doesn't effect you. You have to want it so bad that you get up an hour before the rest of your house so you can get uninterrupted time with your favorite fitness dvd. You have to want it so bad that you skip company happy hour because you have goals and looking good is more important than drinking thousands of calories and eating crappy bar food.

No one ever said being fit was easy, but there are so many ways in 2012 to get fit: It's as easy as taking a walk or joining a low-cost gym or one with all the trimmings; then there are more specialized fitness options like signing up for a crossfit box, yoga studio, running club, or boxing gym. One can even turn his or her pursuit of an improved physique into a social event by finding a fitness-meet up group online. No one cares how you do it; like Nike so appropriately reminds us on every piece of apparel they produce, Just do it! Every little thing you do gets you one step closer to the body you want.

People always idolize celebrities, especially females, for their (typically) slim physiques, but keep in mind that even with a lift here and a tuck there, they still have to meet with their trainers. Sure, some  have private chefs and many have nutritionists, but at the end of the day if they don't eat the proper food their desire to be fit, thin, and beautiful won't translate into reality. The work still has to be done: there is no avoiding it people.

So it comes down to this - like Morpheus says in the film The Matrix, you have a choice: you can take the red pill or blue pill. In the world of fitness, the red pill means you choose to stay in your current reality and popping the blue pill means you are ready to see what your mind and body are truly capable of.

Red pill or blue pill, you choose!