Top 5 Reasons I Want to Be Fit

1. Pride

What can I say? When I look into that mirror I want to be like "Hey girl, check out that sexy bod." I want to be proud of what I look like and comfortable in my own skin. Call me vain or shallow I don't care you know everyone thinks about body image. I have always had a very positive body image and I want to keep it that way. This is why I don't look at the scale. Weight is a number that means nothing to me. For me its when I am in a bathing suit and look athletic.

I actually did climb Huayna Picchu-it was amazing. [Image]

2. Do Things

Well this is generic, but it was the best phrase I could come up with. I don't want to have my life limited by "cans" and "cannots". If I want to go climb Machu Picchu when I'm in Peru, I don't want to have to wait until I'm in shape enough. I just want to wake up and go do it. If my friends want to do intramural soccer, I don't want to have to tap out just because I'm huffing and puffing. I want to keep up on walking tours of Rome and still have enough energy to go out and party. I want to live it up.

3. Be Healthy

This had to make an appearance eventually. Pretty self explanatory. I don't want diabetes, or joint problems, or high pressure. For me personally, it is also about family history. I have crappy genes for heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, and osteoporosis. Exercise helps keep all those things at bay for longer. This girl wants to be going strong at 60.

4. Stress

I am pre-med. I will one day be a doctor. These are high stress things. Exercise helps me deal with stress better than anything else. I refuse to be paralyzed by my own mind. Working out is my way to gain control of my life. In science talk, exercise is a proven remedy to reduce stress levels and the negative effects that stress has on your body. 

5. The Apocalypse

Climbing trees to escape bloodthirsty teenagers takes some muscles [Image]

We are all thinking it. Between The Hunger Games (LOVE!), talks of Iran with nuclear bombs, North Korea, The Walking Dead, and the big 2012, how can we not think about what we will do if the world were to suddenly peace out. Goodbye McDonald's, goodbye electricity. I'm not about to spend time and money building any bomb shelters or whatever, but I want to hedge my bets a little bit. This body needs to be in good enough shape to get me out of a city and hunting for food and shelter. I'm not just gonna roll over and die if I suddenly find myself up against some zombies or Careers if you know what I'm saying. This girl is going out kicking and screaming.

What everyone else says

I do think the reasons a person workout are on some level personal. But of course the Internet loves lists, so I checked out why other people were getting their exercise on.

This got a chuckle out of me. [Image]

1. Health Benefits

2. Happiness-Hooray Endorphins!

3. Strong Immune System

4. Stay Mentally Sharp

5. Positive Body Image

Positive body image and staying mentally sharp surprised me. First off, maybe I am truly incredibly shallow but positive body image always ranked lower than I expected. Secondly, I never even thought about the mental benefits that come with exercise. There are actually a ton: studies have shown that exercise can help prevent serious mental diseases like dementia and can even help people control their ADD/ADHD.

Either way, I'm obviously more of an external benefits person verse internal. All of my reasons are about how I look or what I can do. Though I do think being able to survive a collapse of civilization would be important (you never know!). Speaking of which, Netflix just got all of The Walking Dead. Yes, I am quite excited. No, I do not think zombies will bring the end of the world (give me a little credit).