Living the 'fitness lifestyle' takes a lot of hard work, dedication, patience, being strict and giving it your all. Not many people want to do that. It is a lot easier to eat whatever, drink whatever, and just live life like that. One word that comes to my mind when thinking about this is 'lazy'. Lazy people don't want to wake up at 6am to get a workout in before work, they want to sleep as long as possible. Lazy people don't want to walk around a supermarket (or spend time shopping online) for ingredients to make fresh, healthy meals, they want 'ready-meals'. Lazy people don't want to cook healthy meals, they would rather wait for a takeaway to be delivered. Lazy people don't want to avoid certain foods and alcohol, they want to go out and get drunk (not all of them, I know). This is the common trend - always taking the easy option.
Working out doesn't just make you look better - it makes you feel better, feel more confident, more content, more alive, more alert, to take control of your life. Some people just 'go through the motions' in terms of career, simply to have enough money to do what they want outside of work. This lifestyle can work for a while, but not long term, and one day, when you're past the age of drinking and clubbing, where are you going to be? The fitness life isn't as expensive as people seem to think it is. I'm pretty darn sure that people who spend their money on 4 holidays a year, clubbing, booze, designer clothes, a new phone every year, and so on, will spend a heck of a lot more money than someone who spends their money on fitness.
I know that those people who don't workout aren't all lazy, there are other reasons, but the majority of the time, I see and read that it is down to being lazy. Ask any bodybuilder out there (and no, I am not saying everyone should be a bodybuilder, just read...) if they always enjoy their workouts, always look forward to them, never think 'ahh I'm just going to stop now, I've had enough'. I could almost guarantee that you will find zero people. Everyone goes through times where they just don't feel like it, want to give up on that last rep, that last set, don't feel like cooking that night, don't feel like getting up early to workout, but they do it, why? because they want that end result.
You only live once - wow, how many times do you read that.... but it's true. Do you want to be lazy in your life? always taking the easy option? some people will always be like that, but I'm sure many people would change. I get asked a lot if it's possible to combine a good body with a clubbing lifestyle, and I always say no, because you can't. When people ask me that, it simply means that they aren't prepared to put the hard work in. Fitness is a very powerful tool, and if you use it, many, many good things can come your way.
Lee Gregory Fitness
