At some stage it became unacceptable to admit out loud that one of your big motives for exercising was to look better.
It became something people would fixate and obsess over in their own minds, but would feel embarrassed to voice.
Instead, it became ‘acceptable’ to only point to ‘health’ or ‘fitness’ or ‘happiness’ as the drivers of your exercise.
Now of course, these are noble and important reasons to exercise, and they’re completely valid and crazily important. But sometimes, people fall back on these standard responses when, really, they just want to look better.
And that’s ok.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to LOOK fit and healthy. There’s nothing vain or conceited about a desire for your body to reflect the hard work you’ve put in to it. Of course, this can be taken to the extreme. To disordered eating and disordered exercise habits. In this case, your desire for aesthetics has come at the detriment of your health. And that isn’t ok. It’s a sign to talk with someone about how you can work through what could become a dangerous situation. Exercise should be a positive experience (and here are six ways to make that happen).
But the key is, how we look on the outside, and how we look on the inside are often related. More often than not, the exercise you do to build muscles, or to achieve a healthy level of body fat, is the SAME EXERCISE you do to get healthy. You don’t have to train for aesthetics on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, then train for health on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. They can, and should, be the same thing.
If a motivation by how you look makes you start exercising (it’s easier than you think) and keeps you exercising (and therefore also keeps you healthy), it’s not a bad thing. It’s allowed. So as long as it’s not damaging your health, keep chasing that sexiness. I think you’re beautiful just how you are, but if it keeps you exercising, go for it!
