Working Out Sucks! (A Giveaway Post!)

I have said the title of this post way more than I wish to concede in my own life.

Working out for the duration of my adult life has SUCKED.

I say this because I have always had the super slowest metabolism in the world and instead of being one with it and working with it, I have spent the duration of this time trying to ignore it (didn’t work), wallowing in self-pity over it (didn’t work), eating my way out of it (soooo did not work), starving my way out of it (didn’t work times 10), fad dieting my way out of it (bacon wrapped cheese cubes, really? Take a guess on whether that worked.) And diet pill-ing my way out of it (a trip to the emergency room says that didn’t work either.)

“Working Out Sucks!”(And Why it Doesn’t Have To)” is the title of the latest book written by Anytime Fitness CEO Chuck Runyon and he’s right. When you begin your journey and you are not blessed with the skinny genes (like me), working out does suck. At least for a while. It did for me. It hurts. You want to stop. It is just plain not fun.

But throughout the book, Runyon shares some startling statistics that put the suckage of working out into some serious perspective. For instance:

“The current generation is on track to have a shorter lifespan than their parents, and by 2048, all American adults will be overweight or obese.” -President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition and the Centers for Diseason Control and Prevention

That’s scary!

We’re not only killing ourselves, we’re literally killing our children through obesity! And by not being healthy role models for them!

The moral of the story is, as Runyon puts it: “Working out sucks but leading an entire generation into a shorter life span and lower quality of life sucks even more.”

Runyon ends each chapter with, “Working out sucks but…” and he inserts the alternative. Sometimes the alternative is a pretty scary statistic. Sometimes he reminds us that we’re capable and able-bodied and we should remember that as we’re sitting there using an app to order pizza while planted firmly on the couch with remote in hand. Sometimes he reminds us that we are worth being healthy.

He disspells every myth and excuse you can possibly make but even further, with help from collaborators Rebecca DeRossett, a therapist, and registered dietitian and conditioning specialist Brian Zehetner, offers alternatives to them along with habit-changing mental and physical exercises. Because we all know, change starts with your mind.

I found myself nodding in agreement throughout the book. In fact, he says everything that I believe, only he don’t sugarcoat it, here, peoples. He tells the truth and he tells it bluntly, but motivatingly so. 

The thing is, we all have to find our motivator. Is it our kids? Is it ourselves? Is it the money we spend on being unhealthy?

The book doesn’t put things delicately. And honestly that’s why I like it. Also, he dedicates an entire chapter to MILFs and why moms rock! (MILF = Mothers Into Life-long Fitness! What were YOU thinking?)

But “Working Out Sucks!” isn’t just about *why* you should work out and what would happen if you didn’t, it’s about *how* to work out, eat healthy, and change habits. Because when you change habits, when you find that power within you and the self-esteem begins to emerge, that’s when working out begins to NOT suck. And that has happened for me on my journey and that’s where I “get” what he’s saying.

Runyon, DeRossett, and Zehetner collaborate on 4 parts of the book to bring readers ways to make motivational, behaviorial and nutritional changes.  Included in the book is a 21 day nutritional & workout plan that combines a very doable 5-6 meals a day with 5-6 days of cardio and strength workouts. Which is actually exactly how I got my start, in fact, the plan looks startlingly similar to what I did at the beginning. I will tell you from that standpoint, that this is an excellent starting point in your journey.

He doesn’t claim that it will be easy. Because it’s not. Like I said, he doesn’t sugarcoat it.

But he does show you why you’re worth it.

And you are.

Who is this book for? It’s for:

“…the busy ones who hate working out. This is for the people who join a club and go only during the New Year’s resolution crunch. The people who get an elliptical machine for Christmas and use it to hang their clothes. The people who get winded walking up a flight of stiars. Anyone who’s scared, intimidated, uneducated, unmotivated, or just plain lazy.”
 

I personally believe that at first, Working Out Sucks!

But eventually it won’t. It doesn’t have to. (And it doesn’t for me anymore either, I love it now. Triathlon changed everything for me.)

But you gotta start somewhere.

Oh and by the way, 100% of the proceeds of this book go to Limbs for Life, a fantastic nonprofit organization that provides prosthetics to individuals who can’t afford them.

So, if you want to start here on your own journey, you want to get healthy, (and SOON!) and you also want to hear the rest of what the book has to say, which includes some very touching before and after stories along with very valuable nutritional information, I’m giving away THREE copies of this book to three lucky readers!

Here is how you enter the giveaway:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!!

During this giveaway period, I will also be sharing some more great facts and nuggets from the book on the Average Moms Wear Capes Facebook page, so be sure to meet me over there to hear more about the book and discuss!

Disclosure: Fitfluential LLC compensated me for this sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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