I have a friend — let’s call him George. George and I have known each other since we were ten. In high school, George loved to eat. Any time we hung out, we would eat fast food, snacks, and anything unhealthy. George never really exercised either. Most of his activities involved sitting. At some point, George told me how upset he felt about his body, and he wanted to improve. So, George started doing 20-minute high-intensity workout videos. Over time he began losing weight. By the end of our junior year in high school, George lost 30 pounds. Everyone was impressed with his progress. Everyone praised him for being so disciplined.
When I spoke to him though, he told me he felt too skinny. So senior year, he started lifting weights. George would go to the gym five to six times per week. After a year and a half, I ran into George over winter break during freshman year of college. He looked way more muscular. I asked him how much muscle he gained since lifting. He said he gained 40 pounds, but a lot of it was fat. He told me how much he needed to lose weight. So, George started dieting heavily along with his workouts. George ate extremely little and extremely clean. Fruits, vegetables, oatmeal, non-fat yogurt, etc. When he told me his diet, I couldn’t be more impressed. George went from eating fast food every day to eating cleaner than most personal trainers. Yet, it still seemed like George wasn’t where he wanted to be.
After working out together one day, we got lunch. I mentioned to him how great he looked, and he glumly said thank you.
I asked him what was wrong, and he said, “I don’t know, I thought once I lost all of this weight, I would be happy with my body. I thought all of my problems would be solved but I still feel like it’s not enough.”
I asked him, “Do you enjoy going to the gym?”
He replied, “Yes.”
“Would you be okay going back to who you were before you started working out?”
He immediately said “No.”
“Then clearly going to the gym is doing something for you, George. Sure, you may feel like you never reach your ideal image, but maybe you’re never supposed to. Maybe it’s normal to feel like you always have something to work on. Plus, if you love going to the gym, and you always have something to work on in the gym, won’t you always have an excuse to do what you love?”
He shrugged and said, “I guess I’ll go to the gym then.”
Final message: No matter how much you improve, you will always have problems — you will always have something to do so you’ll never be bored. Woo-hoo.
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