Exercise Is My Easy Button

People who don’t like to work out consider me a nut. “Why exactly would you want to endure 20-degree temperatures to go outside and run?” My response isn’t because “I like it” because—let’s be honest—occasionally a workout really stinks. Instead, it’s a line from a commercial.

Exercise is my easy button.

Over the years, exercise has kept me sane, happy, healthy, focused and even entertained. Through exercise I’ve made friends, gotten jobs, started a business, been inspired, learned that I can do anything, been a girlie-girl, been a tomboy—the list goes on and on. In many ways, exercise has defined who I am and who I am not. And in almost any given situation or predicament I’m facing, whether it’s a bad day, week or year, exercise always makes it better. I never regret going to the gym.

For me, working out is my easy button and reset button all in one. It resets my mood, my attitude and my outlook, and all of a sudden, a problem or issue that was stressing me out becomes, you guessed it—easy. There is tons of research on how exercise produces feel-good endorphins and can actually be an effective treatment for depression, and while I obviously enjoy this side effect, regular exercise gives me something even more valuable and less tangible: self-confidence. When I work out, I feel strong, beautiful and in awe of everything wonderful about life. This empowered feeling is a big reason why we started the site and what it means to be a Fit Bottomed Girl.

So before we embark on the season of New Year’s resolutions, I urge you—if you’re not already working out or if you do so inconsistently—to make a solid commitment to exercise. It’s not only good for your body, it’s good for your soul. And, when you do it often enough, it becomes that magical four-letter word: E-A-S-Y. —Jenn