We all want to be fit and have the body we’ve always dreamed about. We work out and try to eat right. We learn about our lifestyle and try to make good choices.

There’s a hard, cold truth about fitness. It’s difficult to get fit and stay fit.

In today’s world, it’s easy to be unfit. We drive our cars instead of walking or biking. We take the escalator instead of the stairs. We have hundreds of different choices for the kind of hamburger we want to eat. We’re all very busy with our lives and it’s easy to choose other things to do with our time than exercise.

Working out is difficult. It will always be difficult. By its very nature, exercise requires extra effort. You must stress the body for the body to respond by becoming more fit. Exercise can’t be easy if it’s going to get a result. If you want to improve your cardio you have to raise your heart rate. Taking your heart rate up 30 or 40 beats a minute takes effort. You must work at it. Lifting more weight and strengthening your arms takes effort. You must lift weight you’re not used to lifting.

Working out will never be easy. You will always have to put in the time and effort.

Burning calories is challenging. Most people workout out to lose weight. The problem is exercise and physical activity doesn’t burn very many calories. A 175-pound man would need to walk about 35 miles to burn 3,500 calories which equals one pound of fat. Not all the calories burned on the walk would be fat either. Losing weight requires exercise and nutrition. You must take in less calories than you burn to lose weight.

Burning calories to lose weight is difficult. You need to add proper nutrition.

Eating whatever you want is difficult. If you abandon your fitness plan and start eating whatever you want, you will most likely gain weight. Most people do. Too many calories lead to weight gain. Eating whatever we want usually includes foods high in fat and sugar. Lots of calories. To be fit you need discipline in your diet. You need to follow a food plan that works for you.

Eating whatever you want is difficult. Too many calories lead to weight gain.

Working out forever is difficult. Reaching a level of fitness is the first part of the challenge. Staying fit is the second part. To stay fit you have to workout and eat right forever. If you stop the good, healthy habits your body will become less fit. This process can start in a short amount of time. Maintaining your fitness routine is important. It’s just hard to realize you’re going to be doing this forever.

Working out forever is difficult. You can only be fit if you do the work.

Yes, fitness is difficult. There’s no price you can put on your health. Whatever the effort, it will always be worth it!