Fitness Changes Lives

In this week's blog post, Kim Healey our Director of Operations here at The Abs Company, explains how Fitness has changed her life, and shares some insightful and inspiring tips with us. Kim is the very first employee of The Abs Company, and as you will learn, a lifelong fitness enthusiast.

 

We Believe *know that Fitness Changes Lives

I won’t tell you how old I am but you might be able to guess when I tell you that at my first job out of college, I started a club after work where we met in the conference room at the end of the day and popped a Jane Fonda VHS Tape into the VCR player and worked out together! Jane Fonda and Aerobics classes in local church basements and rec halls were really my first introduction to ‘working out’. Although I was an athlete in High School and College I never really ‘went to the gym’ but I stayed in shape just by being a member of a team and working towards improving in that sport.

Pretty much since the Jane Fonda Days, I’ve worked out regularly and consider fitness and staying fit as a staple in my life. I wasn’t doing it because I wanted to live longer or because I wanted to have the perfect body, or because of vanity, I was doing it just because it’s who I was and it’s a part of my routine…like eating and breathing, I worked out.

Fast forward to the year I began working for The Abs Company, I happened upon the job because of our affiliation with the same gym, and fast forward again to the day we brainstormed as a team to put into words our purpose. WE CHANGE LIVES FROM THE CORE….and one of our core values, WE BELIEVE FITNESS CHANGES LIVES. It was only then that I began to think about how fitness has changed my life.

Of course I’ll never know who I’d be if I hadn’t put myself on this path of having fitness be a part of who I am, however I can catch a glimpse perhaps when I look back at my Mother’s life. She used to tell me that in college she ‘got out of gym class’ and took a class on sleeping instead. (no joke). She was a smoker for most of her life, and my most vivid memories of her are seeing her sitting in a chair in our home with a cigarette in one hand and the phone in another chatting with a friend. I don’t ever recall her taking care of herself or working out. When she hit the age of 70, while she had quit smoking by then, the damage had been done and her doctor told her that if she wanted to prolong her life, he recommended walking every day. He told her just 20 minutes a day, could quite possibly prolong her life for quite a few years. Sadly she ignored this advice, continued her sedentary life and died a few years later.

We all have stories like this I’m sure, however every time I use this core value We BELIEVE fitness changes lives, I think to myself, not only do I believe it, I KNOW it. I also have a bad back and from time to time when it’s flaring up, I have a few days where I can’t workout. On those days, in addition being in a great deal of pain, I feel older and I feel horrible overall. I yearn for a day when I can once again go the gym and get in a good workout. This leads me to ALWAYS be grateful on the days when I can take working out for granted and head to the gym, I feel so lucky and blessed that I’m not in pain, and that nothing is preventing me from the great PRIVILEGE of working out.

Truly when you think about it, working out and staying in the best shape that YOU can possibly be in, is a great privilege.

One day after a class at my gym, during the cool down, the instructor gave us a motivational thought for the day and she said, “I
don’t have cancer, I’m not going to have chemotherapy today, For this I am truly grateful.” This was about 20 years ago, and I carry it with me to this day, it was a powerful perspective and perhaps helped lead me to this place of gratitude for the privilege to GET TO workout whenever I want to. So my workout tip for you is don’t look at getting in shape or staying in shape as a burden or a chore, but look at is as one of life's great privileges.