Is Your Workout Hurting More Than Helping? Read This.

The Story of Anna

Anna used to dread exercise. Every step on the treadmill felt like a form of penance, a way to atone for the dessert she had eaten the night before. She counted calories burned with a mix of desperation and resentment, believing movement was the price she had to pay for pleasure. If she skipped a workout, guilt would seep in, whispering that she was failing.

One day, while watching her niece play outside, something shifted. The little girl sprinted across the grass, arms stretched wide, twirling in circles, laughing breathlessly as if movement was the most natural joy in the world. There was no concern for calories or steps—just sheer delight in the act of moving.

Anna couldn’t remember the last time she felt that way.

At what point had movement become a chore instead of a gift? When had she traded in childhood cartwheels for punishing workouts?

That day, she made a decision. She would no longer move out of guilt. She would move out of love.

The Lie We Were Told About Exercise

Many of us, like Anna, were taught that exercise is something we have to do to stay thin, to be worthy, to offset the damage of food. We were fed the lie that workouts exist to make us smaller, to sculpt us into something more acceptable.

But movement was never meant to be a punishment.