What “Christian,” “workout,” and “diet” have in common

“Christian,” “Diet”, and “Workout” these 3 words each illicit a generally negative connotation. When mentioned in conversation or seen on a post they bring up questions and feelings of unease in the general public. Over the years, each has been warped in the public conscience to mean bad things.

Let’s jump to workout/work out. “I work out for 4 hours a day!” “I do my daily workout routine every morning at 4 AM.” “Hey, you wanna work out with us?” Alarms start going off! Disbelief flares! I’ll admit, depending on what I know about the person, I get fearful with the word workout. I envision running sprints, incessant sit-ups, or even worse…burpees! It’s panting and sweating and waking up tomorrow hurting in places you don’t normally. Right? 

Diet! We have decades of fad diets that branded the word. I for one was quite a fan of the ABS POWER DIET from Men’s Health for a number of years. Diet brings about thoughts of cutting carbs, getting rid of sweets, and getting rid of alcohol. All the “enjoyable” things. It’s what the doctor wields as a check the box before they recommend you for gastric bypass or stints, or a GLP-1 medication. In truth, it is defined as the standard of the way that you eat. 

I speak from no high hill when I poke at the word Christian. There was a time when calling me that would have received quite the verbal rebuke. I spent my time actively running away from God. It still makes me laugh to realize that He was what I was running after all along. Even today as a Christian I still get that reaction in common groups. That slight recoil followed by ” What kind of Christian are you?” Because there are so many different kinds. Sadly, the main point in that question is “Are you one of those hateful Christians that judge everyone hypocritically and protest outside of clinics?” Love to burst your bubble, nope. I’m one of those red letter fixated Christians. I look to follow Jesus’s example and pay more attention to him than the followers. 

Why go through these 3 words? What’s it all about? Well, keeping to the example of the red letters, I found that you have to meet people where they are in their understanding of each and help guide them to a positive and beneficial understanding.

That is part of the fun of personal training. A new client comes in with a wedding 3 months away and wants to lose 20 pounds. That old chestnut! Okay, great. Let’s break that down. Losing 20 lbs in 3 months is doable with the proper alignment of actions towards that goal. We’re talking diet, exercise, and recovery. Personal trainers are most often working out with the more deconditioned population; those that are lacking in strength and muscle mass that want to learn and get better. Well, “want to” may not be accurate as you get those clients that are pretty much “doctor ordered” and begrudgingly attend. Fortunately, the latter has been less common in my experience. These clients come into training with preconceived notions of what’s in store and what they are capable. Generally, they are mistaken on both fronts. 

Where did the disconnect originate? Experience! I hated Christians for a time. No lie. I was $99 away from joining the Official Church of Satan. I’d fuss at you if I sneezed and you said “Bless you.” My experience with Christians growing up was that they were hypocritical, and growing up in the country, quite racist. They made sure to make it to church on Sunday and act however they want the other 6 days. They judge and condemn and tell you what to do with your life. Sound familiar? 

Similarly, I didn’t do the exercise thing. I was a fat kid at a time when films like Disney’s Heavyweights, Mighty Ducks, and Goonies (I still don’t watch that last one, we can get into that later) made the fat kids the joke. Granted, each film gave the FK their moment to shine, it doesn’t eliminate the stereotypes that persisted in the film up to that moment. My exercise was lifting Oatmeal Creme Pies to the face while flipping through books or my stack of comic books. I adopted that stereotype. I didn’t do exercise other than gym class, and even that wasn’t regular.

Having touched on what went down the gullet, let’s talk about the d-word. “Diet” was truly associated with something that cost 4 easy payments of $19.99, no C.O.D.. That’s Cash on Delivery, not Call of Duty. It was a shake for breakfast, a shake for lunch, and whatever you wanted for dinner. Prior to high school, diet was very much an outcome of the id. Comic books and television ads told me what I wanted to eat; all that hyper-processed, ready instantly, chock full of bad sodium and preservatives deliciousness. As I got into sports, I got better about how I ate. You are what you eat and being a 320 lbs freshman running 40s in the Virginia August heat with football pads on, I wanted to be more than a snack cake.

It took being around Christians that were good examples of the ideal to help me see that not all were bad. Crazy thing about Christians that a lot of non-believers forget is that they are people! They are just people that identified a way of living that gives them a sense of purpose. The way they carry it out, well that’s part of the journey. After accepting Jesus as God’s son and the path to life, I was a zealot! I openly spoke against those that didn’t accept the life. Yep, 100% honest. My understanding of the mission was to go out and convert everyone. If you aren’t part of this group then you’re doing it wrong. Yeesh, it was nasty. Fortunately, it was mostly behind closed doors and my amazing wife helped keep it in check. As I matured in my faith and paid more attention to the words of Jesus, less so of Paul and such, I adopted a position of grace. Grace for those that haven’t found God as a solution to their suffering. I can say that I’ve been there and I get it.

That’s the same for me with diet and exercise; I’ve been there. I gave a solid year to digging in and changing my life. I signed up with a coach and lived by his guidance. I accepted that I didn’t know what to do and found someone who did. I was told once upon a time that the secret to be successful is to find someone who succeeded in your desired area and emulate them. Okey dokes, let’s go. Through that journey I learned more about my body, how it reacts to carb cycling, fasting, various hydration levels, etc. It was amazing! I didn’t think that I could fast for a whole day, then I did it. I didn’t think that I could make it on 50g of carbs a day, then I did. Diet and exercise, much like my faith, were about discovery. It was about the experience.

See, I did obligatory church attendance and service as a kid. That duty-filled, relationship-less obedience to the Lord that didn’t enjoy being questioned. I’ve been in the forced carb and calorie restriction life. I found that none of them really worked until I made the choice. 

What do those 3 words have in common? They are a choice; your choice. If you want it to be better, then it is on you to make it better. No one can eat better for you. No one can work out for you. No one can have a personal relationship with God for you. It has to be you. 

Make the choice and commit.