You guys are in for a real treat with today’s guest post, which comes from the hilarious Janae from Hungry Runner Girl. When I say hilarious, I am not saying that lightly. It takes a lot to get me physically laugh out loud when I’m reading something, and Janae is able to do this almost everyday that I stop by her blog.
Janae is just an all around amazing person, who has also made some phenomenal accomplishments as a runner. Just coming off of a femur injury, Janae is starting to work her way back into her love of running, but has continued to exercise her face off like a rock star the whole time. Today, she shares with you some of her reasons for loving exercise. Enjoy!
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When Courtney asked me to guest post on her blog I felt star struck. I am coming clean and telling her that I have stalked her and loved her to death since the beginning of her blog. I am the head of her fan club.
I can’t wait to talk about something that I LOVE so much. Exercise.
I didn’t always love exercise. I thought of it as a chore. I only saw the ‘benefit’ of it being that it burned calories which meant that I was one step closer to wearing my skinny jeans. I got burnt out, bored and dreaded every. single. workout.
Magazines, tv, radio commercials, and everyone around us constantly talk about the benefit of exercise being to lose weight, we forget about all of the other AMAZING things that come with exercise.
Once I started racing competitively in running, I realized there were so many other benefits to exercise and I no longer dreaded my runs or gym time when I stopped focusing on burning calories or trying to look like the girls on the cover of fitness magazines.
Benefits from exercise that are my favoritest in the whole wide world 
1. You are happy. “Exercise gives you endorphins-endorphins make people happy and happy people don’t shoot their husbands….they just don’t.” -Elle Woods, Legally Blonde (clearly a very reliable source).
We all go through rough spots in life and sometimes we wake up grumpy or depressed. As soon as I get my heart pumping and sweat dripping off my forehead all of the sudden I see the world in a better light. I instantly feel happier, probably a little too happy.
2. Our physical health. We are less likely to get sick, we sleep better at night, we lower our risks of cancers/heart disease/stroke/ diabetes (aka the leading causes of death in our country). Plus, we will LIVE LONGER. I am really loving life so you better believe I want to be running around eating cupcakes (preferably Courtney’s) until I am 111.
3. Confidence. Feel crappy about yourself sometimes? I guarantee a good sweat will make you feel like you are thebomb.com. The other day my niece told me that my face looked weird because their were big red dots everywhere. It made me feel lamesauce. I went to the gym and instantly felt better about myself. Who cares if I had adult-onset acne that weak when I got a killer burn at the workout that day.
4. The best stress relief in the world. Whenever I feel like life is chaotic and out of control, if I just take 20 minutes to go on a walk with my hubby or do a quick Jillian workout DVD I feel so much more refreshed, energized and ready to tackle whatever projects I have ahead of me.
5. Social reasons. I have met some of my best friends along with my sis-in-law (met her at the gym, became bff’s and set her up with my bro) through running or the gym. It is amazing the community and support that you can find at your local running group or the people that you meet when you get ready for work at the gym or in the classes or the person on the elliptical next to you. You find that you have so much in common, you are slightly addicted to endorphins and you support each other in your goals for fitness.
Bonus…..You get to eat more ice cream.
Question from Janae:
What are your FAVORITE benefits of exercise?
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