Did you really need to take off on Labor Day

A fitness lifestyle is a drudgery for most of us. It is work. It is not fun. It may even be as twice as bad as our nine to five jobs. What's even worse is that we may even secretly hope that a time will come when it is just no longer necessary.

Those of us who feel this way will probably have at least taken off from the club on Labor Day. Some even may have conveniently forgotten to take their supplements and some may have decided that they were owed a break today at the Golden Arches. And there were most likely quite a few who had a great time with beer, wine snacks and doing just nothing.

For most of us, to have not taken a break would have been counter to the whole spirit of Labor Day. That special day of all days is supposed to be a time when the world simply stops. One is supposed to use it for the celebration of his or her humanity, forgetting all of the tasks that he or she must do for everyone else. It is a time for all of us real people to smell the roses-- to enjoy life just for ourselves. Sadly this all too often means little more than substituting self-effacing living habits for the daily disciplines of a fitness lifestyle..

Asking how this sad situation can possibly happen to so many on Labor Day generally raises eyebrows. That is because no one is supposed to think that any type of exertion makes any type of sense on so special of a day. Not thinking this way, or worse, acting counter to it by doing such outrageous things as a full workout accompanied by a low fat low carb diet and a standard dose of supplements would simply be out of place. Anyone daring to be so audacious could and should be accused of being a machine, as is most often heard nowadays. That is presumably an inhuman entity whom no one wants to be with and whom everyone should either laugh at or condescendingly help.

Folks like Michael Phelps, Dara Torres or Jack Lalanne would laugh us for being this way. These people along with the world's other fine athletes would never agree that any of the fast food laced normality of sedentary America was at all what should prevail or what was even remotely good for anyone, holiday or not.

What makes them so much different? Probably years of dedication and a few trophies for lack of a better answer. That is something which truly does separate them from us. Yet, much to our disbelief, their lifestyle is something which we really can emulate given enough time and effort. But will we even try? Will we be any different when Labor Day comes around next year? If we do not think so, what might get us doing the right thing?

For more thought about a fitness lifestyle and its superiority to normal living order my book "Think and Grow Fit."