I have discovered something incredible. It has the potential to be life-changing. The beauty of it all, which is simultaneously the most frustrating thing, is that it is so fantastically simple. Beautiful because of its simplicity, frustrating because I should have realized it long ago.

Well, really, I should have paid more attention to all those health and fitness magazines I would absent-mindedly flip through while I would wait for my work-out buddy to finish their slightly more involved fitness regimen at our gym.

The revelation? Exercising makes you feel good. Maybe it’s because I have always resented physical activity. Memories of feeling uncoordinated for even the simplest of games and being inexplicably winded after the very short jog to the fields during elementary school gym class continue to haunt me. I sneak jealous glances out of the corner of my eyes at my neighbors on the treadmills at the gym, wishing that I, too, could run with the ease of a gazella at 6.0 speed and elevation level 5. I have trudged resentfully through work-out videos, glaring at the TV and defiantly refusing to count out loud along with the DVD. And yet when I do force myself to push myself in a work out I end up feeling great. Exhausted, but great. It’s amazing!

Apparently a lot of people know this.

Fellow females, this is particularly important, especially if you are in a steady relationship and would like to stay that way – exercise can help relieve those pesky PMS symptoms. And hey, forget PMS. Just those pesky “I’m a woman and have uncontrollable hormones” symptoms in general. It’s wonderful!

I have always exercised in some form. Well, sometimes more than others. I’ve gotten into a more regular routine over the past couple years, but that didn’t mean I liked it. However, now it has become something I deeply appreciate. I still dread it, to be sure, and I still imagine that Jillian Michaels is my punching bag. But I love it. It makes me happy.