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Lately, when scrolling my Instagram, I’ve noticed a lot more people sharing their fitness routines. They tell us about their favorite exercise gear, favorite workouts, what they love to eat and why. These people seem to love fitness, they’ve found what works for them, and constantly have advice to share with their followers on how they got to where they are (hey, I’m guilty of it, too).

Don’t get me wrong, I think this is great. We’re all looking for ways to improve, and drawing from others’ experiences and success can give us new things to try for ourselves. Plus, when we have found something that works, it’s exciting to share that love and energy with others.

BUT, doesn’t it also sometimes feel like everyone — everyone but you — has it all figured out? Like they’re all doing what they love and you’re still trying to figure out what you love (if anything) about fitness?

To uncover what’s really going on here, I decided to poll several friends and family members for their answers to one simple question:

What do you HATE about fitness?

I think you’re gonna like what they all had to say, and since it is Authenticity Month here on Little Miss Fearless, you may even appreciate the reminder that it’s not real for anyone to love everything about fitness. Some people are better at turning what they hate into something they love (and keeping their focus there), but we ALL hate something sometimes.

From elite runners and fitness pros who’ve lived their lives being consistently fit, to people who have struggled with their weight or struggled with making fitness a consistent part of their lifestyle, all of these responses come from people with varying interests in fitness. Some are moms, some are new moms, some are working professionals, some are men and dads.

Here are 8 things we all hate about fitness…

1. Comparison + Never Enough
   • Probably the thing I hate most about fitness is when I feel like I failed. I have high expectations and sometimes it does me more harm than good to try to live up to those expectations.
   • There are so many resources on social media and at-home workout plans and all…every girl in them looks so perfect and man, I can’t seem to get that way. Or don’t have time or enough drive to I guess.
   • I hate that there’s never really an end goal or destination. Once you reach one goal, there’s always something more to work on.
   • The never feeling like I’m enough.
   • Comparing myself to other people at the gym.
   • I hate that fitness blogs/posters/ads always use the same body type to show what it looks like to be fit. It gives women the wrong idea of what they will look like once they are fit. Because everyone has different body types. Like if they are thick, it doesn’t make them fat, if they just can’t get muscle to show, that doesn’t mean they aren’t strong. Ads are getting better… But they still use the same body type most of the time. I feel like everyone is trying to be what they can’t achieve. And some people make it like a competition. If I focus too much on how other people are doing, it makes me competitive and I don’t want to be.
   • My biggest struggle is finding balance between accomplishing goals and forgiving myself when I fall short. As a runner, it is always hard not to compare your current self to your ideal self all the time.
2. All-consuming
   • The obsession.
   • I don’t like it when running or exercise controls me and my thoughts.
   • When I commit to a plan, it’s all I can think about and I hate that. I don’t want to obsess over it. Usually that’s why I end up quitting.
   • I hate making my whole life revolve around my eating and exercise plans.
3. Time commitment / Discipline / Energy
   • The time it takes. I don’t believe those 5-minute workouts really do much, I feel like it takes at least 20 minutes to do anything. And sometimes I feel like there are better things I could be doing in those 20 minutes.
   • The time commitment.
   • Time requirement.
   • One thing I hate about fitness is that when you take a week or two off and jump back in, you feel like you’ve lost everything. The soreness after that first day back, your endurance is lacking… you really have to keep working at it daily.
   • The time commitment.
   • Lack of social life.
   • I guess it adds to the time thing (and this is kinda weird) but if I exercise in the mornings especially, I have to take a shower! Which is really inconvenient with children. Lol. It adds at least 10 more minutes to my workout time.
   • Finding time and energy for it.
   • I hate not being a morning person, esp with running. I have so little will power in the morning and struggle with rationalizing my way into more sleep and less discipline. Then I always regret it and spend my day kicking myself for being lazy.
   • Getting ready after working out. Especially in the morning. If I want to shower before work, I have to wake up SO early to work out so there’s enough time.
   • I hate sweating! I don’t like wearing exercise clothes (I swear I’m the only one). I wish I could wear normal clothes lol so I don’t have to change.
   • Getting ready after working out.
4.  Motivation
   • I don’t like getting stuck in a rut- same old runs, same old scenery, same old “this doesn’t feel good today” thoughts. Sometimes I have to mix it up and trick my mind by going somewhere I’ve never (or rarely) been to run and then suddenly I feel completely different ?.
   • Getting burned out on the same exercises and workouts.
   • Making it a lifestyle. I feel like I’m always starting over.
   • I get bored doing the same thing all the time, but it’s so uncomfortable and intimidating to try new things.
   • Feeling overwhelmed by where to focus (weights, cardio)…feeling like I’m not doing enough of everything, or don’t have enough time to do all I want to do. Some of that leads to losing motivation.
5. Gym probs ??‍♀️
   • Crowded gyms. Hate waiting around for machines or weights to open up. Makes me lose direction and patience to do what I intended to do.
   • Hate when the guy next to me at the gym smells.
   • If I’m feeling bad about how I look, I hate going to the gym and feeling like everyone can see me and watch me struggle.
6. Not one-size-fits-all
   • I do hate that fitness isn’t cookie cutter. Sometimes I wish that what worked for one person would work for the next, but it is so not that way! You have to try so many different things before you find what you love and what works best for your body type. It’d be nice to have an equation like do this and you’ll get that result. But it’s not always that easy.
   • I hate that some random fit person can motivate me to work out, but that I can’t make myself look like them. I wish I could follow their plan exactly and get their exact results. That part sucks.
7. Injuries
   • Injuries as I am getting older.
   • When I try to go hard on cardio and get injured.
   • Don’t like aging in fitness because it hurts.
   • Injuries and being hurt and in pain.
8. Diet
   • Hate eating something in 5 seconds and having to put so much more work in to burn it off.
   • So hard to stick to it (mostly the eating part).
   • Worst part about fitness is I love food.
   • Hardest part about being fit: pepperoni.
   • The reality that results really don’t come to me without a strict diet.
   • The effort I have to put into eating right if I want results from exercising.

Tell me you don’t feel motivated now. I am a firm believer in finding motivation through self acceptance. And part of self-acceptance is realizing the common humanity in our struggles.

If you can relate to anything shared above, you likely feel less alone. And that means it’s not just you! You’re not the only one struggling for results, for better health, for a better self-image. WE ALL STRUGGLE. Not all of us share our struggles. I just happen to love sharing mine.

But the next time you’re scrolling through Instagram or Facebook, remember that behind everyone’s best foot forward, there is always a reality you may not be able to see. What matters is how you choose to share your life with others.

What do YOU hate about fitness? Would you add anything different to this list?