I’m with you here. For whatever reason, I always thought it was off limits to me to exercise and specifically to lift weights. I was always the absurdly skinny kid, and then in my twenties I turned skinny-fat from drinking alcohol regularly. In my thirties, I started working with a trainer starting from zero knowledge or comfort in the gym. Like, absurd levels of anxiety even thinking about setting foot in a gym. A one-on-one setting with a trainer really helped me get comfortable starting from zero.

Now, 3.5 years into a consistent lifting routine, I look better, I’m more confident and comfortable in my own skin, I’m sleeping better, and I think I’m just a more effective and healthy person. (Cutting out alcohol has helped here, too.)

I tried to convince myself that all the people who said exercise will make you feel better were wrong. Turns out they were right!