Last week I was in South Carolina for a baseball tournament with my son. It’s hard trying to keep healthy habits when you’re traveling and in a hotel for an extended time.

Or at least it is for me!

Max and I brought some good snacks down with us, and we also stopped in the grocery store.

But it’s always a question. Will I actually take time to workout? I always say I’m going to, but after long hot days at the field, or really early games, I often lose my energy or excitement.

So early on, maybe the first full day there, we got back around midday and I made myself go to the gym.

I was kind of bummed when another guy was in there, because I’m not kidding you when I say this place was TINY. A treadmill, elliptical and very small space behind to use weights. But literally nowhere to move around.

I said hi, hoping he wouldn’t want to talk, and got to work.

Some turkish get-ups, Some thrusters with the heaviest dumbells they had. Then deadlifts with the same bells, pushups and abs.

It was a nice little circuit if I do say so myself;)

And then it happened. He got off the treadmill and he wanted to talk. Ugh! I am an extrovert, but i don’t love small-talk. But I let him talk and I tried to seem interested.

The guy proceeded to tell me that he’d been on a 2 year journey to fitness. He was beaming with pride. He really didn’t tell me what he’d accomplished or why. I couldn’t tell if he’d lost a ton of weight or something. But he was really excited about it.

I don’t even remember what he said he did. Something about lots of walking and weighs. The details really didn’t matter, and honestly, I’m not sure if I listened to the details.

But I did find his excitement infectious. And I do love when people love fitness, so he grew on me. He also complimented me and said I looked strong, so I guess he buttered me up too. Haha!

So what started with an awkward conversation in this tiny little gym turned into an inspiring moment.

This guy went on some personal journey to fitness 2 years ago! Here he is, taking action in a hotel just like me.

Who cares what workout he’s doing. How strong he is. How much weight he’s lost or not.

He’s out there taking action, feeling proud and enjoying himself.

And that’s really the best thing YOU can do if you aren’t currently taking care of your fitness.

Personally, I don’t think there’s anything you can do that’s better for your mental and physical health. I think it should be a non-negotiable for every single person.

And yes, we should all attack it so hard that we’re excited to tell people how much joy we get from moving our body. Normalizing fitness is something our culture needs badly. Doing it in a way that’s fun and not attached to success or failure is even better.

Again, I don’t even know what this guy accomplished. But here he is, still doing it two years later.

I hope you are moving your body and loving it just the same! If you can learn one thing from this dude in the crappy, small hotel gym, it’s to make fitness a top priority and enjoy yourself.

I’ll leave you with a question as always. What’s one thing you’re most excited by or proud of when it comes to your fitness???