From Couch Potato To Fitness Buff: How I Learned To Love Exercise

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January 14th, 2019

“Feeling better isn’t just this selfish, hedonic thing — it actually is fuel. I consider energy from taking care of yourself as essential fuel for the things that matter most in our lives,” says Michelle Segar, a psychologist at the University of Michigan who studies how we sustain healthy behaviors like exercise.

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I have become the type of person that used to mystify me. I … am a fitness fanatic.

That was certainly not the case a year and a half ago. Back then, like a lot of Americans, I was mostly sedentary (unless you count walking to meetings). Which is ironic, because, as a senior editor for NPR’s science, food and health team, it is literally my job to know better. But, with two small kids, a full-time job and recurring insomnia, I didn’t have the time or energy to work out. And I’m not going tell you how much I used to weigh, but it wasn’t healthy.

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