Do you hate to exercise? The answer for me is a resounding no! I absolutely love it but that is what you would expect from someone in my field, just as you would expect most accountants to like math and most chefs to like cooking.

My wife does not read my columns because she says I am “too preachy” and that I am always writing for her. I hear from other people who say I am writing for them. I guess you could say I understand my readers. Well, my dear, this one really is for you and thousands of others who are never going to love exercise the way I do.

For the record, my wife gets up at 5: 15 a.m. for a 6 a.m. appointment with her personal trainer. She does this because she knows it’s important, but she is also very open about the fact that she absolutely hates to exercise. I actually think she gets great joy in telling me this because she knows I really want her to love it as much as I do.

I have come to the conclusion that you may never love to exercise but that you can be healthy and fit doing something you would really rather not be doing.

How can you do this you ask? My answer is another question: What are the consequences of not exercising?

In the past few months I have heard the following answers:

. “A friend of mine recently passed and they did not take care of themselves. I do not want the same thing to happen to me.”

. “I don’t want to fall or get injured and not be able to get up.”

. “I don’t want to be old, cranky grandmother who sits in her chair all day and can’t play with her grand-kids.”

. “I want to be able to travel and enjoy my retirement.”

. “I want to be able to walk my daughter down the aisle.”

. “My doctor said that if I don’t lose weight I am going to have a heart attack before I am 50.”

. “I have not looked in the mirror at myself without clothes on in years.”

These are real people who have real pains and exercise has helped them. Whatever your pain, remember it when you consider missing that exercise session we both know you need. If you are not currently exercising, take a hard look at what you are doing to yourself and the people around you by not taking care of your health.

You can hate exercise all you want but the reality is every person on the planet needs it, so take that first step and contact a personal trainer in your area. You won’t regret it.