Nate Johnson
- Sep 27, 2022
- 8 min read

My 7 Favorite Benefits of Exercising and Eating Well

I’ve started a new habit of hopping on my exercise bike 2-3 days per week right after work. I do about 15 minutes of cardio. Nothing crazy. Just enough to see some physical benefit from it plus it helps me destress and easily make the transition for Work Nate to Home Nate.

Last Thursday as I’m pedaling and sweating, it hit me that my motivations for working out have changed a lot.

I spent the first 4-5 years of my Fitness Journey focused mostly on how I looked. I wanted to look better.

No shame in that.

But now as a man with a lot of responsibilities…a wife, 4 kids, 2 dogs, a business, etc. I’m much more interested in feeling good. Having a lot of energy so I can do everything that’s on my plate. And do it well!

Then I got to thinking about all my favorite benefits of exercising and eating well. So today I’m sharing my Top 7 with you. Enjoy!

Looking Good

Yeah yeah yeah. I know I said my priorities have changed. It’s true. I care a lot more about having energy and feeling good so I can take care of business. But I never said I was mad about the way exercising and eating well changed my body!

Everyone cares about looking good. It’s why we shower in the morning, put on our favorite clothes, rock our favorite shoes, etc.

Aint nothing wrong with looking good!!

And while I guaranfreakintee you that building some muscle and losing some fat will NOT fix all your self-confidence issues…it sure won’t hurt! I’ve never met someone who was less happy with how they looked after building muscle and losing fat. Never.

I’m here to say, I like the way my body has changed and you’re allowed to be happy with your changes too! #noshame

Being Generally More Useful

Looking good is great. But this is even better.

I’m useful.

Everyone is valuable. Everyone is equally valuable.

But let’s be honest, not everyone is useful.

And of course we all have different gifts, talents, skills, etc. So some of us are more useful for certain tasks while others are more useful for other tasks.

For example, if you want to smile….spend some time with any of my kids. Unless you hate kids. Then I don’t know what to tell ya lol.

But if you want help moving your washer and dryer, don’t ask my children. They’re not useful in that way!

If you want someone to draw a beautiful picture for your wall, or even a cute picture for your fridge…I’m not your guy. My Momma wouldn’t even hang my pictures on our fridge growing up!! (This isn’t true. Sorry Mom!)

But if you need help moving your washer and dryer, I got you!

I mean, in theory... I don’t need hundreds of requests to move your stuff.

But if you take YOU in all your awesomeness and you spend the next 12 months on getting stronger, in better aerobic shape, and eating well to support your workouts and lose fat….you will be generally more useful. Pinky promise.

And everyone around you would benefit.

PLUS it’ll make you feel awesome about yourself because you’re so useful people will ask for your help, you’ll help them, and you’ll feel like a champ!

Being Able to Work Harder, For Longer, and Can Put Out Higher Quality Work

Exercising and Eating Well has allowed me to work harder for longer plus I can put out higher quality work. In other words I can serve more people BETTER.

In a sense, exercise and good nutrition is a multiplier. It’s taken the gifts and talents I already have, and allowed me to use them to impact even more people! This makes me feel really warm and fuzzy inside. You know…self-confidence.

But you know what else?

Money.

More money.

The more people I serve, and the better I serve those people…the more money I can make.

AND not only the more money I can make. The more money I have to create opportunities for OTHER people to use their gifts and talents in this business then THEY can feel warm and fuzzy AND get paid.

What’s better than feeling warm and fuzzy and getting paid?

Plenty of things of course. But I could think of much worse outcomes as well.

Just like looking good. I aint mad about it!!

I know I’m being goofy in this post but let me calm down and get even more serious with you.

If you want to advance your career, you need to get good at what you do. Period. Being in shape and sucking at your job is not the answer.

BUT if you take two people with equal knowledge, skillset, etc. but one is in better shape, my bet is on the in shape person. Because they can work longer. Get better work done. Plus they’ll be less likely to be derailed by illness. Etc. There are too many benefits to count.

Also you have to factor in the confidence thing. When you’re in good shape, you’ll be more confident. Period.

I’ve seen so many people come into my program, change their body, health, and fitness…then 6 months later they get a big raise and promotion.

Is it simply correlation and not causation? I doubt it.

I’ve seen this happen dozens and dozens of times. You can’t convince me otherwise.

Getting in shape will help you do better work and improve your finances. Enjoy.

Being Able to Show Up Better and With More Energy for My Family and Friends

Like I said in the last point, what’s better than feeling warm and fuzzy and getting paid?

Plenty of things.

Especially this one!

Family and friends.

I don’t know about you, but I love my family and friends.

Marrying my wife is the best decision I’ve ever made. I feel that deeply every day of my life.

My kids are a blessing beyond what words can describe.

My dogs…I love em so much. But that daggum puppy we got last Christmas is a bad boy. Still love him though!

My friends bring me so much joy, encouragement, and tough love when I need it.

I don’t know about you, but my family and friends are the bomb.com and I love having the energy to do all the things with them. To spend time with my wife and play with my kids and wrestle with my dogs (and clean up the things the puppy destroys DAILY) and hang out with my friends.

There was a 2-3 year span in my life when I did NOT have the energy to do all the things and it was brutal. I had to choose between not doing the things I wanted to do with the people I love, or doing them anyway and being exhausted from it and having to rest extra the next day(s). Not a fun place to be. I feel for you if you’re there. Sometimes life knocks you down like that and it sucks. Sometimes it’s totally out of your control. If you’re there…keep going!!

BUT if you’re in that situation and you have the chance to change it, you better get your butt up and make that change RIGHT NOW. Your future self will thank you.

After going through that really rough 2-3 years, I will never take for granted feeling good enough to do all the things again. It is such a blessing. And it is not guaranteed.

So if you can be in great shape (and let being in great shape be a means to an end and not an end in and of itself) it will bring so much joy to you, your family, and your friends. Also to your good dogs and your bad dogs.

Feeling Better Emotionally

This life can be stressful. I’ve been stressed out of my mind plenty of times. And you know what? My life is really good. It could be much much worse. Many people have it much worse. And I can’t imagine the stress some of you deal with on a daily basis.

I won’t make a single claim saying exercise and eating well will fix all your problems.

That would be a lie.

BUT stress is very real, and it impacts you physically. Not JUST emotionally/mentally. Your mind and body are intimately connected.

When it comes to depression and anxiety, exercise has been shown time and time again to be the most powerful solution. Now this isn’t medical advice and I’m not a doctor. But I’m just saying, I can’t think of a time exercising and eating well would be a bad thing. Assuming it doesn’t become an unhealthy obsession.

But exercise even helps with things less serious than depression and anxiety.

It will give you a clear head, you’ll be way more relaxed, and way more focused. Trust me.

If I’m ever feeling stuck while working on the business, I’ll take a quick walk or hop on my exercise bike or do a few sets of Kettlebell Swings. Within 5-10 minutes I’m operating at a much higher level.

If I’m ever feeling super overwhelmed or stressed and I’m not getting anywhere with my work, I’ll do a hard workout. 30-45 minutes later and all my problems seem to become less problematic and I’m ready to get back to work with a clear mind.

Earlier I said the mind and body are intimately connected. You can’t separate the two! When you experience emotional/mental stress your body feels it. It gets tense. You have nervous energy. You have stress hormones flooding your body.

The solution? Move your body!!

Workout. Walk. Run. Dance. Do something! Our bodies were made to be moved! I promise it’ll help clear your head.

As one of my favorite strength and conditioning coaches says, “It’s therapeutic to get your body to a point where all you care about is air and water.”

I LOVE this. Most of our day to day problems don’t go away when we exercise, though some of the small ones do, but what does happen is they get put into proper perspective. Our bodies try to tell us our problems are bigger than they actually are because your body wants you to DO something in response to the stress.

Go do something and your body and mind will thank you.

Preventing Illness and Disease

This one is serious. And it’s a huge benefit.

Looking good. Being Generally Useful. Being able to work hard. Having energy for family. And Feeling Better emotionally are ALL hindered if you are sick or unhealthy.

Exercising and eating well is your best bet at preventing metabolic health issues.

Exercising and eating well is the best way to prevent high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, etc.

Of course nothing is a guarantee. Nothing EXCEPT I do guarantee that NOT exercising and eating well is NOT smart when it comes to preventing illness and disease.

Another way exercise helps prevent illness is by helping you detox.

Sweating is one of the ways we remove toxins from our body. As I’ve recovered from all the mold toxicity issues my family and I have delt with, I've found SWEATING has been one of the main things that has helped speed up the process.

I’m convinced that in addition to ALLLL The health benefits exercise and eating well provide, SWEATING in and of itself is very beneficial to our health.

You could get those benefits from a sauna. But that doesn’t provide all the benefits exercise provides.

So my advice is exercise and enjoy the benefits of both the exercise AND the sweating.

Living a Longer Life

As Benjamin Franklin says, nothing is guaranteed in this life except death and taxes. And you can do all the things right and still not live a long life.

BUT when it comes to health it’s all about improving your odds of success.

Exercising and eating well and preventing illness and having energy to do things you love with people you love and experiencing all the JOY that comes with that is going to give you your BEST shot at living a long life.

And it’s also going to pack a whole lot more LIFE into your years.

And if you look good, you’re generally useful, you’re able to do good work, you have energy to do all the things you want with family and friends, you feel good emotionally, and you prevent illness and disease…why wouldn’t you want to live a long time and enjoy those things as much as possible??

And on that note, let me say NOW is the time to make a change. And no matter who you are, where you’ve been, or where you are today, it’s NEVER TOO LATE.

Are you ready to enjoy all the benefits of exercise and eating well?