Guest writer: Denyse Lewis, Y Fitness Integration Coach and Trainer

A few years ago, I found myself sitting in a hospital emergency waiting room, scared and wondering what was wrong with me. 

For weeks, my body had been sending signals that something wasn’t right. I’d lost a significant amount of weight without trying, my heart raced constantly, and everyday movements that I once took for granted were becoming increasingly difficult. 

I sat there and realized how little control I had over any of it. Work, deadlines, everything I’d been carrying; none of it would matter next to what was happening with my health. 

That experience forced me to confront a truth that many of us don’t think about until we’re faced with it: when our health is compromised, priorities become crystal clear. What once seemed important quickly fades into the background. Health was never competing with everything else. It was supporting everything else. 

Needless to say, that experience changed my life and my perspective on the way I think about fitness, exercise, and well-being. 

The Way I Learned to Think About Exercise 

Growing up as the child of immigrant parents, exercise wasn’t something I saw regularly. 

My parents worked incredibly hard to build a life for our family. Their focus was on work, responsibilities, and providing for those they loved. Going to the gym simply wasn’t part of that picture. 

As a result, I grew up thinking of exercise as something people did when they had extra time, extra money, or a specific fitness goal. 

In other words, it felt optional. 

That belief followed me for a long time, and I still see it in many clients who walk in the door for the first time. They didn’t learn that exercise wasn’t important. They learned it was a choice; something you opted in or out of. A choice you have to make every day is a choice you’ll eventually stop making. 

From Something I Do to Someone I Am 

The biggest shift happens when we stop viewing exercise as something we have to do and start viewing it as part of who we are. 

Think about it. Most of us don’t wake up every morning and decide whether we’re going to brush our teeth. We don’t stop to consider whether we should say please or thank you. These things aren’t tasks on a checklist. They’re expressions of who we are. 

We don’t do politeness. We are polite. 

We don’t do hygiene. We take care of ourselves. 

Those actions happen automatically because they align with the person we believe ourselves to be. 

Exercise becomes easier when we stop asking, “Do I feel like exercising today?” and start asking, “What would a person who values their health do today?” 

That doesn’t mean we’ll always be motivated. It doesn’t mean we’ll never miss a workout. It means we no longer rely on motivation to make the decision for us. When exercise becomes part of our identity, it requires less negotiation, less willpower, and less friction. Instead of viewing movement as something we have to fit into our lives, it becomes a natural part of how we live. 

Lower the Barrier 

For years, I believed a workout only counted if it was long enough, hard enough, or impressive enough. 

Now I know better. 

A 10-minute walk counts. A quick workout counts. A mobility session counts. An imperfect workout counts. 

Perfection is often the enemy of consistency. The goal isn’t to have the perfect fitness routine. The goal is to keep showing up. The easier we make it to follow through, the more likely we are to build habits that last. 

Final Thoughts 

I think about that ER waiting room experience as a positive event now. It forged who I am as a person today and taught me something I now build my whole practice around: health isn’t separate from your life. It’s what makes the rest of it better. 

As the Fitness Integration Coach and Personal Trainer at the Y, that’s the shift I help people make, from exercise as a choice, to it being the person they are. It doesn’t happen through willpower or motivation. It happens through repetition, and it keeps building with the right support behind it. 

Health is not everything. But without health, everything is nothing.