Weird Thing About Service: The More You Give, the Less Fat You Seem to Get

Completing a plan never really goes completely as planned.  This is what makes service so valuable.

It isn’t about what happens during the course of achieving that plan. It is how you respond.

Personal tragedy and challenges in your life will happen during this process. You can count on it. In turn it can kill motivation and can distract you from your goals. A person can get so caught up in their challenges that it becomes consuming.

Why service?  What I have seen time and time again, is that the best cure during challenging times is being of service to others. Sometimes getting your mind off of yourself and your struggles and on to helping someone else can make a huge difference for you and others. It helps you put things in perspective.  Yes it can help lower stressful insulin levels. Service to others can also give you a renewed confidence in your ability to achieve your goals.

What can you do to help others?

Give Back to Others

So finding ways to help give service for others may come easy for you…or service might not at all. Here are some thoughts that might stir some service ideas for you on how you can help others.

• Who has done a lot for you in your life?
• Have you seen any family or group that has been struggling lately?
• Do you have a local civic group or religious group that you can ask to give help to?
• Is there a nursing home, food shelter where you can provide assistance?
• Is there something that you read recently that inspired you that you know you could share with someone that would need it?
• What can you do to help your children or other family members? Are there chores, homework or even just a ride that you could give?
• Do something athletic that provides help. Is there a race that is being put on to help find a cure for a disease? Is there someone that you could go workout with that could use some help? Or could you just go for a walk with a family member that needs to talk?
• Could you cook a meal for someone else that could use a good home cooked meal?
• What other ideas do you have? List them in the comments below.

When you run out of ideas of what to do or life just blows, go through this list to find a way that you can help others.

When you consider getting rid of time killers in your life, don’t think of only how you can replace that with events to help you. Look how to help others as well.

Why Does Service Work?

Yes there are physical benefits to helping others believe it or not. The positive hormonal effects of helping others releases endorphins and helps to maintain cortisol levels. All of which helps to prevent fat growth, while potentially promoting lean mass gain. The French call that “Two birds…one stone…” or something like that.

Yes giving to people means also giving up time, but if you are concerned about that then you probably need to check yourself. What do you want to get out of your life? What will physical health help you accomplish in your life where you can leave a positive legacy? If you can’t give back to others in life for the pure joy of giving, then getting in shape is honestly not worth doing.

Service helps to strengthen your character. There is nothing more attractive than a person that is physically fit and grounded at the same time. It is what makes it all click. It is my hope that Know My Body can inspire those type of people and not more self-centered, egotistical tools.

By serving you also have a chance to show people what you are learning in your life and how you are improving it. You have the chance to be such a great influence on others. People are literally inspired by you! Don’t waste that opportunity to help others by feeding into your arrogance or sex drive. Once you have done so, that luster you have is gone.

And what is crazy is that in the end, you always seem to get more back. You are that much more satisfied. Somehow your physical health you have obtained seems to mean even more. The pain or challenges you face seem to easily wash away.

I have personally seen both sides of the coin for myself: getting in shape for selfish, superficial reasons and then getting in shape for the right reasons. Getting in shape for the right reasons, like inspiring a family member that has health issues, is so much more fulfilling!

As the opportunities arise to help others while you are struggling, and they will, take advantage of them. You get so few chances to really make a difference in life. They will help you know really who you are. And in the end, no matter how much you give, you always seem to get more back.

About Cade

Cade is the founder of Know My Body. Sorry...no doctor degree, fancy gym, multi-million dollar fitness program, or label as a self-proclaimed health guru of biblical proportions. He is a common guy just like you. Maybe that helps him get you a bit better.

He has worked the past several years trying to get a grasp of "health knowledgeries" from the perspective of a person working a 9 to 5 job and dealing with the normal and not-so-normal challenges that life gives. Visit our About Page to chew on some more knowledge about Cade and how we want to help you at Know My Body.