Cara Foote is a certified personal trainer with the Fitness Zone in Carmel and a group fitness instructor with NIFS in downtown Indianapolis. She can be contacted at fitnessblog@theindychannel.com.

I heard a great story this week that I think pertains to many people, myself included.

I was listening to Pastor Fred Rodkey preach at church, and he told a story about an old TV program -- the Merv Griffin show. Merv Griffin brought a competitive body-builder onto the show, and this man was huge, with muscles bulging from every angle.

So the man starts to flex like body-builders do, and Merv looks at him and says, "So, what exactly do you do with those muscles?" The man looks at him for a minute, then starts to flex again and he's really getting into it, and his muscles are just popping out everywhere.

Merv asks him again, "What is it that you do with those muscles?" And the man looks at him again and stands there for a minute, and then just starts flexing again, really trying his hardest to show every ounce of muscle on his body.

Finally, Merv says, "Let me ask you one more time: What do you do with those muscles?" The man just stands there for a minute and then, frustrated, just stomps right off the set without a word.

I laughed along with everyone else, but as I started to understand the point of the story, I began to think about how true-to-life that sort of thing is today. Are we motivated by what magazines portray "fit" men and women to look like -- what society says a person should look like?

Exercise should be a total mind-body experience, something that you choose to do because you want to be the best that you can be. Every person is made differently, and most of us will never look like fitness models, but so what? The point of exercise is to keep you healthy and fit, so that you can give your body the best life possible.

My advice to you this week is this: Think about what really motivates you to choose the lifestyle you choose. Are you spending enough time in the gym each week to keep your body healthy? Are you overly consumed with workouts and making sure your body is "perfect?" If you are on either spectrum, think about not only what you should do to be the best that you can be, but also to be happy with the body that was given to you.

If you work out one to three times per week and maintain a healthy diet, you should be pretty fit. If you really want to sculpt your body and change your shape, you should work out at least four to fives times per week (diet included, of course!). No matter what your goals are, just remember that as long as you work hard, being perfect doesn't matter.

So what's your motivation? E-mail me at fitnessblog@theindychannel.com and let me know!

Would you like to get Cara's weekly blog delivered to your e-mail inbox? Click here to sign up for free!