What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Yes, I did start off this post with probably one of the biggest clichés around, but I felt it was a good introduction. Earlier today I got to thinking about strength and what it means. Your first reaction may be physical strength. Whether or not you can lift a barbell with over 100 lbs of weight on it or if you can pull your bodyweight up a rope. That is not the only type of strength though, and it may not be the most important type either. So let's dig a little deeper into what strength means and what it means to be strong. The most basic definition of the word strength is "the quality or state of being physically strong," (Oxford Dictionaries). Of course as I mentioned already this is probably the first thought that comes to most people's mind. Physical strength is a pretty good and exciting quality to have. When I first started working out with a personal trainer, he prematurely had me try to do a back squat with a bar on my back. Even with just the bar I couldn't do it. I honestly felt like a failure because of that since you see people doing those at all hours of the gym. Fast forward a year and a different trainer and I am doing back squats with over 100 lbs (including the bar) on my back. I can accomplish so much more now because of the physical strength I have built up. It makes everyday tasks a lot easier as well. Let's talk about the less obvious forms of strength there are. How about emotional strength? I talk about all of the different types of feelings and emotions we go through day to day a lot on my blog here. As I have said before emotions are what make us human. So what happens when we have to endure something extremely difficult? That is where emotional strength comes in handy. Now I, of course, am not telling you to hold your emotions here. As many of you likely know I am the queen of crying myself. There is, however, a time and place for everything. Always letting your emotions get the better of you is not a sign of strength. Sometimes we have to do things and be in situations we just don't want to be in. Maybe you have had to say goodbye to a loved one either temporarily or even for forever. Maybe you lost your job and need to stay strong as you look for a new one. Maybe you are just overall not in a good environment and need to build yourself up to get out of it. If you have emotional strength and push through, I promise the end is near and it will be much sweeter when you reach it. The last form of strength I want to talk about is similar to emotional strength, but in a much more specific way. Willpower is something that takes a lot of strength to keep up with. I can tell you just this past week my willpower was tested. On Thursday my job had an event for all of the workers. There was a big presentation and an hour before that they catered lunch for everyone. I decided it would be better for me to just stick with my meal prep rather than indulging in that food. Now it was set up in the lobby of the building, and you could come and go as you pleased. Had it been at an actual event location, trust me I wouldn't have been rude and brought my lunch to a banquet hall. Luckily I had the option to just sit it out. Making choices with your diet and overall health takes a lot of willpower sometimes. It isn't always easy to get the salmon and grilled vegetables at lunch when your friend orders a burger and fries. It isn't easy to only have a small slice of cake at a birthday party when everyone else around you has a nice big slice of cake. Willpower is still something I struggle with myself sometimes (especially since it is Fall and Trader Joe's has their full Fall line of products out). Willpower truly does take a huge load of strength. All of the types of strength I have mentioned today have to be obtained. One of my favorite things in the gym is doing the leg press machine and he wide-eyed looks I get  doing sets with almost 400 lbs. But I built up to that weight over time. Now, I am not here to boast about my strength in the gym of course, but my point is I built up to that. All kinds of strength is built up overtime. It isn't always easy to keep your chin up when you are facing an emotional time in your life. I certainly didn't always have the ability to pass up pizza to eat my broccoli and ground turkey. You are also more than allowed to slip up on those things as well. You are not weak because you break down and cry when something goes wrong. You will not gain 10 lbs because you caved and had a slice of cake. You are not going to lose all of your physical strength if you skip a week at the gym. Continue to move forward. Getting back up after you have been knocked down is one of the biggest signs of strength there is after all!