The most common advice for people struggling with dating is to workout. This advice is also commonly expressed as "focusing on your health," or "taking care of yourself." I think this is ultimately unconstructive advice because of the fact that one can workout, exercise, be healthy, and "take care of their bodies" but not look like they do. This is apparent when you look at the body types that compete in the Olympics - they range from muscular, thin, heavy, and pretty much anything in between. Take a world champion cyclist like Lance Armstrong for example - no one would deny that he is physically fit, that he pushes the limits of the human body, but if you look at his body type alone, very few would guess that he workouts, or exercises, or is an athlete at all - he's too thin and wiry (even with all the PEDs he took). Same goes for strongmen who are high in body fat - outside of the gym, most wouldn't assume that they're world class athletes. Look at the bodies of mountain/rock climbers (e.g. Tommy Caldwell), or even some MMA fighters, you will see they are nothing special and look rather average despite their physical capabilities.

The point I want to make is this: if you want to be successful at dating, that is to say have the gender you want to attract recognize your fitness and athleticism, it is not enough to simply workout, exercise, and be fit/healthy, you must more importantly look the part. In the end, it is the aesthetics that will attract people, and to do this, you need to eat right and go to the gym.