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Motivation at the Gym


I've been thinking a bit about motivation. I go to the gym three times a week. Now I've had gym memberships in the past and would lackadaisically ride a bike while reading a magazine. It wasn't really 'working out', but it worked out just fine for me. Sometime a few months ago I decided that I really needed to start using the gym and I mean not just to shower like I did after Little Nib was born. No, I needed to get serious.

So now two times a week I have a very nice lady that tells me what to do. I pay her handsomely and quite frankly she kicks my a**. You'd think that the handsome figure I pay her every month would motivate me to get my butt to the gym, and it does. But do you know what the thing is? My real motivation for going to the gym is not that or the fact that I can drop my kid off for two hours, no questions asked. Nor is it the fact that sitting in the sauna is sometimes my only ten minutes of peace all day. No, it's the thirty minutes of cardio I do. Now don't you start thinking that I actually like to do cardio (although the rowing machine is much better than the elliptical) no, it's what I listen to that makes it the highlight of my day.

You see, I listen to a show about food. The Splendid Table with Lynne Rossetto Kasper, the show for people who love to eat. And oh, how I love to eat. But at the gym? While I'm desperately trying to burn calories? I am pretty sure there is something backward there. Lynne likes to go on and on about the fantistical nature of food. She makes every dish sound delightful, delectable and while I'm sweating away at the gym my stomach starts to growl. Not usually the place you want that to happen. So there I am salviating at the rowing machine, listening to a show about food.

So my motivation to go to the gym is food. Eating it, making it, and listening about it. I'm still not sure why it is. Am I masochistic? Or so I simply enjoy food so much that even when I am trying to get rid of the calories, I can't stop thinking about how I'm going to add even more. Or even yet, maybe I just like the thirty minutes of 'me' time I get three times a week. You choose. I personally think it's a blend of all three.

What weird things motivate you?

Comments

  1. Andrew WeltersAugust 14, 2009 at 5:13 PM

    I have a similiar motivation for exercise. I try and jog every morning for 20-30 minutes at the gym or swim laps in the pool for a variety of reasons, but to eat and not feel regret tops the list.

    Personally, after working a long day I want to go home, grab a brewski, eat two generous helpings of whatever gastronomical delights my wife has magicked into existence for dinner, and then finish with a baked dessert or salty snack foods while sitting on the couch watching one of our favorite TV series on DVD from Netflix. And I don't want this ritual spoiled by self-consciousness. I would like to keep rue of the menu.

    ReplyDelete
  2. MPAugust 14, 2009 at 10:48 PM

    Two helpings Andrew? Your wife must be an amazing cook! And I vote for non-spoilage of the ritual. Good for you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousAugust 16, 2009 at 6:44 PM

    I'm sure it's a blend of all three! Although I'm quite certain that Lynne Rossetto Kasper could make major dental work seem like massage. Is there a more charming human in the world? I think not.

    Thanks so much for stopping by the other day!

    ReplyDelete

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