Get Thee to Thy Gym

As someone that brings home a below average income, I really understand how trying to get in shape can siphon savings from your bank account. Of course being active doesn’t have to be expensive eg. walk/jog/run outdoors, use your surroundings to your advantage like steps, hills, park benches etc. Plus healthy foods (ie whole grains, fresh fruit and veges) are really cheaper that processed packaged foods. Yes, yes, yes, we’ve all been told before. Well if I know all this then why am I complaining my struggle for weight loss is emptying my wallet? Here’s why:

1. Am I supposed to exercise for free outdoors in the freezing winter or when it’s raining?
2. Paying for a gym membership guilts you into exercising when you’re about to give up, so you’re not wasting all that mullah.
3. If you get as bored and restless as quickly as I do then appeal of walking/jogging around the block for the hundredth time is equivalent to grating my face off.
4. Apartment does not permit for pets, hence no furry creature to take for walks.
5. Way too embarrassed (and apartment way too small) to be bouncing around indoors in front of TDH while Denise Austin is kicking it in my DVD player.
   

So for all these reasons I have chosen to forgo a few luxuries so I can afford the flexibility and variety provided by the gym.

There is one more point I would like to make. Being slightly financially challenged I thought I would be the last person on Earth to pay for Personal Training. Well after my three initial free PT sessions setup through my new gym membership, I impulsively decided to buy twelve more sessions upfront for six hundred smackeroos. Honestly it’s not something I know I can really afford but I will make some cut backs, like never paying for coffee again, all lunches will be prepared at home and charging my boyfriend for hugs… and more. However my first three training sessions tell me this experience will be well worth the money. Here’s why, in another list I prepared earlier:

1. I know I wont weasel my way out of going, I’ve made a commitment to my trainer and I feel obliged to fulfill my appointments and not waste his time.
2. He pushes me so much more than I could myself and I can feel my body reaping the benefits, my muscles are still sore for days after one workout.
3. I can do cardio till the cows come home, but I despise weight training (especially upper body), even though I know how important it is for maintaining weight loss. So completing mostly weight conditioning with my trainer means I don’t have to so much in my own workouts.
4. Also ‘cause my trainer pushes me so hard, when I come home I am as high as a kite on endorphins.

Now I know I can’t afford this forever but twelve weeks to help kick my butt into action and maybe gain a few good tips and routines is definitely worth it. Maybe I’ll try out his group (and less expensive) training sessions when my twelve weeks is up.

Personal Training is not for everyone, but this is a short term process to aid in reaching my long term goals.

Diet Queen