I Fought the Gym and the Gym Won

Which I suppose means that I won, in the end, but we'll get to that.

I'm an inherently lazy person. Yes, I've just admitted that to the entire blogosphere and all of mankind. But it's true. I have to fight my natural tendency toward lethargy if I want to get anything done. Even the things that I love doing, like writing and decorating my house. Growing up, I was the kid who would rather lay around reading a book than be out riding my bike or running around playing with the other kids. Any activity had to have a clear and very high benefit to cost ratio. Walk a few blocks to get ice cream? Definitely. Run around tagging each other and rolling in the grass laughing about who caught whom? No thanks, I'll pass.

Because I can see this history clearly, it's not surprising to me that I battle my own will almost every time I decide to go to the gym. I go through phases where the gym is fun and exciting and the expected benefits (more energy, weight loss, firmer muscles, time to read my magazines or watch some cable television) easily outweigh the costs (90 - 120 precious minutes of my already packed days, buckets of sweat, getting up earlier or getting home later). More often than not, though, on days when I plan to go to the gym, I'm weighing the pros and cons from the moment I wake up until the moment I start up that treadmill or lift the first weight. It's me against the machine. Literally.

Take yesterday as an example:

I packed my gym bag in the morning and put it in my car, ready for a lunchtime or after work workout. At 10:45, my workout reminder popped up and I immediately dismissed it. I'll go after work, I thought. I'm too busy right now and I'm in a groove. In actuality, I was checking my email or some other nonsense, but my brain didn't care. It just needed an excuse.

At 3:30, when it was time to shut down and go home, er, to the gym, I got caught up in a conversation. By 3:45 I had convinced myself that it was now too late to go to the gym and I might as well go home and take a walk in the park. When I mentioned to a co-worker that this was my plan, she said, "I always say that, but then I never do it." I grudgingly agreed and said, out loud so that she could hold me to it, that I'd be going to the gym after all.

Walking to my car, I went over all the errands and task that needed to be done immediately. We're talking trips to the grocery store for things I didn't really need and household chores that I didn't get around to this weekend. Clearly emergency tasks that could. not. wait. As I approached the gym parking lot, I scrambled for more excuses, finally resorting to the "I just don't FEEL like it" tactic. I made it into a parking spot and turned off the car, but I was still bargaining with myself. It's so nice out. I really could take a walk when I get home. Right after I feed the cat, take out the trash, cook dinner, read my email... You see where that was going.

I pulled my gym bag out of the back seat and walked into the gym, handing over my membership card to the desk attendant. You'd think by this point I'd be resigned to the fact that I was going to get on a treadmill, but no. By the time I'd reached the locker room I had mentally inventoried my gym bag hoping I had forgotten some essential piece of gym wear. Alas, I had not.

While I changed, still fighting the pull of the cardio machines, I promised myself that I could do a short workout: just 20 minutes including a 5 minute warm-up and a 5 minute cool-down. That wouldn't be so bad.

As always, the minute I started up the treadmill and plugged in my headphones to watch Sandra Lee make some Semi-Homemade chocolate treats (oh, the irony that my favorite thing to watch while working out is the Food Network) I was fine. No more mental fights. I was happy to be there, sweating and breathing hard, and drooling over trail mix and scones.

All that fighting, and for what? I really, truly, enjoy my time at the gym once I'm there. It's getting there that seems to be the issue. And some days I'm not nearly so successful at fighting the anti-gym sentiment. I'm glad I did yesterday, though, because tonight I have way too many errands to run.

What? The gym can't win every time.