Day 50: I've become a rat

I don’t know when it happened. I never even knew it could happen. But here it is: I have become a gym-rat. And I don’t know how I feel about it.

According to dictionary.com, a gym rat is “someone who spends all leisure time playing sports or working out in a gymnasium or health spa.” Ew! That doesn’t sound like me at all. I don’t spend my leisure time working out (I don’t even have leisure time). I work out because it’s one more thing I need to get done. And Cardinal Fitness isn’t exactly a health spa either; it’s more like the cheapest and closest workout facility around. Still, I am at the gym all the time.

For this we can thank Trainer Bob. He’s tricky. He doesn’t ask you to work out everyday, he says, “Let’s see, think you can do 3 cardio workouts before you see me next?” And there I am, nodding my head in agreement. Next thing I know, I’m frantically trying to squeeze my workouts in before our next session. After a month or so I realized, “Hey, I’m working out 6-7 times a week, what’s up with that?!” If he’d asked me to do this I’d have told him I didn’t have time. But he didn’t really ask; he slid it in without my notice. That’s why he’s the trainer and I’m the gym rat.

So how do I feel about this new role? I’m undecided. I love feeling strong and healthy. I love that I’m at the gym enough to run into friends and neighbors and have a quick chat. And I love that I’ve finally figured out how to read while exercising on the elliptical! But at this stage in life, I am busy. 3 kids, a part-time job, volunteer work and no extra hours in the day. How can I give up my precious time to be a gym rat?

But could I stop? I already get antsy if I miss a day. My body feels the need to sweat and then there’s that endorphin high…So maybe I need to change the title, not what I’m doing. I’m not a gym rat. I don’t hang out at the gym in my leisure time. Rather, I’m a busy mom who takes her book to the gym to get in a little me time. I go because I need it, deserve it and because it makes me a better person, a better mom. There, that sounds so much better....