Day 2 and the Head Nod Gym Buddy

Two days does not a habit make, but don't ruin it for me.

I really like working out in the early morning.  I like the silence.  I like the sunrise.  I like that I can get a parking spot and the gym is nearly empty.  And the average age isn't 20.

I really hated working out at 4:30- the after work crowd is nuts.  The traffic in the parking lot is horrible.  It sucked.

So this early morning thing is working out for me.

The best workout schedule I ever had and the best shape/lowest weight I've been at in the past 10 years was a year after my son was born. I joined the Y.  There was an aerobics class with an amazing teacher on MWF at 9 am.  I did a spin class at 5 am on TR. 

I was working from home on MWF, so it worked out great.  I would get up early, do my emails, any trades I had, feed my son, then head to the gym. We'd play at the park after, come home, have lunch, he'd nap, I'd work.

After about 2 months, I became "gym buddies" with a woman named Ann Marie.  Her son was my son's age and they both were fairly quiet unlike some of the spazzy kids in the childcare.  We used to call it the Lord of the Flies room.  Our sons bonded and so did we.  We would save each other a spot or move if the class filled up.  I have no idea what her last name is.  We never hung out outside the gym.  If either of us missed a class, however, we would say "I missed you!"

It made all the difference. 

Seriously.

A complete stranger held me accountable.  And vice versa.  When they moved to Korea (her husband was in the Air Force), I was sad.  I was pregnant with my daughter, so my workouts started to slow down a bit.... then I had my daughter.. yada yada.. I ... it became impossible to have both children not sick at the same time... the workouts slowed down more... then my husband signed up for an early bird class and I couldn't even make the 5 am spin class....

But I swear, not having Ann Marie to check in with, made a HUGE difference.  There was no one asking me where I was.

It's happened before.  In my 20's I took a step class and I was the youngest person in it.  By about 40 years.  You would THINK that would be a good thing.  These women were MACHINES.  They kicked my ass.  When I would miss a class, they would give me crap about it.  Something about being 65 and being able to kick my ass.

Or the yoga class where this one woman and I would try hard not to crack up  as we aligned our chakras and chanted.

You would think having real friends to work out with would be a better option.  Not so.

Not even my super fit friends.  In fact, most of them were the lamest workout buddies.  Most of them had other options for fitness so meeting me was not their biggest priority.

The random strangers were, by far the best.  Or the class instructor who knows your name and asks about your weekend. 

Silly, but it really was motivating.

Yesterday, I thought I saw our neighbor who is actually one our closest friends.  I knew they had joined my gym in the fall but I had no idea when they were going. 

And yes, it was him.

I think I may have frightened him with my nasty morning breath, but he seemed happy to see me.

He gets there around 4:30 or so. 

A head nod buddy.   The person who gives you the "Wassup" head nod when they see you.

My accountability person.

I don't get there until 5:10, but still, there's overlap. 

That "I'd better be there or else he will know I'm totally full of shit."

Awesome.

We don't have to chat.  We don't have to work out together.  We don't have to carpool.  We don't have to be BFF's (which I'm sure he just sighed a huge sigh of relief, because my breath was REALLY bad this morning and he's not a chatty Cathy at the gym... and believe it or not, I'm not either... but that's another blog for another day and is also why I don't like working out with friends). 

But I have that person who will know I'm there so when the alarm goes off and I think "Noo......" I will add on "But John is there and if he can get there, I can, too."  Especially on the mornings after the times we've all stayed up a bit and had some wine....

So Day 2 is down.  19 more until it's a habit, right?


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