Making it Routine

I’ve fallen off the wagon. After months of working out almost every day, I’ve been to the gym three times in the last 13 days. An inability to breathe caused by the cold I picked up on the ski slopes two weeks ago is the reason for my recent lack of effort at the gym. And now I face the hardest challenge of all: getting back into the routine. For me, that is the key to my success. Once I’m in the routine, I don’t make excuses, I just make the effort. But once I’m out of the routine, I find every excuse to not get back into it. Too busy at work. Need to do errands. Accidentally slept late. Avoiding traffic. Have to grocery shop. Not sure I’m over the cold yet and certainly don’t want to overdo it. My husband caught the cold from me and shouldn’t I get home to make him some soup?

Our trainer Mike, from The Sports Club/LA - Orange County, knows how important it is that his clients make exercise part of their routine. And that’s why, last week, he told Justine we had an appointment on Monday, even though he had the day off. Because he knew that she’d make it to the gym if she thought we had an appointment, and also knew that she’d find every excuse to not go if she didn’t have to be there to meet us.

Why is it that we can find the time to go to the gym when we have to be there, but can’t seem to work it into our schedule otherwise? I consider myself a self-motivated person, and Justine calls me a superhero, but I’m wondering what gene I’m missing when I look around the gym at the regulars, the women and men who show up there, day after day, who don’t seem to have “excuse” in their vocabulary. I’ve heard that excuses sometimes hide the real reason behind why one doesn’t do something. So what could the real reason be for my avoidance of the gym? Fear of getting too in shape? Not wanting the paparazzi following me to take shots of my newly hot bod? Afraid of the ability to eat whatever I want, knowing I’ll work it all off at the gym?

There are a few suggested ways to overcome excuse-making. The first is to lower unrealistically high standards. I think I addressed this a few posts ago when I talked about celebrating success. Check. The second is to take things slowly. So instead of jumping right back into six straight days of gym visits, perhaps the best thing to do is to go home tonight, make my husband some soup, sleep in tomorrow, avoid traffic, work late, do some errands on the way home, and hit the gym a few days from now. Or, I can stop making excuses and jump back on the wagon. Maybe Justine will pull the wagon and I can sit back and enjoy the ride. Check.

Check. I will pull the wagon. But I will pull it my own way, when I want to, where I want to. Not that wagon filled with weights on the rooftop of The Sports Club/LA. Not any wagon Mike has filled with his sadistic tricks for building muscle strength. I don’t trust Mike anymore. I think he’s mean. He looks so sweet on the surface, with his sparkly blue eyes and winning smile, and he comes from this nice family whose inspiring story of how a family came together when one of their own was in need actually made me like Mike for just about one week.

But clearly, I bring out Mike’s dark side. You should have seen him moonwalking outside the racquetball court while Erin and I were literally locked inside, running and sweating and huffing and puffing because he made us play a game to 15 that neither of us could win until security came to release us. Or smirking as he instructed us to crab walk in the hot sun across AstroTurf. And then that non-appointment he had with me at 7:30 a.m., when I showed up exactly 10 minutes late as always, and where was he? At a charity golf tournament for his brother.

You see what I mean? I look like a jerk getting mad that Mike was at a fundraiser for his brother even though this was a premeditated plot to get me to the gym early in the morning. And Erin – read above – she touts this behavior as a skill Mike has to help his clients realize the importance of just showing up to work out. I cannot win.

Or can I? Mike has no tolerance for my excuses, or lateness, even if I am having a bout of bronchitis or have pulled a muscle in my calf or have to drop a kid off somewhere. Is it possible that Mike, through his meanness, is actually unleashing a part of me I never knew existed? The disciplined athlete? Since I started working out at The Sports Club/LA, I have completely changed my diet, have found myself on the elliptical machine for an hour at a time and do pushups in my living room. I’m conscious of drinking more water and last weekend, bought a pair of jeans that were (gasp) two sizes smaller than the ones in my closet.  

Or maybe it’s not Mike at all. Maybe it’s Erin’s superhuman modeling of focused attention that has inspired me. She’s been holding the fort while I’ve been making excuses. So yes, check, mean Mike or not so mean Mike, it’s my turn now.