It Is Always Easier With a Gym Buddy

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EL PASO, Texas — I must admit I am a little bit calorie obsessed when it comes to food.

I have never been able to blindly shovel food into my mouth without the nagging “How many calories am I eating?” thought in the back of my mind.  I work out as much as I can and warily watch what goes into my mouth.

Thinking back, I’d say I would have to blame my health nut parents for my cautious eating habits.  Growing up, my parents worked out religiously and our refrigerator was stocked with only foods labeled “diet,” “low-fat” or “fat-free.” Skim milk, Equal and diet soda were staples in my household, and still are.  Our living room practically doubles as a gym with all of the equipment we own.

I enjoy working out and actually find it rather therapeutic but I wasn’t always this way.

As much as my family enjoys burning those calories every day, I on the other hand had never lifted a finger to use one of the various machines at our home. Luckily, in high school I had the privilege of eating whatever I wanted and still managed to maintain my 115-pound body-weight.

I had very strict parents growing up and was accustomed to being grounded every so often for breaking the rules, i.e.: curfew, drinking, you know, the typical teenage stuff.  One of my many punishments included having my cell phone taken away. What? No texting, no talking to my friends?? And worse, they were reading all my incoming messages and listening to my voice mail messages, I was in hell. The only way to get my phone back however was to sweat out forty five minutes on our stepper or bike at home, no breaks allowed. Ugh. I HATED working out.

As I’ve gotten older, the luck of being able to eat a million Big Macs and not gain weight has since disappeared. I have to work hard at maintaining my weight by watching what I eat and working out regularly. But I can’t do it alone. I have the support of my family and fiancé to encourage me to get my lazy butt to the gym on days when all I want to do is order Peter Piper Pizza and watch reruns of Family Matters.

I’m not like my mom in that I don’t find working out as much fun as going to a party as she does. But it’s something that I have slowly had to work at and having a buddy to accompany you to the track or the gym is a great motivator. I’m getting married in four months and when I want to give up on my situps my sister will scream at me, “Keep going! You don’t want to look fat in your wedding dress!”

This may sound a little harsh but believe me, it works. So I would encourage those of you who can’t seem to find the motivation to go to the gym by yourselves to find a gym buddy, somebody who will hold you accountable and will be there with you as you shed those pounds and become one step close to having that fabulous bod you’ve always wanted.

One thought on “It Is Always Easier With a Gym Buddy

  1. Hey Elisa!!! I did not know you were getting married!!! OMG you should have told me =) Congratulations!!!! Im happy for you I hope that everything turns out great!!!

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