According to a recent release from the Rutgers-Eagleton Poll, New Jersey adults' most popular New Year's resolution is making health and fitness a priority. I think it's probably safe to assume that this data also correctly describes the rest of the country.
If you work at a gym and get paid by commission, then this is your dream come true. All of these people coming in to sign up for memberships while you're there? Man, keep that money coming. If you're a regular patron of a gym, then this is your worst nightmare. For approximately the first two weeks of the new year, you're going to have to wait to use every machine for ten minutes while these people who think that they're going to stick to this resolution bother a trainer for directions about how to use the crunch machine. If you're one of the people that made this resolution, then you're waiting to receive the backlash, knowing that people expect you to fail.
Maybe this isn't the first time that you've made this resolution to live a healthier lifestyle. Maybe this is your second, or third, or tenth time making this promise to yourself, but that is okay. The people with six pack abs might appear to be intimidating when you step foot through the door, but don't succumb to your desire to run right back outside, because everyone has started at the beginning. Even though people might become frustrated with having to wait a few extra minutes before they can use the machine that you're using, I guarantee you that if you stick around past the first two weeks of the year, then you have their respect.
It's true that a lot of people will quit after January ends and that the gyms will return to their normal occupancy levels. This year, don't let that be you. Get a buddy and bother each other to get into the car and work out. My best friend and I love to text each other a reminder that Beyonce wouldn't take a day off, so I not allowed to, either. Change the background on your phone to a person with abs and awesome triceps and look at it whenever you feel too tired to go for a run. Keep reminding yourself that you've paid for a full month at the gym, and if you don't go, then you're just hurting your own wallet. If nothing else motivates you to go, then depend on your guilt from wasting your money. Eventually, it will just become a part of your routine. Have you ever walked out of the gym (granted you didn't hurt yourself) and regretted going? Probably not. Those endorphins can't really be beat.
The gym at which I am a member has the words "NO JUDGEMENTS" written on just about every wall in the building. It can be hard, but we need to all try to live by that motto for our friends who just want to become healthier by joining the gym. If you're a new member, then don't listen to anybody telling you that you can't do it --get out there and be healthy. Because we all know that the same people who doubted you will be the ones commenting on your Instagram pictures about how they "knew you could do it!" anyway.
