Workin' Out and Bullshitting

 
I go to my friend, Cindy Tzagournis' gym in her basement every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.  She became a personal trainer a few years ago and I resisted going for a long time on the same principle as my not engaging in blogs until now.  I am old and I did not understand it,  so I made fun of it.  I guess I thought she was going to stand over me and yell at me while I slowly had a heart attack like on The Biggest Loser.  I imagined at the end I would have to strip down naked to be weighed while others pointed and jeered. She would then take a red permanent marker and circle my fat and any physical flaws (I have many), take a picture of me and tweet it out to the universe under the caption "Letting Yourself Go".  For those of you who know Cindy, this is totally plausible.  Instead she just makes fun of my form and my outfits.  THAT, I can handle because she does that when we go out anyway.

I started working out with my friend, we'll call her "Kim", a year ago and it is an absolute BLAST.  I blew my knee out last Fall (a gift from my dog, not Cindy) and my physical therapist said that if I had not been in as good of shape as I was in,  I would have had to get surgery.  During those months that I was recovering I missed working out with Cindy and Kim so much.  The physical transformations I have seen in Cindy's clients are amazing.  She is very good at what she does because she is very vain and I suppose she imagines that everyone she works out is too.  Seriously, she really does care about her clients and she enjoys what she does and it shows.  She puts together entire "lifestyle plans" for people that include nutrition, diet, cardio and recipes.  There is also a "life coach" option which nobody takes advantage of because - Really?  

She gets very upset with me because I am a terrible eater.  I am not that bad, really, I just enjoy the taste of food and that bugs her.  I snack at ten o'clock at night.  I drink wine.  I eat processed foods and a lot of casseroles and she says that if I don't stop eating so much salt she is going to start using me to garnish her margarita glasses.

But, I have stopped going to my physical therapist because of her. My knee is better than ever and I am back to laughing my ass off every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.  (Our third is - we'll call her "Robin Carlton" -  now,  she cheats, but she has GREAT bullshit.)  We tell stories, talk about our lives, and exchange insults all while getting an awesome workout that you can barely speak during.  I have actually cried in her basement before when I was going through a hard time. For me, it is cathartic - a healthy girls night out if you will.

 I am not saying that your experience has to be that intense (Cindy and I go way back) but if you want to roll out of bed without brushing your teeth and put your gym shoes on to get a good workout three days a week at a state of the art gym where you will see almost no one - then this is the place for you.  (I said the thing about not brushing your teeth so Cindy will have to smell everyone's bad breath.) 

It's all about workin' out and bullshitting and that is it. No pomp and circumstance.  No putting on lipstick and buying expensive matching workout outfits and making sure your hair looks sporty.  It is $150 dollars a month for three people, three days a week.  She has half hour work outs,  but they usually take me 45.  Cindy has a boot camp on Saturdays at 9am and 10am for $10 a pop if you want to test the waters.  Oh, and vote for her at

Status Fitness Magazine Official Website | United States and Canada’s Leading Fitness and Bodybuildi

statusfitnessmagazine.com
Cindy has been entering what I call "fitness pageants" and this online fitness magazine is holding a cover contest and she is in the running.  You can vote five times per twenty-four hour period the entire month of February.

There.  I did it, Cindy.  Are you satisfied?  Now how much did you say the month of March would be?  That's what I thought you said!  Gotta go.  Time to work out and I'm always late.