I am not the most motivated athlete out there. I'm not even the most motivated athlete in the room and I live alone.
The intentions are good. I get home from work and think, I should go work out. It will be good for me. I walk into my room and start pulling out some running gear. I lay the outfit on the bed and turn to get some shoes. At this point, the eternal arguments begin. The proverbial angel/devil on the shoulder appear to duke it out
Perhaps it's important to describe these two to give you a better idea of where this argument is going to lead. The workout "angel" is dressed in my stretchy yoga pants and sports shirt wet from sweat. Her hair is plastered to her head, with drops rolling down the sides of her blotchy cheeks. She walks as if she's stiff and speaks only in huffs and puffs, clearly out of breath.
The comfy "devil" on the other hand, is lounging on my favorite part of the couch, kitten in lap with a good book in her hand. She is wearing red silk pajamas, smiling and content, reaching over to pick up the hot chocolate that was sitting on the nightstand. Her skin is bright and clear and she has fabulous hair which she gently tosses side to side, as though she had just come from a photo shoot.
Devil: You don't need to work out. You've worked hard today and deserve a break.
Angel: *huff, huff* Yea, but you sat around at work today, you didn't *whew* actually move. Go for a run, you'll feel energized.*breath, breath*
Devil: You don't want to get so worked up before bed, and it's dark out.
Angel: It's only 6:30, you'll be fine *Puff, Puff*
Devil: Besides, it looks very cold. Come, why don't you sit by the fire with me and read some Jane Austen?
(at this point, a roaring fire appears in a fireplace next to the nightstand where a steaming cup of hot chocolate rests for me. By the way, I don't have a fireplace. Devil just had mad tempting skillz)
Alena: that does look inviting
Angel: Yea, it kinda does *whew* but you need to burn calories
Devil: Why don't you run tomorrow morning instead? (smiling) you'll still burn the calories you need, and get to rest tonight like you want to
Alena: okay sounds good! where's my hot chocolate??
Next morning, around 6:15 am, the alarm goes off.
Workout Angel looks essentially the same, still wheezing, but now the Devil is in my cotton jammies, cuddled up in the blanket. She still looks fabulous (I don't think I look that great when I'm sleeping, but if you are gonna tempt someone, you gotta make it look good)
Angel: Okay *huff,huff* time to get up!
Devil: Maybe 15 more minutes
Alena: okay. 15 more minutes (it's not hard to tempt me to sleep longer. let's be honest)
This process continues for another thirty minutes until I roll out of bed and realize that I slept too long and won't be able to get a run in before work
Devil: it's okay, we can run after work
and the process starts all over again.......
I'm laughing pretty hard at the moment, but it's really true. That damn devil always looks like a sexy beast. He just keeps ME from looking like a sexy beast. I completely feel ya - getting me to exercise is pretty darn hard so I know the conundrum, especially when exhausted from work. I have a sit/stand desk which I will use to force me off my chair and on my feet for a while, which at least helps some. I always threatened to hook a treadmill up to it so I can get some cardio and actually work at the same time, but alas it's never happened.
ReplyDeleteIt's okay to let the devil win sometimes as long as the angel gets her's too. :)