The Virtues of Exercise

In my old blog I was constantly extolling the virtures exercise, and documenting how much I was exercising each day. It's true, I did and do exercise a lot. Every single day I go to the gym. If I miss a day I feel out of sorts, like I'm a failure and a bad person. It's like I've messed up a portion of my day and didn't follow through on something that's extremely important to me.

I've been exercising for thirteen weeks, since I started Weight Watchers on 2/12/2008. The first few weeks I only went four to five times a week, and I hated every minute of it with every fiber of my being.

Around the sixth week I was trying to go every day, seven gym visits a week. By the eighth week, I actually was going to the gym every single day. I haven't missed a day in four weeks.

The question is, do I like it any better now? The answer is, I don't really think about it. I just do it. Friends and coworkers tell me I'm OCD. Maybe I am, but I'm reaping the benefits of all that exercise. I feel great, actually, I feel fantastic. I work out hard, really hard. I figure since I'm spending my valuable time at the gym, I'd better make it worth it.

There are two benefits of exercise that people don't talk about. One is an increased sex drive. This can be good or bad depending on your partner. In my case, it's somewhat good, but also somewhat bad. That old adage of "too much of a good thing" applies here and we're somewhat out of sync. I'm trying to get him to the gym more and to eat healthier because I know that could make us more "in sync", but it doesn't always work.

The other benefit is the feeling of being better than my friends and coworkers who are slugs. There, I said it, I think I'm better than they are because I exercise and they don't. There's a feeling of being superior over them. For someone who has suffered from low self-esteem my entire life, this is actually a nice feeling. It also means I'm a bit of a bitch, but that's okay, I can live with that.