August 14th, 2008 Add Your Comments Bookmark and Share

I started a heavy exercise routine the beginning of this year. I was hitting the gym at least once every day, I kept this up for several months. In that time I lost over 24 pounds of weight and took my body fat percentage down from around 30% to 12%. To be fair it wasn’t that much of a challenge, I was always very fit in my younger years and deep down there is a natural athlete somewhere inside me, it just took the actual decision to do it! I sometimes wonder where I’d be if I hadn’t discovered beer at search an early age, but heh ho.

The gym I’m going to I’ve been a member of for 7 years now. Over that time in the early years I’d go 2-3 lunch times a week. That’s the problem with working 9-5, you go when you can, it kept me roughly on the level but all it took was to miss a few sessions and I’d put on a bit of weight. Seeing as how I work for myself now, and with my fitness goals in mind I’ve been able to go in the mornings instead, I normally do 10:30 till mid day each day. This has caused some problems though. For a start the gym manager has serious problems with me. You’d never guess I was a paying customer.

He greets everybody else with a hello and a chat. I’m lucky if I get a grunt. The majority of his staff, especially the young lads are just as bad. What the hell is their problem? OK, so I’m a jeans and t-shirt type of person, I also don’t shave everyday but then again why should I, I didn’t start my own business to get suited and booted and scrape my face of moisture every day? I’ve come to the conclusion that I think they think I’m either unemployed and putting my benefits into a gym membership (although I don’t think this would cause the level of hate in their eyes) or more likely they actually think I’M A DRUG DEALER! WTF! Has anybody else ever had this? Ever been mistaken for a crim? If I’ve got bags under my eyes and am looking a little down trodden it’s probably because I’ve been putting in 15 hour days! I’ve got no idea how to resolve the situation, go in and sit him down and try and explain what I do for a living? Then again is it really any of his business? I dunno, but either way I know it’s no fun going somewhere every day where you’re just not welcome. It’s not like I’ve got a lot of gym choices either so if I want to carry on hitting the gym I guess I’ve just got to put up with it.

The only person in there who ever straight up asked what I do (fuelled I imagine by my strange gym hours) was cool when I told him. He’d make a point of chatting, he was genuinely interested even to the point of maybe trying to do something online himself. Unfortunately for me he’s left, a couple of the girls he was friendly with are still smiley and chatty but the others, they’ve got some serious issues.

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Paul B