Health Decisions & Braving the Stench

Due to a number of important reasons - turning 30, quite recent hospital visits with family members (nothing bad, thank you, Papa God) - I've taken to heart the whole Health is Wealth adage.  Even as a child, I liked eating fruits and vegetables.  J calls me a "food nerd" because I didn't like hotdog as a kid (it was too red) & only insisted on eating brown frankfurts (if there was no other "real" ulam). 

What?? It's red! Something's not right!

Now that I have come to terms with the reality that I can no longer eat whatever I want without suffering consequences, I've realized that I should be more discerning when it comes to what I eat (and how much, huhu), and that, yes, I do need to exercise.  I REFUSE to go on any sort of diet - I love food too much - for fear of breaking down and binge-eating because I'll end up feeling deprived and kawawa. So, exercise it is.

Back in Singapore, jogging was my exercise of choice, and I enjoyed it.  I'd go run with my officemates every Tuesdays or Thursdays (both if we were preparing for the annual JP Morgan run), and I would look forward to it because it was alone time where I could think or just enjoy the peace and quiet (and tree-watch).  Here in Manila, for some reason, I find it exceptionally hard to find time and energy to jog.  To be honest, I'd also find excuses like it's too polluted, it's unsafe, so I never really got back into my groove.

After months of laziness and kabochogan, J & I decided to make the best of the monthly association dues we pay and use the condo gym.  At first, I only used the stationary bike half-heartedly, and never really hard enough to make me sweat in that let's-burn-fat kind of way.  I know I'm not yet at that point where I'm maximizing my workouts (naks, plural), and I have no delusions of being a gym rat (don't people say exercise is addicting? I'm still waiting to get addicted!), but a little physical activity is better than no activity, for sure.

The thing is, 3 times in the past 2 weeks that J & I had gone to work out, there's this guy who, the moment he steps in the already kulob gym with everyone sweating and huffing away, completely contaminates the air with...I don't know, B.O.??  He hasn't even started sweating! The first time it happened, he was there first and it was so bad that J & I decided to abort our workout mission and we ended up eating out instead.  Fat = 1, fitness = 0.  The succeeding encounters, we were at the gym first and thought, what a hassle if we cut our session short just because of the smell!  Solution: we continued to work out, outside the gym (thank goodness the guards let us!).

Toxic!

I am absolutely certain that we will share the gym with him again and I will just continue to bring my work out outside hehe.  Applause for the committed!

On another note, J & I wondered out loud if we ever get stinky enough to offend nearby people (like in elevators or similarly enclosed spaces).  I wisely said we would each tell the other if we reeked - that's what spouses are for!