Boiled: One Woman?s Story of Working Out Regularly

I had an epiphany this morning.  It occurred to me that I’ve become the proverbial “Boiled Frog.”  Are you familiar with the reference?  The story goes something like this: 

Boiling a frog is tricky business.   If you plop one of the cute little guys into boiling water, he’ll hop right back out. However, if you put the him into a pot of water and slooowwwly bring the water to a boil, the Kermie will let himself become dinner.

Let me explain.  Jim, as many of you know, is a workout warrior.   I mean, to the point of near off-balance, crazy-guy stuff – like running when he got home after a not so minor in-patient procedure at the hospital.  He never misses his daily run.

I, on the other hand…..not so much.  Over the years I’ve worked out reasonably regularly; but it’s something I’ve done grudgingly to stay slim, and it’s always been a struggle to keep those workouts in my routine.

So, this morning, Jim was coaching at a Cross Country meet and I had the house to myself.  It was a chilly, dark, rainy, Michigan fall morning – perfect for curling up in my leopard print fuzzy slippers with my coffee and the Food Network.  But NO - like something out of  a movie about an unexplainable parallel universe,  somehow, I found myself on the bike at the gym, sweating like a maniac, trying to figure out why I was there, and it occurred to me….I’ve become the boiled frog! 

My workout routine has finally, after literally years, become automatic and I didn’t even see it coming.  Now, I’m not talking crazy stuff like working out every single day, but I’m doing something at the gym,every other day. And the best part is that it doesn’t even suck anymore…in fact at this point, I’d actually miss it…woo hoo!!!   Jim and I have been together about four years now and I both blame and credit him, as a great role model and bench press cheerleader.  And I encourage all of you to stick with it and find your own frog-boiler, whether it’s a spouse, gal-pal, or even a personal trainer.  You can do it!!