Do you want to be a toughie or a tubby?

I recently started going back to the gym. Because the activities I used to do at the gym are off limits for the time-being, I thought this would be a good opportunity to work on some of the activities I generally avoid. Namely, weight- and strength-training. Specifically for my upper body. As someone who largely avoided gyms except to use the pool and the treadmill, this was a completely new universe for me, and I needed some help.

I started going to a new church in the fall of last year and got involved in a small group. I found out a couple of the guys went to my gym, and they kindly agreed to help me get started. I am very grateful to Mark, who willingly met me at 6:30 am on a morning when he didn't have to be at work until 10, and for Rick, who provided a great deal of instruction and comic-relief. Apparently, weight-lifting is more effective when you make faces in the mirror. Who knew?!

In addition to providing me with a greater sense of purpose in the YMCA weight room, Mark and Rick also shared their personal work-out motto with me: Do you want to be a toughie or a tubby? When they first told me their motto, it made me laugh... a lot. But it's grown on me a lot these last few days.

They use it in terms of motivating each other to finish their work-outs, especially if they run into circumstances where one or the other doesn't want to do a certain activity. It definitely makes sense in that capacity. But I've been finding myself saying it more to myself outside the gym - specifically when I have to make decisions about what I eat.

I have to remember that the effectiveness of my work-out isn't over just because I've left the locker room. For some reason, it's really easy for me to leave the gym and then act like I never did anything good for my body. I'll crave sugar-laden mochas and chocolate chip cookies instead of fruit and yogurt and lean proteins. But by making those poor nutritional choices, I'm working against accomplishing my fitness goals. I say I want to be a "toughie" in the gym, but then I leave and I make "tubby" decisions. That's got to change - pronto.

I'm gonna be a toughie... all the way!