A New Year's Revelation (Week 5)

Does Paying for a Gym Make You a Dumbbell?
January 8, 2009
Neal Templin


This article is short and to the point. Templin comments on the amount of money people spend each year on memberships to gyms compared to the number of times they actually go to the gym. A personal example from him was when his wife purchased a $79 six-month gym membership in 1982 and only went to the gym three times before it expired. Her excuse? "She didn't feel comfortable going to the gym until she got in better shape."

This, of course, makes perfect sense to me. I hate working out in front of other people, especially all the skinny, muscular people who over-populate the gym. Where are all the other people like me who should be there?

Templin says there is an easy, less expensive solution. Instead of going to the gym, just work out at home. That doesn't seem too hard, but still some 41 million Americans are health club members. A full 12% of these memberships are signed in January when Americans "make the commitment" to lose weight.

Instead of making a New Year's resolution to lose weight, I had a New Year's revelation. I plan on walking (maybe jogging) outside on a regular basis and eating healthier. The revelation is that I don't need an expensive gym membership or special meal plan like NutriSystem. I can have the same results using free resources and regular food from a grocery store. However, Ohio is no place to commit to walking outside, and college is no place to commit to eating healthy. BUT, I'm promising myself this will start in two months when I live in Florida . . . unless, of course, Florida presents its own obstacles.

Bottom line--It's free to walk outside. I won't be wasting money if I decide not to use the resource.