Doubt rhymes with Workout

Alyssa put her hair up into a ponytail, got out of her car, and walked toward a place she never thought she would ever allow herself to enter. 

A gym. 

Twenty-five years old and overweight, Alyssa had promised herself a long time ago to never focus on the weight on the scale, to eat the foods that made her happy, to accept her body for what it could do. She went on leisurely long walks to enjoy nature, but refused to go to the gym because it held no interest for it. Why would she want to exercise in a dull place? 

But once she’d received the results of her latest doctor’s exam — that she was pre-diabetic — she began to resent her body. Or maybe she resented herself because she would rather not have to eat salads for every meal and run for two hours just to run off a Snickers bar. With a new eating program in place provided by her doctor, she was instructed to lose weight, try to gain muscle, and find a way to maintain a healthy weight. 

Her doctor might as well instructed her to put a needle through her eye. 

Taking a deep breath, Alyssa pulled open the doors to “Slim Gym” to hear about their specials. She couldn’t believe she actually was here after work. 

She was immediately greeted by the smells of sweat and body odor, of bleach and Lysol. 

“Welcome to Slim Gym,” shouted a peppy looking twenty-something brunette, rocking black, gym shorts and a pink, fitness bra, showing off her taut stomach, from behind a counter. 

“Hey” responded Alyssa, taken aback by her upbeat attitude. Was this the endorphins everyone was talking about from working out? Would she pop into an upbeat, optimistic person, too? “I’m new. Just wanted to take a look around and see how much it was to sign up for a membership.”

“Let me get someone to show you around,” replied the peppy twenty-something. She grabbed a walkie and said, “Michael to front desk, Michael to front desk.”

She grinned, her green eyes boring into Alyssa’s. “Michael will be right here to show you around.”

“Thanks. I figured that, by you just calling for him,” retorted Alyssa, and she suddenly felt mean saying it. She softened her face. “Thanks a lot for your help.”

“No problem. I’m Stephanie, by the way. And if you love the gym as much as I do, you’ll practically live and work here, too! Fitness rules!” she exclaimed, as a tall, fit man in his thirties with dark hair approached. 

Alyssa now officially hated Stephanie. 

“Hi, I’m Michael,” the tall man shook Alyssa’s hand. “Looking to join?”

“Yes. Wanted to check it out. I’ve never been to a gym before,” replied Alyssa. “This is my first time in one.” She rambled, “I mean, I like to take long walks and stuff, so that's how I usually exercise, but my doctor said I need to step it.”

He looked her up and down, scrutinizing her carefully. “We’ll have you running off that extra 40 pounds in no time,” he proclaimed. 

Yikes. “Actually,” sighed Alyssa. “My doctor said my goal is to lose 25 pounds. I’m pre-diabetic.”

He sucked in his break. “You’d look better losing 40 to 50 pounds,” and Alyssa came very close to wringing his neck. “Follow me,” he waved, and they stepped from the reception area into the open space of the gym. 

The place was packed! “As you can see, there is cardio equipment to the left here,” Michael pointed out as they started walking that way. “We have tons of treadmills, fifteen stair climbers, ellipticals, rowing machines, and stationary bikes. You’ll be sweating and losing weight in no time.” 

“Hi Michael,” breathlessly shouted a twenty-something blonde bombshell in a fitness bra and tiny shorts, as she ran on the treadmill. 

“Yo Janet! What’s up? Looking good!” As soon as they were out of earshot of her, he said to Alyssa, “see, with enough time, you can look like that. You just have to be motivated.” 

She almost kicked him in the crotch out of annoyance, but continued to follow him instead. 

They walked to the middle of the gym. Michael explained: “Right here is all the ab machines. You can also grab a yoga mat and do stretches, crunches, whatever helps you with flexibility. And trust me, you’ll need to do plenty of crunches to strengthen your core. Lose your 50 pounds and strengthen your core at the same time. I mean, a lot of these women started off nearly as bad as you and…”

“What’s that area over there?” Alyssa pointed her chin toward the area on the right side, interrupting his maddening words and her urge to grab a knife and stab him. 

“That’s the weight machine and free weights area. You can tone your body and gain muscles. And to the right of that is the locker rooms. Really wish I could take you on a tour of the ladies' locker room, but you’ll have to tour that area on your own. Man, I’d love to see the ladies in there. We have a swimming pool out back, but that’s currently being renovated. We also have fitness classes. Everything from Pilates to yoga to aerobics and dance, which is in a classroom on the other side of the gym.” 

They walked over to the weights area. “Looking good bro,” Michael said to a huge guy with bulging muscles and giant biceps. 

“This guy,” Michael pointed at the guy with the huge biceps, “is here six days a week. He eats well, works out, and I have a lot to learn from him.”

“Bro, you’re too kind,” he acknowledged. They fist bumped. 

“Okay, I gotta continue to show my potential client around,” Michael pointed at Alyssa. 

Out of earshot, Michael leaned down to Alyssa. “See, that’s the kind of guy you can get if start working out here and eating right.”

“I actually have a boyfriend,” Alyssa rolled her eyes at his assumption. 

“Well, I’m assuming he doesn’t look like Jake, the guy we just saw,” commented Michael. 

“You know, you can ask him for his number?” Alyssa chuckled. 

Michael steeled, then let out a snort. “Funny,” he muttered. “But really, dude pulls chicks left and right.”

They walked over to an office near reception, and he gestured for Alyssa to take a seat once they were inside. He looked at his computer and typed. “Okay, let me tell you the price for all our tiers. For taking any classes and access to the gym plus pool and sauna area, it’s 109 dollars a month. Great deal. And we’re even waiving the initiation fee this month for that package”. 

“What an initiation fee?” asked Alyssa. 

“It’s like a fee for signing up.”

“Hmm,” said Alyssa, figuring she had seen and heard enough. “Any other packages, like just a basic one?”

“Yeah, we do have something like that for our patrons who are cash strapped. It’s 50 dollars each month with a 100 dollar initiation fee. And we also have an annual membership fee for this package at 100 dollars, which you’d also have to pay immediately. It goes toward fixing the equipment, buying new workout machines, and more.”

Michael continued, “And I’d also suggest you consider using a trainer. I’m actually a trainer and could give you a discount of 200 dollars per month. We’d work out three times a week, one hour each.”

Alyssa thought and finally said, “so I’d have to pay 450 dollars for the month including trainer fees just to sign up? Then 50 dollars every month thereafter plus the 200 dollars each month for you to train me?”

“Yup!” Michael replied enthusiastically, figuring he had the sale! “We’ll get you so in shape that every man would want you and every woman will want to be you!”

“Great!” Alyssa pumped her fist into the air. “Let me just go grab my wallet. It’s in my car.”

She quickly left the office and walked out of the door. 

“I’m just going to work up my leisurely walks into a trot and then try to run in the park,” she thought. No way was she going to be spending all that money being body-shamed on machines that went nowhere. 

She turned back to Slim Gym, put her middle finger up to all the people in the building — specially Michael— climbed into her car and drove away.