Way back in 1993 I started going to a gym on Jasper Avenue in Edmonton, AB. This post is going to be about my workout routines--and the lack thereof--but as a side, this gym is the first place I ever used Interac to pay for something. I can still see me talking with the guy. "You can pay for it right here," he said to me. "But I don't have any money," I returned. "That's okay," he said as he handed me a contraption I'd never seen before, "you can use this. It takes the money right from your bank account." I had a look on my face like I woke up with my head sewn to the carpet. "You mean I can pay for something here even though my bank account is there?" "Yep," he said. "Can you see my account balance or anything like that?" "Nope." So I signed up for three months.

Back to my point. I started working out at the gym. I lifted and then did some cardio work on a bicycle. I consider myself in the "obese" section of the newspaper these days and, to tell the truth, I have been for a long time. Here it was 1993 and I had started yet another work out regimen. It was going nicely and I bragged to a friend of mine about my eventual loss of poundage: "You can kiss my fat good-bye." I paused in our conversation as immediately a weird image popped into my head and I was sad I made the comment.

That was 1993 and this is 2009. Over 15 years later and I'm still reading the same section of newspaper. Guess what? I started another workout routine. This one is at home with the help of on-line routines, some dumbbells, a yoga video and a downloaded playlist on Napster. Will I lose my poundage? Will I lower my BMI? Will I finally run that marathon? Plausibly the first two, never in a million years for the last one.

My trouble is that I ride the wave of momentum or conviction. I get excited about something and I do it but when the excitement has worn off I quit. Will I ever enjoy working out? Will it ever become simply a part of my life? Or will I constantly struggle to stay consistent? I wish I knew. I suppose I could just proudly proclaim, "I'm 225 lbs with a BMI of 28.5. So what?" I do enjoy being the BIG Jay Man. If I did get down to 200lbs I'd just be the Jay Man. Seems kind of a cop-out though.

At any rate, right now I enjoy working out. I have plans to run or even walk during the weeks. Every little bit helps, right? Instead of starting and stopping with a long rest in-between stops, I can start and stop back to back so it just looks like I'm consistent. Hey, the Bible says that even fools who remain silent look smart.