January 1, 2010. Lisa decides to do yoga or pilates this year, she’s not yet sure which. Mike decides there’s no time like the present to action new year’s resolutions, so he proposes they both walk down the street and join the gym… immediately. Lisa follows along, wondering why she is still surprised by Mike’s tendencies to want to action decisions… immediately.
Gym membership comes with one free session of personal training which Mike schedules for the first available time – Monday night, January 4th. The evaluation discussion with the trainer, Ryan, proceeded last night as follows:
Ryan: “Well, what are your fitness goals?”
Lisa: “Huh, uh, I dunno. Core strength? Flexibility?”
Mike: “I don’t really have any goals. Cardio, maybe?”
Ryan: “When did you first start thinking about a serious exercise program?”
Lisa: “Three days ago.”
Ryan (the red flags popping up in his mind are almost visible to the naked eye): “Right. So, how many times in the past couple of years would you say you’ve set your mind to a diet or an exercise program and then not followed through?”
Mike: “Never. I’ve never done a diet or fitness program before.”
Lisa: “I don’t do that. If I set my mind to something, I follow through.”
Ryan: “Well, Lisa, when you were going to the gym regularly before how often did you go?”
Lisa: “Three times a week, every week.”
Ryan: “That’s great! Did you see good results?”
Lisa: “Well, I used to go to the gym and then come home and eat half a container of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, so not exactly. Though, I guess I held pretty steady during that time, so you could call that a result.”
Ryan: “Uh, huh. Ooookaaay. Well, on a one to ten scale how committed are you to your fitness goals right now?”
Lisa: “Seven. I haven’t yet decided to be fully committed, but I’m considering it.”
Mike: “I’m a five.”
Ryan (confused): “Five?”
Mike: “I thought you wanted us to be honest?”
