Running is one of the best solutions to a clear mind.
- Sasha Azevedo, USA
And who said you can't get high legally?
Interesting observation as I spent the morning flipping through the pages of my newspapers. The 15-day marathon of eating / gambling / interrupted sleeps / drinking / loud talking / smiling at irritating relatives during what we all called "Chinese New Year" had concluded last night with a boom-bam-bung of fireworks and the smell of overnight BBQ grease reminded me, yes, Chap Goh Meh was last night.
Before the infinitesimal mouse gave way to strapped fortified ox, this town had always been notorious for slimming centres that masquerade as your best friend in need when you had to do the deed of reducing your mirror image to zero - because your prospective crush will be at the open house, because you simply hate your cousin and need to settle the score this year (hence, that qipao), because you just want to woo and make mouths gawk? I always have found it quite unrealistic when I hear women, with single hand on the forehead in "woe betide me" style, aspiring to "slim down" to perk up a lame, flat spirit or to just... attend a wedding function.
How interesting. And how silly.
So I was not amused when I found what used to be sections of the newspapers' advertorials prior to the new year's celebration touting "REVEAL-YOUR-BEST-SELF-THIS-YEAR!" and happy, smiling (completely Photoshop-ed) specimens of gullible women with their "before" and "after" photographs, claiming that this centre or that one had changed their lives forever (and your bank account that leaner I suppose?). It all sounded like one scary advertorial of laboratory CSI gone wrong - something that sounded like suction? Did I hear electromagnetic waves? Fat melting lotion? Cold wraps. Hot wraps. And no, we are not talking about lunch time sandwiches here.
Did I miss something?
And of course, any festivity can't be one without the galore of food, drinks, throw in some bad lines and we are heading towards some serious booze. Empty calories (oh, woe betide me indeed! Pass that drink Georgie!), feeling sick in the morning after and needing to perk up - they did say Bloody Mary cures, did they really say that? You looked at yourself and thought that you appeared like shit. And then it hit you, that you would have to go back to the world, you need to radiate, no, no... more like diffuse the luminosity of taking a break. Panic. Shock. Disbelief.
Upon moving beyond gasping recovery like a fish out of water, you thought of one thing. What can money buy? Hence, your trip down to that slimming centre with hope and faith clutched tightly in your bosoms, that you will emerge victorious and honed to the right tone.
Personally I really poo-poo on these slimming centres. They reek of hypocritical assurance that capitalises on the desperation of the lazy. Yes, I said it. You work out if you want to change your mindset. Come on, give yourself a good smack - either you can forever call yourself a lazy bastard, a fat ass, or you commit to respecting yourself and give in a good fight.
Sweat and good pain always pay back. You do reveal a stronger side of you, a more determined side of you, and above all, you damn well deserve to gloat because you didn't cheat. Consistency. Commitment. Belief. All of them real, and you know that you are beating out all your demons. Your body ripples with strength and sexiness. You feel hot. You feel damn hot! And everyone knows it. They can't pay for it, they can only envy you - they know, you got something special.
This is what ran through my mind when I sat down to complete my workout this arvo. I was in a deep stretch, with my little white pillow of love, Chewy greedily licking up my glowing arms, while Tommy keeping my angles in check on the yoga mat, I loved the fact that I have accomplished 10km of interval training. My thigh muscles burn but recover, my state of mind clears up. I feel that I am responsible and that I have been responsible.
The best thing out of this? I got the reserve to take the dogs out for our arvo walk around the hill. We came back all exhausted and sweaty. It was a quiet day, just the three of us. But we felt that we own the whole of this world.
