Who do they think they are?!

A few days ago I was at the gym. Yeah, the gym. I go through phases of being a gym person-sometimes I'm hard core and feel great, and other times that's one of the things that doesn't make it onto my priority list. Well, seeing as it's summertime I have a little more time that usual, so my friend Tessa and I have been going regularly for the last couple months. [okay, I'm going to be completely honest with you, it's not just because it's summertime that I've been going to the gym more... I'm getting married in 90 days and I need to look good. If you know what I mean...]

So earlier this week after doing some cardio. I sat down at a weight machine to try to define my pitiful excuses for muscles. Well as I started lifting I was feeling particularly bad about myself and my body. At first I didn't know why, and then out of the corner of my eye, I saw this...



And this...

WHAT THE HECK?! Right? Who do those weight machine manufacturers think they are?! It was as if I had seen these pictures without realizing it and my subconscious mind was saying "Lift all you want Lindsey, but you're never, NEVER, in a million years going to look as good as this computer generated, buff, incredibly defined, strong, man."

Sure, it's great to know which muscles each machine works out [I really do love that], but they should have created someone slightly fatter, or at least uglier... I mean give the guy a really hairy chest, some moles, or a growth of some sort.

Well those little pictures got me to thinking and I decided to look around the gym with new eyes and see what else they had lying around there-waiting to make unsuspecting fools feel bad about themselves.


A scale, now that's quite typical for a gym. And I actually think this is a good idea. Get on the scale, and one of two things happens: "Wow, coming to the gym is really paying off! I'm dropping pounds! I'm going to keep this up!" or the not so great "What?! How did this happen? I can't possibly weigh this much! I've got to step it up here at the gym, and start working harder!" Come to think of it, there might actually be a third response to stepping on the scale, "Oh, it's no use..." Regardless, I think the scale is an appropriate thing to have in a gym [unlike that wretched muscle man plastered on all the machines].


They also had these two machines sitting casually in the corner. I don't blame the water machine for being there-that's healthy, though pricey-but I hate his friend. I don't know who in their right mind is going to go to the gym, have a good workout, and then buy a soda on the way out the door. Isn't that slightly oxymoronic? Burn the calories, them put them back on before you're even out the door...


FREE WATER! That's a good call. Probably my favorite part of the gym to be completely honest. Unpresumptuous. Humble. Non-judgmental. Calorie free. It doesn't tell you you're not working hard enough. It doesn't look way better than you ever could. Yeah, definitely my favorite part of the gym.

**Side note: People think it's strange when you take pictures at the gym. Especially of things like soda machines and scales!**