The Gym

Sooooo.... I am in a wedding in four months (I promise to try not to get into a discussion on weddings and marriage right now) for one of my best friends from middle school. I have never been a bridesmaid before and am a little anxious about it. I don't know exactly what I am supposed to do. I haven't seen the bride (my friend) in probably 2 or 3 years, I live 6 hours away, we don't talk very much, and I don't know the other bridesmaids. I want to be a good bridesmaid (whatever that means) and be there for my friend, but I am unsure of my responsibilities/role in the process.

There is one thing I have done that makes me feel as if I am performing my bridesmaid duties... I ordered my dress. I have not seen the dress (except in a photo online), I simply went to a bridal shop (here, since I am clearly too far to drive back for a dress sizing) and they measured my bust, waist, and hips and I called the store in Ohio where the dress is being ordered from with my measurements. As I was talking to the woman (the groom's aunt) she went over the sizes and measurements of the dress. I discovered that my waist was very un-proportionate to the rest of my body/measurements. I ended up ordering a dress size larger than I have EVER worn in my entire life (even when I went through my largest phase in college). I am hoping that it has to be taken in (quite a lot) and have been working out to ensure this is the case (though my motivation has been waning in recent weeks).

I try to go six days a week (two of those I spend doing strength training and minimal cardio, while the other four I concentrate on cardio with minimal weight training; my goal has also been to attend 3 yoga classes a week, but lately it has been more close to 1 or 2 a week). I have been doing this for about two months (and was much better the first month and a half), and I have barely lost any weight—it has been very frustrating. I am vegan, so my health has always been important to me and I pay close attention to what I put in my body. I am not technically dieting, but I am trying to be conscientious about what I am eating (and trying to keep my calorie in take lower than normal). I don't have a scale so I don't really know how much weight I have lost (but would guess 5-7 pounds, at most). I need to do more (or something differently), but I don't know what. It is cold and snowy outside so my only significant amount of exercise comes from going to the gym. One last note to this: I have cut out pop/soda out of my diet as well.

Okay, what I was originally going to talk about are annoying people at the gym that I go to—one man in particular. This man (I don't know his name, but lets call him Richard) is at the gym pretty much every morning during the week, which is when I go to the gym (except Fridays). Richard is loud, not normal loud, but exceedingly loud—and the gym we are members of is a "quiet" gym, that has a spa attached (I don't have a membership to this portion of the gym however, but it helps to give an idea to the type of gym I go to). Quiet, more alternative music is played (as opposed to the normal "gym" type of music); cell phones are supposed to be turned of and left in the locker rooms; there are televisions, but you must attach your headphones to little machines to hear them; it has a mind/body studio with several yoga classes every day—generally, it is a very quiet, peaceful, calm place to work out. But this all changes when Richard is there. He has his cell phone with him and talks on it nearly EVERY morning as he sits on the stationary bicycle, which he has already dragged across the gym (making a loud screech noise, which seems quite similar to scratching nails on a chalk board). Richard also talks to almost everyone in the entire gym—he can be heard as he enters the building saying hello (and probably something inappropriate) to the front desk staff, and some of the administrative employees. I have forgotten to mention thus far that he has one of those voices, one that you can pick out a mile away (loud, nasally, just plain annoying). As he enters the work out room he has to say something to the trainer who works in there (and to her assistant); and if they are working with a client he comments on or to the client as well. Usually it seems as if almost everyone at the gym gets fairly annoyed with him, but no one ever says anything about it.

Well, just this past week I was able to experience Richard, as I never had before. As I was strength training, I was on a machine called the arm press (I think, it is similar to a "butterfly" machine where you push you arms together lifting the weight), Richard walks over to me and asks me to press his head between the two bars I am pressing together. He doesn't realize how much I would love to do that, but I decline (this is the very first conversation I have personally had with the man and it may be inappropriate to let him know I have grown a great dislike for him before I have ever even talked to him). He says something to the effect of, "Aaron (or Erin) wouldn't do it either, but I think I need it." I just look at him, not knowing how to respond. He goes on, "I think most men deserve it." "The probably do." I quietly agree, hoping he will walk away; but no such luck. "Men are jerks," he states, "but I am not a lesbian." This is the last place I expected the conversation to go (I am still lifting on the arm press machine—I definitely lost count). I say, "Well, that is good," really having no idea what to say (though I considered saying, "I am" to see how he would respond). He then says, "I like men too much." "Oh," is all I have for him. And he walks away. I want to yell, "What the hell?! Who are you? You don't know me, even if you are joking... WHAT THE FUCK?" I am still flabbergasted by the exchange. I don't care if he likes men or women, but why would he even go there or talk about this with some stranger in the gym? He doesn't know me, what if I was extremely offended by what he said (I think I might be if I wasn't so confused), but I just don't know what to think.

I guess all I can say is not only does Richard annoy me, he confuses the hell out of me too—at least he keeps my time at the gym interesting...