By Susan Wenner Jackson (Mommy Track'd: Around the Watercooler)
Remember that cheesy deodorant tagline from the 80s: "Never let 'em see you sweat"? For the past few months, as part of my New Year's get-fit resolution, I've been breaking that rule of female empowerment at the office.
Between meetings, at lunch, after work - pretty much whenever I can find the time - I head down to our office gym for a seriously sweaty workout. That includes changing into my unflattering exercise attire (oversized T-shirt and yoga pants) in the locker room, which is nestled behind my coworkers' cubicles. Then, I stride past those coworkers (who all happen to be male in that area), who are still clad in regular clothes and going about their work, and head into the gym.
Once I'm in, I do my thing. A little treadmill here, a little elliptical there, burning off my excess fat, one drop of sweat at a time. Sometimes, I throw in some smooth weight-lifting moves, lunging my way across the gym floor or squatting my big ol' butt into shape.
Often during these sessions, I'm alone-and I like it that way. Many of my colleagues either don't work out or go somewhere else to sweat. But I'm cheap and would rather use my free office gym than pay for a membership somewhere else. Plus, I can watch my story (All My Children) if I go after lunch! So I have the benefit of enjoying Erica Kane's aging feminine wiles while I turn into a stinky, red-faced Fatty McGee, sans audience.
Susan Wenner Jackson works for an advertising agency in Cincinnati and blogs about her working mom life in the Around the Watercooler column on Mommy Track'd.
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