Exercising is like dating. If you haven't done it in a while, it can be a little awkward when you first jump back in. It's also like relationships. You really have to commit to it in order for it to be a good experience. I've always been more Jack Nicholson than Kurt Russell in that regard.

After a six month fling with sluggishness, though, I've finally gone back. The last two weeks, in particular, have been ridiculous with the amount of crap I've been eating and drinking and it didn't help that my jeans were getting a bit snug again. I've hit the gym two days in a row, easing my way back in with some stretching, pushups and 20 minutes on the stationary bike each time. Sort of like group dating, to finish off the metaphor. I'm going to hook up with the treadmill sometime next week.

Remarkably, I already feel better, the end of the day not hitting me quite as hard and actually having some energy when I get home.

I switched gyms, from the swank NYHRC to the painfully hip Crunch, because it was a lot cheaper and I wasn't using all of the extras to justify the cost. Crunch actually isn't as bad as I've always thought it was, at least not the downtown location, and there's no one lurking in the locker rooms that you have to tip! They have all the basics and, when I'm back in shape - hopefully by mid-spring - they have a boxing program that I want to get into.

The downside of these corporate deals with gyms is that you bump into people from work. In the locker room. Old, pasty white guys that look distinguished in their suits but quite unpleasant when they're naked and wet from the shower. Credit them for working out but in some cases, it may be too little, too late.