My "will they/won't they" relationship with the gym

As we enter the New Year, more and more people make resolutions to get into shape. For all of 2006 and about half of 2007 (pretty much before I went on a 2 month/8 country trip), I worked out regularly at my friendly neighborhood super-gym. I had an entire routine down. My workout partner, Deepak, was also a co-worker so it was pretty easy to stay motivated. He would come down after work each day, and we'd get our gym on.

Working mostly in the weight training area, we had a schedule that we could rely on like clock work. We would do all the various muscle groups depending on the day, and after each workout, a quick trip to the steam room to let out the stress (and make the skin glow). All in all, it was about a 90 minute ordeal and I was always home by 8:00 at the latest. That was when I lived in the suburbs.

Times have changed. Deepak now lives in Manhattan, I live downtown (thus relying on a Microsoft-provided bus for my commute), and my muscles are in a serious state of atrophy. I've even had to switch to a lighter laptop! (Ok, I did that for other reasons).

I could lie to myself and say that I will commit to a workout regiment equal to the old days, but I'm not even sure I could take myself seriously. I've toyed with the idea of morning workouts, mid-day workouts, and home gym equipment-- but I feel the key missing component is time.

Living in Seattle and working in Redmond means I'm spending at least 60-75 minutes a day commuting. Committing to a work out program taking into account commute time (and bus schedules) almost certainly guarantees I'll be leaving the apartment at 7:00am and returning around 9:00pm. That's a lot of time spent away from home base, then calling into question other health issues like "Should I really be eating dinner this late?", "Am I getting enough sleep?", etc.

It's a vicious cycle, and it seems to all come down to the commute. I could do what Deepak used to do and drive every day that I work out. That would help me shave some time off (no longer having to do the 15 minute walk to the gym, waiting at the bus stop, etc.), but now I'm adding in some costly gasoline that I never used to pay for.

So is it all worth it? I guess I'll have to decide before all this New Year's euphoria wears off.