Tip of the Day

My gym sends me these helpful little emails that are supposed to offer up encouragement and advice, but they're so dorky that I really can't take them seriously. I voluntarily signed up for them because I thought a "tip of the day" might be helpful when I'm reaching for another handful of M&M's, but instead of truly offering me advice, the tips are mainly just little nuggets of optimism: "Be Positive!" "Motivation comes from the inside!" "Reward yourself!" There is always an exclamation point; that encourages me to be excited.

These little email cheerleaders don't really work to encourage me, and in fact, they make me want to rebel against them. Occassionally they do offer up some genuine nutritional advice, but it's never anything that's beyond common sense. Mostly it's just a reminder to eat all of your fruits and vegetables and to include some lean proteins and to drink your water. Nothing mind blowingly new. And not that I expect that, but I do kind of wish for some sort of fortune cookie advice that has actual for-telling knowledge; i.e., "Eat a banana today and you will lose five pounds." That's the kind of message I would probably take to heart.

Otherwise the emails remind me of those sort of people you meet at races and other sporting events, people who don't actually participate themselves, or who participate minimally, but whose sole job seems to be to cheer others on. "C'mon," they shout, "you can make that last mile. You're doing a really good job!" Others may find these people encouraging or helpful, but I mostly want to vear off my path and knock them down.

But even though I know these emails will annoy me, I still open them up just like I open those forwarded emails from friends that encourage you to pray for some childless couple in Canada. I guess I'm a sucker. Or else, I get so few email messages that I open everything to see if it might contain something interesting. Even if it is an electronic cheerleader.