Why Comedy & Exercise Don’t Mix

One of my unofficial resolutions of the new year was to lose some weight. Very original I know, but what’s made this one different than every other year is that this time it actually seems to be taking hold… I’ve lost about 30lbs since the beginning of the year. No applause, just throw popcorn chicken.

This week I decided to take a couple of vacation days off figuring I’d make myself a healthy scratch from work now that the eyes, the ears and the throat are all better. So yesterday, and again today, I found myself on our elliptical machine while the Just for Laughs  comedy festival was on the comedy network (that’s the problem with working out 10 in the morning – little to nothing to watch while doing so).

I used to call the elliptical machine the ecliptical machine because within seconds of beginning my routine the corners of my vision would begin to go dark. That was three months ago and this is now. Now it takes about 10 minutes for that to happen…

So there I was this morning running as if all the demons of hell were behind me and there’s a guy on TV doing a very good job of being funny. I usually take off my glasses when I exercise because I sweat like a pig at a luau and they get dirty, but today I didn’t so I could actually watch the guy’s mix of physical and verbal comedy which turned out to be almost dangerous.

I don’t even remember the name of the man who almost killed me just that he was a fellow of Scottish Indian descent – which for some reason seems funny in and of itself. Well anyway, he’s doing his thing and I’m starting to laugh.

Laughter is one of those things that grows exponentially so when he got me laughing that first time it was easier the next time and the next so that by the time I was on minute 14 of my eclliptical training I was laughing so hard I almost fell off the machine.

I’m pretty sure if that had happened I would have been pummelled by the swinging arms of the machine and then fallen under the still moving steps; and that would have been the last of me.

They say laugher is healthy… but in this case it almost did me in.