This is a guest post by Kid Strangelove. Kid originally published this article at his own blog, but he deleted the site a while ago so he could focus on other projects. He asked me if I’d be willing to re-post some of his articles on my blog and I said yes.
As my loyal blog readers probably already know, a month ago, I came back from a life changing trip to Barcelona and Paris. During those two weeks I was unstoppable, seizing every second of every day. I found myself with an ungodly amount of tourist walking stamina and would stay on my feet all day—sometimes exhausting my four travel buddies in the process—and still had the energy and pep to go on morning runs. I was that inspired. It was that beautiful.
What I never talked about was the cost. It would be fair to say I spent at least over $2,000 in total on this trip. And in an era where many Americans are one paycheck away from being homeless, that’s a lot of money.
Yes, at times it felt really weird dropping that kind of cash in the preparation for this trip, especially for me. I’ve always prided myself in being frugal: somehow living and dating in New York City on meager amounts, preferring less pay to more free time, unlike my high-earning, 80-hour-a-week peers. I pay as much for my room in the Upper East Side (historically one of the richest neighborhoods in the world) as some people pay for places in Harlem and the Bronx. And don’t believe the hype: while some neighborhoods are considered to be “coming up,” they are still not there… at least at the level of “there” where it would be easy to take snooty chicks home there.
Just try to take a girl one year into her NYC move from Florida to your spacious apartment in the Bronx from a Meatpacking District club. I’ll wait.
I am by far not the only Manosphere blogger that advocates a minimalist lifestyle. Many of my favorite bloggers talk about dating frugality as a skill, or denounce the high levels of materialistic values in our society. So spending that $2,000 was nerve racking.
Upon my return home, something weird but expected happened: I was slowly pulled back into this weird void, a prison that I’d never fully considered until my trip. It’s a prison that many people talk about, this blue pill lifestyle and how to escape it by taking the red pill. I talked about it, but now I had finally swallowed it. The trip changed my life and there was no going back. The red pill cost $2,000 dollars, and it was well worth it.
But this red pill was not permanent. I have to fight for it every day. And around my birthday, as I indulged in the allowed birthday excesses, I found the red pill to be receding. I’ve been waking up sluggish, unmotivated, and tired. I picked up a smoking habit in Europe that’s becoming hard to break. I drink too much. I even had a night out where I did some harder drugs. Not proud of that one, it took me a missed work day and a full weekend to recover from that. The gym is slowly becoming a distant memory, helped by a wrist injury which I have hopefully recovered from (we’ll see about that tonight).
Things were spiraling out of control until I realized how I could solve this. I had the solution all along, and that solution is a drug. That solution is money. I’m not talking about coke, I’m talking about exercise: the surefire way to get the endorphins racing, causing that all-too-familiar chemical reaction of happiness. But not just any drug: I needed CrossFit, the most expensive drug of all. And like all drug addictions, this one started with a sample.
Earlier this year, I bought a month-long membership at a CrossFit gym on LivingSocial at a deeply discounted price. I was immediately hooked. During that month, I was never healthier: I ate better, I slept better, I felt better, and I thought I would continue the spirit of Crossfit after that month was up. After all, according to many, CrossFit is a scam, classes are for the weak, and a real manly man can get in shape at a moldy $20 a month gym. Now let’s post some “CrossFit Fails” to drive home the point.
There’s even video!
What kind of person in their right mind would pay to take part in bullshit like this?
The answer is me, because their particular brand of training got me motivated and got me results. I need CrossFit. I’ve known this all along. And now that I am no longer afraid of spending money on myself, CrossFit and I are gonna enjoy a heck of a relationship together. Of course, I’ll have to pay for the dates, and pay a lot.
But the alternative is pricier. The alternative is slowly watching myself get fatter, slower, with that spark, the spark I felt at such extremes, slowly start to fade. At these prices, CrossFit is starting to look more affordable by the minute.
But the cost isn’t just a monetary one, it’s also mental. The mind and body work as a unit, after all. And besides, what good is a hot body if you have no pretty ladies in your life? So I am also embarking on the “one approach a day diet” to truly be unstoppable: one girl and one workout, one day at a time.
CrossFit and pretty ladies: I’ll report on both.
But for now, I look outside: it’s pouring and the umbrella that help me get to work is still dripping nearby. It’s a mess out there, and it sounds like a perfect time to approach.
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