Baring my bank account, but not my belly

I'm trying to determine whether I hate or admire this girl at my gym. See, lately I've been going to the gym near work during my lunch hour a couple times a week, to get in my strength training. It's a good break from my day and I don't get overly sweaty, which I would if I was doing cardio. Anyway, I keep overlapping with this one girl who does an ENTIRE HALF HOUR of ab work. Seriously. I timed her today, because I suspected it was about a half hour, and I was totally right. And it's not just basic crunches, but all these crazy ab exercises with weight plates and various other accessories.

My first instinct was to hate her. Wait - hate is a pretty strong word. I guess I was just annoyed by her more than anything. Particularly because the ab portion of my weight training is a little lacking of late. I know core strength is important for your back and blah, blah, blah, but I've just become lazy about it the last year or so. The only person that sees my tummy is the DP. And when ab-baring fashion comes back around again, I'm fairly certain that I will be past the age of having to comply with the trend. (Much like leggings this time around.)

But while I was busy being annoyed by this woman, I suddenly realized I was more annoyed by myself. Annoyed that I don't have the same single-minded focus that she does. When it comes to the rest of my strength-training I can easily push myself as far as I can go, but I give up when it comes to my belly.

That led me to think about money. (Not such a stretch. A LOT of things lead me to think about money.) And about a conversation I had with an acquaintance today about the $300 shoes she bought. Now I have NO idea what this woman's financial situation is. She could be completely comfortable, have no debt, and have an entire fund for shoes set aside. But I suddenly realized that I do have a pretty single-minded focus on something - on paying off my debt and paving the way for a prosperous life void of useless debt. (The kind I would inevitably incur if I thought $300 for shoes was an decent price.)

So it turns out that the ab-tastic woman in the gym and I have more in common than I thought. And now I admire her and will silently cheer her on through every core marathon. Just like all of you cheer me on, even when I wimp out and purchase frivolously.

I just don't ever want to run into ab-girl at the beach...

Total debt: $2731 and a bit (The money in the mail continues to be elusive. I can only hope to be showered with cheques all at once in the very near future.)
Spent today: $1.23 (Post-workout chocolate milk)