What's In My Gym Bag? Featuring Sara from Endorphin Mom

How to Hit the Gym on Your Lunch Hour

I never cease to be amazed by how lucky I am in some things, like the fact that there’s a gym less than a mile from my office. I’m also lucky because I’m not the only employee in my office with a membership. It’s less daunting to be sweaty and red-faced if there’s at least one other person who looks just as bad and hopefully smells worse.

Being an active woman, employee, and mother can make lunch workouts daunting but necessary. Just how are you supposed to escape the office, change clothes (twice!), get in a workout, and return without looking like you just pulled off a daring bank heist? The answer is that it isn’t as hard as you think! Let’s take a look at my gym bag.

First is the outfit, of course! I’m not a ‘fashionista’ by any means. As long as it’s sweat-wicking technical fabric I’ll wear it. You can choose to be pickier about appearances but stick to quality fabrics that won’t leave the sweat on your skin. Some of the newer fabrics even have silver woven into them to kill the stinky bacteria. Whatever your fashion sense choose your workout gear wisely!

The next issues arise after you’ve gotten good and hot. How do you get back to the office without everyone thinking you’ve had a lunchtime tryst? Due to time constraints, and the fact that I spend a very long time straightening my hair in the morning, I choose not to shower at the gym. I turn to a towel to dry the sweat and then wash my face and hands with cool water to lessen the redness and keep breakouts away. After that comes a little scented lotion, deodorant, and a spritz of my favorite perfume before I put my office attire back on.  The last thing I do is brush the headband mark out of my hair and brush my teeth.

So far none of my non-gym coworkers have discovered my lunch break occupation. Four days a week I escape to my sanctuary and two of those days I sit through a cramped afternoon meeting immediately upon my return. I’m pretty sure if I can sit next to all of those engineers for an hour without anyone wrinkling their nose that I must smell okay, if not particularly good. And I’d be willing to bet that if you pick the right fabrics and carry the essentials you’ll be just fine too. Of course, nobody will notice your aroma when you strut your new, smaller pants suit through the lobby anyway.

 Sara Brunazzi is a blogs at www.endorphinmom.com. She’s a wife, mother of two girls, employee, and student. Running is her passion and she hopes to create a career mixing blogging and fitness someday. You can find Sara on Facebook or on Twitter.

Sara is also a fellow FitFluential Ambassador!!!

Thanks Sara for sharing what’s in your gym bag and for your great tips on how to the gym during our lunch hour!!!!

Next week find out what’s in Alexandra’s and Kymberly Williams-Evan’s gym bags from Fun and Fit.