I'm not saying sports are completely free, but they could be. There's plenty of free swimming options in my area (of course that might be different for you, but you don't have to swim). My bicycle paid for itself and more as I don't have to pay for public transport. I could buy proper lifting equipment for a fraction of a gym membership. You lift? You could easily get weights for yourself at home. Or, I could just go for a run (or a big walk, it is healthy and burns calories, even if it doesn't make a great exercise by itself). Or yoga. Or get one of those apps where you meet with a group of people in public to exercise together (forgot the name, but did it for a while, it was free and lots of fun).

There's literally so many options and I'm not saying the gym is not one. But it's always the only option being proposed and I wanted to give her more ideas.

My friend sells gym memberships. His best time for sales is January and the gym is rammed every year again around that time. The gym isn't designed to occupy this many people all year around and it won't. By February or March, it's as good as empty again.

Most people overestimate themselves and think they can do it for two years because they managed to do it for two weeks. While most instructors there keep fit with gymnastics, cycling, running, but not exclusively with the exercise that the gym offers.

As a former member and a friend of that sales person, I understand the gym culture, I even got my mum a job there as an instructor. I'm not blind to its benefits as I have used them for two years until I made up my mind about this.

So I don't care what a few here say. It's naive to believe the gym is for everyone when not even the majority of the people who go out of their way to sign a contract are able to stick to it. It's actually a tiny group of people who manage that. And in my opinion, that's because it's not exactly fun.

Since I have discovered certain sports and exercises for me, I have been happier and steadier with my workout than ever. And that's what I wanted to share, like it or not.