Friday, January 15, 2010

How To Tell If It’s Been Too Long Since You Were Last At The Gym

1.) All the weight machines in the “Express Fitness” area have been rearranged and you have no idea where anything is.


2.) The city has added a cement divider to the road in front of the driveway to your gym, and you almost run it over when you attempt to turn in to the parking lot.


3.) You have to look up the combination to your lock, so you can get into your locker.


4.) You have to stop for “breathers” during a power set that previously you were able to just blow right through.


5.) You are not able to move, or even breathe deeply the next morning because your muscles are so sore.


Yes, it has been way to long since I was last at the gym, but the best way to tell if you are a member of a great gym, they remember your name even though you haven’t been there since October. I love the counter girls at my gym. They are encouraging, and don’t lay a guilt trip on you for not coming in for two months.


Until next time…

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Almost Made It, Almost…

So, here it is, the 12th of January, and I don’t think I’ve been to the gym in like two months, possibly three. Shhh, don’t tell my husband or my Mum. They think I’ve been going all this time. In August, I was so stoked for M to start school because I would have so much time to work out, and then write, and so far I haven’t done much of either.

Sure in November I did NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month-the goal is to write 50,000 words in 30 days) and I won, but I didn’t go to the gym even once, so that was a major fail. But even before November, I was out of the habit of working out every day. I had such grand plans. I was going to get up when M and R got up and while R took M off to school, I would go off to the gym, sweat my way to a fitter more toned self, and just generally be awesome at the whole fit SAHM writer thing. Uh, yeah, that’s not how it’s worked out so far. My workouts were patchy at best in September, even sparser in October, and by the first of November, I hadn’t been to the gym in at least a week, possibly two.

The New Year has come ‘round again, and with so many making their resolutions to get fit, lose weight, find a vampire boyfriend, survive the impending zombie attack, etc., I was feeling the guilt of the days, weeks, and months of lying pressing on my shoulders, the straining waistband of my pants pressing on my gut, when I started wondering if I could dig out all my old worn out yoga pants and start wearing them again without anyone noticing. Then I caught sight of myself in the mirror, and I looked away as quickly as I could. I didn’t want to see what I had done to myself.

In two short months, I had nullified all the hard work I put in over the previous six. I was ashamed of myself, and decided that Monday was going to be the day. M was back to school after winter break, and I had no reason not to be at the gym every morning.

Monday dawned sunny and crisp, all sparkly and full of promise. I got out my gym clothes, set them on the bed, and turned on the laptop so I could check Twitter and announce my intent to anyone who cared to read it. Then I started to read the announcements of others. Next thing I knew it was almost noon, and I still hadn’t even put the workout clothes on, much less made it out the door to the gym. Epic fail. Ok, ok. Shake it off. Tomorrow is another day.

Yeah.

I didn’t even get the workout clothes out of the closet today. What’s worse? I started this blog post on Monday and goofed around all day and didn’t even get it finished and posted on time.
So, what’s the plan of action now? Where do I go from here? Hmm…good questions, now let’s hope I have equally good answers.

Plan of action: I have to take M to school Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. That means I have to get up, put on clothes, and leave the house before 8 a.m. every morning for the next three days. What better way to get back into the gym habit?

Where do I go from here? Usually, the answer to this question is up, but today I’m going to say down. My ten year wedding anniversary is this year, September 23rd to be exact, and I would really like to be the size I was when R and I got married. As you may remember from a previous post, I wasn’t skinny when we were married, but I was definitely smaller then than I am now. That’s a little more than eight months from now. I think I can do it. Who knows, I might even surpass that goal, and be even smaller. Maybe I could even fit back into the outfit I wore on our first date (yes, sadly, I still have that outfit packed away in my “It Will Fit Again Someday” bin.) I fear it will be wildly age inappropriate, but it would be so much fun to wear it again, just because I could.

So in remembrance of another post from the past, I will see this not as the failure it felt like, but instead as merely the temporary setback that it truly is.

Until next time…