On Going To The Gym Again

So on Wednesday night I went to the gym. Which wouldn't have been such a big deal if it weren't for the fact that it was my first visit in 67 days. (Why am I even telling you guys this?!?!) I paid $90.40 for that one visit. I joined the gym because I figured at going 3 times a week I'd only be paying about $2.50 a visit. Obviously that logic only works if I go 3 times a week though. So I didn't go for awhile because I wasn't feeling great and then I was down about our incredibly loooong winter and then we bought a house and then my parents were here to visit and then I was tired and then... Well, you can see how it goes. Anyways, I wanted to share my random thoughts on going to the gym again after a really (really really) long break.

Since we're not allowed to take pictures at the gym (Thank Goodness!!!),
you have to make do with a picture of my gym bag. Which is actually
an important part of this post :)

1) Those workout capris I bought after my last gym visit are way better to work out in then my really old gym shorts. Good purchase. And at this rate they are only costing me $20 a visit! I justified getting them because I read somewhere that if you can get yourself down to $1 per wear on a piece of clothing then it is worth buying. So if you pay $80 for a pair of shoes you should wear them at least 80 times. Makes sense right? Well I figured I'd have those capris paid for within a month (remember, three gym visits a week?). At this rate they'll be paid for in 3 3/4 years. I think I need to work on that a bit :)

2) I did the cross trainer and I just about died. Seriously at the end I was counting down the minutes and seconds just to get myself through. Maybe I shouldn't have jumped back into things full steam ahead. Ten minutes of working out would have been perfectly acceptable right?!?! I was just happy I could walk the next day with little ill effect. Next time I'll have to attempt the weight circuit too...

3) I have a mix of music I listen to on my iPod shuffle while I exercise. I found the songs which were really inspiring to me this time were the instrumental Kindermusik songs from the DewDrops curriculum. It was a lot of Irish music. I also really liked "Do You Hear The People Sing?" from (the Broadway production) Les Mis soundtrack. That one was so awesome I had to repeat it a couple of times. "When the beating of your heart matches the beating of the drum there is a life about to start when tomorrow comes." This line takes on a whole new meaning when your heart rate is over 150bpm (according to the (potentially inaccurate???) machine) and you are at the gym for the first time in over two months. Also "Don't Stop Believin'" from Glee was a good one.

4) The gym should have an alarm that goes off when your membership cards gets swiped and it's been more than a month since your last visit. I think a little public humiliation would inspire a lot of motivation to get to the gym. Although last time it had been a while between gym visits I asked the desk guy what the record was and he said there was one person who hadn't been to the gym in 1009 days and counting. That's almost three years of no gym visits people BUT still paying to be a member there. Why???

5) They renovated the gym since last time I was there. (They were working on renovations but not quite done in February.) I got lost. It was embarrassing. But not quite the public humiliation and motivation needed from number 4.

6) I had to look up my lock combination. Sad but true.

7) In February I lost a necklace which I bought when I went to Jordan with my parents. I looked everywhere* for it and honestly blamed Rachel. She'd been playing with my necklaces and throwing things in the garbage and I reached what I thought was a logical conclusion. It was trash. Then I was looking through my gym bag on Wednesday, trying to reacquaint myself with what was in it and, lo and behold what to my wondering eyes did appear but a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer my necklace! There was much celebration and I apologized to Rachel for blaming her.

*Obviously I'd looked everywhere except in my gym bag.

8) Honestly, I've missed going to the gym. I've missed the exercise. I've missed feeling like I was doing something proactive to stay healthy. I've missed my exercise class, which I love. Sh'Bam, in case you're wondering.

So there you have it -- go work out because you've paid for it, you'll hear some awesome music, you might find something that once was lost, it won't be embarrassing and you might even enjoy it.