Since moving to South Carolina and starting a relationship three years ago, I have steadily been gaining weight. Now, I am not overweight by any means, but I have had to buy new clothes every year and that can get expensive. Plus, I am worried that if I continue this trend, eventually I will become overweight and that is just not an option for me. I am not vain, but my body image does have a direct correlation with my self-esteem and confidence.
After purging my closet and drawers of all the clothes that did not fit me anymore, I got a little depressed and pissed off at myself. I have always been one of those people who could eat whatever they wanted and exercise sporadically if I wanted and be just fine weight-wise, but it seems that the older you get, the less that is possible, especially when you have a desk job that leaves you pretty inactive all day. So, my current health goals include maintaining my current weight by exercising more often and making better choices when it comes to eating.
I decided that, in order for me to meet my health goals, we needed to get active this year. We have been trying, but being active on just the weekends isn’t enough. Especially when the weather makes it impossible for us to get out of the house and actually do active things like hiking or biking.
I tried working out with workout videos at home, but I just have a hard time staying motivated when nobody is doing it with me. And I mean like right next to me. I crave a social situation in order to work out. So, I finally took a look at the gyms in my area.
I have never been good at going to the gym. I am not good at independently working out, and I haven’t been able to find a gym buddy. Also, I usually feel really out of place in the gym. I always feel like people are watching me and judging me.
One of my friends recommended that I get Jason to work out with me, but that just wouldn’t work for me. He work out completely different than I do because his needs are different than mine. I need people with like-minded health goals and interests to work out with. Some of the gyms closest to where I live didn’t offer any kind of group exercise classes. Others were just so far outside of my price range (I am on a budget here after all)!
After a lot of searching I finally decided on the YMCA close to my job. I had been there before when I first moved here. I went with my aunt to a Zumba class and had a lot of fun. I like the atmosphere there; it doesn’t feel as much like a meat market like some of the other gyms I have been to. Also, the locker rooms are nothing fancy, in fact they remind me of the P.E. locker rooms in my high school! I figured it is the most comfortable I am going to feel. It’s in the mid-range for prices I was willing to pay for a gym, they offer classes, and have a pool to exercise in. Plus they waived my joining fee!
In my usual planning fashion, I grabbed the group exercise schedules and color coded classes I was interested in in three categories: completely available, available for lunch break, and not available unless it is a holiday. I figure that this way I will know what my options are each week and I can pick at least three classes to go to each week. I love that there are so many options and I can switch up the type of exercise I’m doing so that I can stay excited about it.
I went to my first class this morning. A Sunrise Yoga that started at 6:00 a.m. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make it, because I have a hard time getting up to an alarm clock in the mornings, but I made sure I went to bed extra early. I also think my excitement helped urge me to wake up to.
For an early morning yoga class, it was a lot more intense than I expected it to be, which is probably a good thing. If it had been more relaxing, I might have fallen right back asleep, which I almost did when we got to the Savasana portion of the session. I am almost positive my arms and butt will be sore tomorrow with all the planking and chairs we were doing!
I felt such a sense of accomplishment actually showing up to a class so early in the morning and making it through without falling asleep!
Now I have no excuses to not work out because my gym is right on my way to and from work every weekday. Also, when the weather is crappy I have no excuse to not stay active because I can hop in my car and go take a weekend class instead. I am 100% determined to make regular exercise a routine in my life.
Do you have any tips to help me get the most out of my YMCA membership?
A Day in the Life 