I’ve been enjoying the hell out of my gym membership, and things are going the way I hoped they would–the combination of the exercise plus actually eating throughout the day as opposed to one large meal at night has put me on a much more even keel. It’s all well and good that my coworkers can go all day without eating, but this little experiment has shown me that I do and feel much better when I don’t follow their lead. Any improved fitness is just a chichi bonus to FEELING better; not so much like a snarling tiger all the time. The next step is to get myself to a doctor to see if I need to go back on thyroid medication, and from there on it should be smoooooth sailing.
Last night I did a few fitness classes in a row (I find them to be more engaging than the equipment, at least for now)–first up was the pretty pretty ballerina dance class, then salsa, then power yoga. The salsa instructor kept saying “Oh, it’s SUPER CUTE when you move your arms this way when you dance” and I couldn’t help but laugh–I am focusing way too hard on not tangling my legs and falling over to have any brain cells left over for trying to look cute. I can safely say she was the ONLY one who looked cute and springy while doing this dance; the rest of us looked confused and irritable while we labored through the complicated movements. You know what I bet was SUPER CUTE? The thoughts other people were having about me when I took my shoes off immediately after the dance class for yoga.
I hear a lot of people rave about yoga… What’s the appeal? What exactly does it help with? How easy is it to get into? Etc.
Inquiring minds..!
Yoga is pretty awesome, I’m not going to lie to you. It’s intended to improve flexibility/balance and power yoga incorporates weights to help develop muscle. After an hour of stretching, the added bonus is that you feel really, really relaxed. It’s a great way to start off your exercise for the day because you’re less likely to hurt yourself when you’ve stretched properly, or to wind down at the end of the day so you can sleep. It was really easy for me to jump right in, and any time you can’t do a particular pose, you can go back to Child’s Pose until you’re comfortable joining the class again.
I like yoga at 24hour–they focus more on the physical aspects of it. Outside yoga classes incorporate a spiritual aspect which I’m not so into. I don’t really believe that stretching your body can stretch your consciousness.
Also, because it helps relieve stress, it aids in weight loss because our bodies are hard-wired to store calories during periods of stress.
Give it a shot–the worst that happens is that you don’t like it!
born to be a gentleman, destined to be a cad
You’re just hoping Wingworm will walk into the gym and see you flexing that way. You cad!
From my limited understanding of psychology, it’s pretty natural for women to prefer classes and men to prefer standalone equipment–it’s the whole socialization aspect, group vs individual.
Re: born to be a gentleman, destined to be a cad
an interesting theory. i’d subscribe to that – i like to be left the fuck alone if i’m in the gym and i only generally partake of individual sports, like cycling.
as regards wingworm, damn you. you found me out.
I’ve been considering joining a gym for a while now, because I can’t seem to motivate myself to exercise enough for any ongoing time period, and I’m thinking that if I’m paying for a gym I’ll be more likely to force myself to go. I’m intimidated, though, because all the people I know who go to gyms are ALREADY THIN, and I would greatly fear the initial evaluation they do where they tell you what a fatso you are. :/
I think generally speaking, you have to already be motivated to an extent to join a gym unless the money you’re spending IS a powerful motivator. It’s pretty easy to make excuses not to go–there have been mornings (like Wednesday) when I was all pumped up and thinking about going to the gym, and when I got home that night I was like “eh, fuck it!” Somehow I forced myself out the door anyway.
It’s really helping me, knowing some people who have memberships to the same gym, because we can make plans to work out together, and to a limited extent, they can hold me accountable if I don’t show up.
As far as the initial evaluation goes, you don’t HAVE to do it. I didn’t. Unless you’re getting personal training, they really can’t force you to get measurements. For me, having some fit person know EXACTLY how fat I am doesn’t motivate me.
I still don’t feel like going to the gym every day–if they aren’t offering a class I want to attend, I don’t really like running on the treadmills, so I worked out at home. Maybe try renting a fitness dvd and working out at home for a couple of weeks to see if you’re motivated to join a gym? They really do charge a lot of money and some of them are bastards about contracts and whatnot so even if you’re not motivated or something comes up, you’re stuck paying month after month until your contract is up.
I am LOVING Turbo Jam.