First Time February 26, 2009

I went to the gym today for the first time.  I’m embarrassed to admit just how long I stayed for!  I only walked on the treadmill for 15 minutes today.  My shoes are too big (just bought them today) and my feet and lower calves hurt so badly, I couldn’t take more than 15 minutes.   I think if my shoes had fit properly I’d have possibly made it for the 30 minutes I was aiming for.  Next time I will not do the treadmill first.  I’ll try the elliptical or bike first.  But I went and that is half the battle right there!  I’m proud of myself for even taking this step and next time, maybe I’ll be able to stay for 20 minutes instead of 15.  I think going from a rather sedentary life into a gym routine will take more time than I realized.

I bought some work-out clothes today.  I wanted something that was light and comfortable that I would use exclusively for the gym.  I found some capri-length cotton pants for $5.00 at WMart and I got a shirt by Dansk!n for $7.00.  I’m pleased with them even thought I was mortified at how close-fitting they turned out to be!  I wasn’t expecting my ‘curves’ to be so curvy in these clothes.  But they are very comfortable and hopefully in a month they’ll not be so close-fitting.

I haven’t had any soda since Tuesday and I’m proud of myself.  Water for every meal thus far.  I made my goal yesterday of no soda but I had a brownie later in the evening so I failed to meet the ‘no food after 7pm’ goal.  But I didn’t drink any soda so that is good.  Besides, who can resist warm, fresh-from-the-oven brownies?    Dave requested them and his mother is the catering type so she was all ‘I’ll do it!!’

I’m so very tired today (up late finishing an assignment for Comp I that turned out to be due NEXT week!!) so I think I am going to lay down and sleep for a while.  Some day working out will actually energize me!!  LOL

Wednesday February 25, 2009

I hate thinking of titles for blog posts.

So today was not the day I started at the gym.  I was thinking of going today but I need some tennis shoes (sneakers, runners, whatever) and some workout clothes.  I actually didn’t even go to school today.  I’m coming down with another cold and woke up feeling bad plus I had a horrible stomach ache from some reason.  Not sure what is up with that.  My chest feels tight and my ears feel blocked.  I am not missing much in speech class though.  I can read the chapter and get the same information.  I will be spending the afternoon working on various assignments now.  Fun!!

I am coming to find that I really dislike composition class.  I love the instructor a lot, she’s awesome.  But I hate everything about this research paper.  Having to write bib cards and note cards and figuring out parenthetical citations and correct MLA format and blah, blah, blah…..  It sucks!!  I want to just do the research and write the paper but they make it so much more work than necessary- it’s ridiculous.  I’m rethinking taking Comp II this summer- I don’t want to do this again!  I may look into creative writing instead because I hate this whole process.   In other school news- I got my psychology test back and got a 100 on it.  So ‘Yaaay’ for me!    And I got a 94 on my speech test.  It’s an A but I really thought I’d do better.  I got a couple wrong that I was sure were correct.  Oh well.  It’s an A and I’ll take it.   So far my grades are looking pretty good.  I am not stupid after all.  heh

(Oh- I ate 1 banana, 1 plain bagel with cream cheese and 1 sweet, fake coffee drink so far today.)   Goal: No soda!  No eating after 7pm.

I did it February 24, 2009

I stopped at the gym on the way home from school today and looked around a bit. I bit the bullet and went ahead and signed up for a month. I actually feel pretty good about it despite my initial reservations.  It’s a locally owned gym and they have a pretty huge selection of machines.  There are close to 10 treadmills which is more than I’ve seen at several national gyms.  For the price per month, they have an awesome set-up.  In NC we lived less than 1 mile from a G0ld’s gym and they were $60-something per month plus a sign up fee and year contract.  They had 4 treadmills and 10 weight training machines and a big old section with free weights.  The gym here is $30-something a month (w/ no contracts at all) and has nearly 10 treadmills, elliptical machines, stair climbing machines, (etc.) and over 20 weight training machines.  Plus a big old section of free weights.  I’m actually impressed now that I think about it.  LOL   Plus they have a room on the second floor for aerobics classes.

My plan is to go either before or after my classes.  My schedule would look something like:  Mondays- gym from 10-11am, then class from 11:30-12:45pm. | Tuesdays- classes from 8:30-11:15am and then gym from 11:30-12:30. | Wednesdays- gym from 10-11am, then class from 11:30-12:45. | Thursdays- classes from 8:30-11:15am and gym from 11:30-12:30.  I will have to see about getting to the gym on Fridays too and possibly over the weekends but since I’m not forced to be anywhere on Fridays and Saturdays, it’ll really just be a play-it-by-ear kind of deal.  At first I may be too worn out to go anywhere on Fridays but as I get used to it and get in better shape, I’ll probably be more willing to get out of bed early on Fridays.  LOL   I don’t know how I’ll react to it all.  I am hoping to get an hour in when I go, even if it’s just walking on the treadmill the whole time.  I may not have the stamina to do an hour at first so I’ll see how I feel.  I’m sort of flying blind with all of this.  I know that I need to work out but knowing what the right amount is for me or what would be best for certain goals- no real clue.

I would like to keep track of my progress and I may humiliate myself here, for your pleasure.  LOL  I’m going to take measurements and all that and possibly post them along with pics each week to track how I’m doing.  I don’t easily put myself out there and I’m trying to work on that too so this is a two-birds-one-stone kind of deal.  I want to make changes to my diet so I may track what I eat here, to keep things in perspective.  My goals right now are to lose inches and improve my stamina.  The number going down on the scale will be nice but won’t be what I focus on.  I need to lose girth.  If I fit into a size 10 (someday!) but I weight 175 pounds, I’m okay with that.   I don’t want to focus on numbers that have so many variables so my focus will be losing inches for now.