Day 81 - The Gym

Patrick asked us to go to a gym and look around.

Well - this is easy. I belong to a gym, and I went there this morning.

I joined the gym almost six years ago for one reason and one reason only: to use the treadmill in the winter when it may be too cold, too icy, and most certainly too dark for me to run safely outdoors. I chose this gym for three reasons: they had what I considered sufficient treadmills to ensure that I could use one when I wanted, the price, and proximity to my apartment. Everything else is just gravy.

And this is not just a long preamble to explain why I belong to a hokey gym. I actually got very lucky and it's a very good gym. There are all sorts of free classes (I think I took one spinning class, but haven't taken any of the others), a lap pool, free weights, weight machines, and a variety of aerobic machines (stairs, treadmills, bikes, rowing, other ones whose names I don't know ...), a free monthly session with a trainer and nurse (if you choose).

What I like about the gym, is that the people who go are, by and large, fairly serious and sensible about working out. We do have our share of mirror lovers (mostly men), people who drape themselves over the console to make their workouts easier (why not just choose a setting you can manage?), and men who are there more to look like they're working out when they are really after some quality male-bonding/gossip time (nothing really wrong with that, expect when someone is waiting to use the equipment, and they are usually pretty good about moving if you ask). There are a few who I think are looking just to bulk up and not so much about being functional, but in general, it's a pretty good gym membership.

Then again, my selection might be a bit biased - those who go to they gym at 5 am instead of 5 pm might self-select differently.

So many other people have had negative experiences with their indulgences, and I ... I'm still waiting. I ate more than I should have Saturday night, and consequently wasn't feeling all that comfortable - and I'm happily less comfortable feeling uncomfortable than I used to, if you follow - but still no negative side effects. Hmmm. I've always had a pretty good stomach, but still wondering ...

Exercise

I will confess to not exactly following Patrick's instructions to the letter this morning regarding our workouts. After a good night's rest (with bizarrely peaceful dreams about hunting a serial killer), I went ahead a "made up" the parts of the workout I missed yesterday because the gym was closed. Mainly because pull ups are something I can see myself avoiding on purpose and am now over-compensating. Sometimes I think I'm so concerned with not cheating that I swing too far the other way.

Sigh. Nothing like raising the bar too high to get over it. My superpower.

Food

Breakfast

egg and broccoli with couscous

mid-morning snack

yogurt

Lunch

tuna, pumpernickel, arugula salad
spinach and salsa

mid-afternoon snack

yogurt

Dinner

Egg whites and carrots. (I know, boring. but it's what I have on hand. Weekends away make meals more boring)

Evening Snack

milk, egg white, pineapple