So after I finally came to terms with the fact that the snow is not going away any time soon, I broke down and went to the gym. I've never been a big gym person. The thought of other people watching me work out gives me the heebie jeebies. I'm sure that other people aren't really watching me, but it feels that way.
I decided that the best route for me was the monthly membership. We just had a SNAP Fitness open and chose that over the Y. My thinking was, none of my students will be there. If there's one thing I dislike more than random strangers watching me sweat, it's my current or former students watching me sweat.
So I get there, and I can't get in. Now I get the whole key card, come in whenever you want, 24-7 thing, but there were employees working the desk and it was only 4:30! How do they expect to get members if they lock them out? Once I finally garnered the attention of said employees, I come to realize its a girl I swam with in highschool. I almost turned around, this whole sweating in public thing was sounding less and less appealing. But I trudged on.
After signing my life away I was given my key card and the go-ahead to work out as I please. No tour of the place, no explanation, just a card and a nod. Being a complete gym novice, I was totally intimidated. I looked around for something familiar, found the treadmills and headed over.
Of course, the first treadmill I try doesn't work. Out of the eight treadmills lined up, I pick the broken one. So I attempted to move over to the next one without looking like the idiot who just picked the broken machine. This embarrassment was calmed later when another person did the same thing.
Anyway I started moving and quickly realized the flaw of picking the treadmill, the TVs are directly overhead. Knowing my incredible grace, I knew it would be impossible to watch TV and run at the same time without falling over. So, I resorted to staring at myself in the mirror. At first I was even more creeped out by watching myself sweat, but I got used to it. Looking in the mirror also allowed me to check out those around me without staring at them directly (you know they were doing the same thing too!).
After an hour on the treadmill I decided it was time to go. At that point I had had my fill of the gym. I can't gurantee it will be a daily adventure for me, but at least next time I can go when there will hopefully be less people.
One plus of the trip to the gym was the website that comes along with it. Every member gets set up an account at truestar.com, a nifty little website for health and weight loss. Though they are trying to push their brand of supplements and vitamins, there are some pretty useful tools on there. They offer meal plans for weight loss and all kinds of conditions. They also create an exercise plan based on your needs and equipment you can access (complete with examples so you know what you should look like). I haven't had a ton of time to check it out, but so far it looks promising.
So now I'm an official member of the gym, I just have to get my butt there enough to make it worth my monthly payment.
No comments:
Post a Comment