Strong like bull!

At some point, everyone needs to stretch themselves out of their comfort zone. Challenging yourself is important, especially when it comes to either achieving or maintaining weight-loss goals. If you get a little too comfy you can get bored and then it's just a hop, skip and a jump back to old habits....funny how I never got bored with sitting around on the sofa all night eating chips, huh?

I quit my women's-only Goodlife gym a couple of months ago. Work was a little nuts in that my hours were cut back severely and I was feeling the pinch of paying the monthly fee. There were times I thought "well...do I want groceries or a gym membership?" Something had to give. Erich was getting mega overtime at his job but he was trying to save up for our 10th-anniversary trip. The weather was warming up and I knew from my experience last spring that I cut my hours back a lot at the gym and just went outside for exercise. So, I quit.

But I didn't go outside much.

I got lazy. I got comfortable. I walked every now and then but did no DVDs or anything inside the house. Bad, bad, bad. Looking back, it's really something how easy it is to get out of the habit and routine of regularly working out. I gained about 5 pounds so that's not so horrible but I knew I had to change something and fast.

I don't know if any of you subscribe to WagJag, but it totally rocks. I'm not even sure if it's available in the States. Basically, you buy coupons worth TONS off goods and services. A coupon came up for a local co-ed health club called World Gym. For $30, you got a 30-day membership, 3 personal training sessions and unlimited tanning (LOL). Sign me up.

The intent was to start the package one month before we left for the Dominican so I could take advantage of the tanning right up until we left. But psycho-cycle had other plans and screwed up the timing. The week I'd planned to join, I was pretty incapacitated and in no mood, you know what I mean? I didn't want to lose the week we'd be gone, so I waited till we came back.

On Thursday, I started with Rebecca at World Gym. What is it about female personal trainers? More often than not, they're about 5 feet tall and 100 pounds soaking wet. LOL! She's a tiny little thing but STRONG LIKE BULL (obscure Bo Bice reference). I was supposed to start on Wednesday but I went in and they had totally screwed up my appointment, so I ended up with Rebecca on Thursday. Good choice. The first slot was supposed to be with a guy. I was a little apprehensive about that.

Rebecca is awesome. She showed me new things that I hadn't tried at Goodlife. Super cool.

The funniest thing happened shortly after I arrived. First of all, there were no women there besides 2 girls working the front desk, Rebecca and me. All guys. Young, hot, muscular guys. Now this isn't as great as it sounds. If you've followed this blog at all, you know somewhat how my brain works and can appreciate how intimidating this situation was for me. The good news was the place wasn't crowded. This is a very busy gym and I came at 8 pm for a reason. Score.

So Rebecca and I are walking toward a weight machine and there's one of the said young, hot, muscular guys trying to balance himself face down on a huge exercise ball. Suddenly, he slipped off and did a faceplant - he went forward and the ball went backward, slamming into the wall. Rebecca stopped and asked, "Where are you going??" Obviously she knew the guy. By this time, he'd rolled over onto his back and was laughing at himself. Rebecca and I giggled and continued on our way.

Here's the lesson, kiddies: Everyone does a faceplant now and then. Even a guy who is obviously very at home in any gym, very coordinated and looks physically "perfect". But no one is really perfect and we all need to just freakin' relax. If dude can laugh at himself, then I should be able to as well.

The session on Thursday went great and I saw her again today with the same results. I like the machines they have and the array of classes offered. I may try spin or zumba just because. The classes are intimidating to me because I am NOT coordinated at all (I used to be; something has happened to me since I got old!) and fear making an idiot out of myself. But I WILL try it because I need to prove to myself that I can do it and it'll be fine.

At first, I thought there were no private change rooms in the locker room but I was wrong; there is one. Score again. I refused to get naked in my grade school locker room and I still won't do it.

Thursday was like being the new kid at school. I wasn't too sure about the place, but today was better. And I know it'll just get easier. Really, it's not a big deal. I never thought I'd say that, but I think a co-ed gym will be just what I need to transcend from fat girl to normal in my own head. No one gives a rat's ass what I'm doing two treadmills down from them and honestly, no one probably ever would have. Truth is, it's all ME. It's all about how I perceive myself and that's improving exponentially every day.

I've spent about a year reveling in being "normal". Well, as my two-year post-op anniversary approaches, it's time for a new purpose. I explained to Rebecca today that my goal is no longer weight loss, it's strength. Value. Physical strength leading to mental strength. Weight loss will follow that mindset. It just will.