[TempleBody]

I've gone to the gym now four days in a row and I swear it is my favorite part of the day. I told myself I'll take Sundays off but I just couldn't. Today I slept in and went when I woke up. Now it's been a few hours and I want to work out again. lol I'm not going back to the gym though. I'm going to see about some house cleaning. I just feel soooo energetic. I'm so happy and husband is very happy too. I joined a gym once before - it didn't feel this good though. My gym is so pro-woman and friendly. I love it.

Saturday I had my official orientation (basically a run down of the weight machines and a reminder to stretch and warm up - and a cute note card to record my activities on). Then I did a Yoga class. Yes, I was the biggest person in the class. It was awesome. I'm totally into yoga and I've been wanting to take a class for a long time. The teacher was great. She came and put her hands on my back and pushed down a bit while I was in child's pose. I felt a crack and then a bit of heaven. The stretch was so good. The moves challenged the entire class. When we'd change poses or shake it out everyone sighed. lol The person beside me was about 70ish years old. Totally awesome!

I am looking forward to next Sunday's yoga. And since I don't care for the weight machines much, I'm going to be trying out a class called BodyPump which is a free weight lifting class. There's also a class called Body Flow that is a mixture of tai chi, Pilate's, yoga, and meditation. I'm doing that tomorrow. There is a low impact areobics class that I might consider taking tomorrw before the BodyFlow class. I'm still a bit shy about the bodypump class because I know I'm going to be the biggest one in the class but oh well. Life goes on.

Another thing is that I've realised I sit/stand with my stomach out and my butt pushed out which created lots of lower back pain and difficulty for me carrying my daughter. I've become more aware of it the past few days and the pain is gone. Whenever I start to feel some pain, I check my posture and it quickly disappears. Even my computer chair used to give me loads of pain but as I sit here I'm putting navel in and my back against the chair.

I don't know why I could never put a video in the vcr but I can fly out the house at the crack of dawn and take the transit to the gym.

[KylieH]

Soul-sister!

I feel exactly the same way. I can't decide what I like best: how energetic and upbeat I feel afterward or the simple fact that it's totally my time.

Hope your class and everything else continues to be such a positive thing for you!

[lalique]

That's wonderful!
I hope I start feeling the way you do pretty soon.
Exercising is still such a drag, but I think its my frame of mind mostly.

[Bouncing]

I really like the gym too. Mine is a little, equipment-stuffed storefront, kinda shabby, equipment is old and some of the seats are duct-taped, the treadmills are not the newest nd have chipped paint, and the free weights look like they were made from wwII used ammunition shells or something equally experienced. It is not one of those chichi places where you wear your cute little outfit and go to see and be seen. The clientele ranges from late teens to eighties and they're all pretty hard-core. They talk to me now that I've been a regular for a month and it looks like I'm not just a transient on a whim. I'm obviously judged on whether or not I'm too superior to sweat. There are men there who flirt with my 242-lb. self but only when there's sweat running down my face. It's a hoot! If you're taking it seriously and enjoying what you're doing, people watch you out of the corner of your their eye to see if they can help/teach/encourage. I am the token fat chick. There's a toiken fat guy too, and we have fun laughing at ourselves and each other. The camaraderie there is great. I checked out a few places, including the glitzy resort, which actually is a little closer to me and didn't cost any more, has classes and a pool, but there is no trainer for the machines, nobody to help you put together a plan, critique posture and technique and intensity of workout, spot you on weights, or anything. The most important thing is the outfits. They figure because they've painted the place pink and green and put in chandeliers, they don't need to provide any actual expertise. The teenager at the front desk gave a huge put-upon sigh when I asked for a tour. She did it, but not with any enthusiasm at all. So I'm at the shabby store-front gym and just as happy as if I had good sense!

[LaurieDawn]

Thank you for posting, Temple. I'm struggling with it all right now, and it's so great to get such a vivid reminder of how much fun this can be! My gym is not anywhere as nice as yours, but it's still wonderful to go and feel great about myself and my body! (And I would love to just drop in on yours one day, Shellie. I know why those fellows flirt with you, too. Your posts are so much fun, I can only imagine what it's like to hang out with you in person!)

[NotTheCheat]

Your gym sounds fantastic! I love mine too, even though it is pretty small and doens't offer too much. It is very friendly and I always feel great going there. I have just started taking yoga too and really enjoy it. It is a different challenge for my body, which is great!

[mj5]

I am very excited for you! Isn't that post-workout feeling great?! I used to feel the way you do, then hit a big slump....I am working my way back there again though!