Guess What???

I went to the gym! That's an NSV all on its own. :-)

Seriously, after 2 straight days where all I did was watch DVDs (see my other blog for details), I had to get up and do something. So I dug out the sneakers and headed downstairs. I did about 25 minutes on the recumbant (sp?) bike, which equates to only 1 Activity Point. Aargh, but I still feel great.

This was the first time I've been to the gym with my iPod, and it's amazing the difference it makes. I was riding harder and faster than I ever have on that bike before, and I know it's cuz the music is motivating. Much more so than watching tv or reading a book while on the bike, which is what I had done before. Remember how I said "Billie Jean" is my ultimate walking song? Well, I think Christina Aguilera's "Dirrty" is my favorite bike song. How can you resist?

Seriously, though, it's amazing how psychological going to the gym can be. You all know that I've been avoiding it for the last 2+ months that I've been doing this. There's something about a gym that is very intimidating to the out of shape. Yes, it's totally counterintuitive, but there's this socialization thing that (I project) makes us all feel that gyms are for skinny, athletic people. How do you get that way without a gym? You don't, which is why the logic doesn't make sense. But there it is.

So I really did have to psyche myself up to get down there. Once I was in the gym, of course, it seems utterly ridiculous to have let that intimidation factor stand in the way. When I first joined my gym (conveniently located in my basement) I was really disciplined. In the fall of 2004, I went something like 5-7 times a week, and I really saw results. I wasn't officially dieting at the time, but the exercise was taking the weight off and reshaping my legs and hips. I'd love to have that happen again. I don't want to create any false expectations, cuz I know that 5-7X a week time period was fueled by a totally different psychological situation (can you guess?), but I do really want to start going at least semi-regularly. I know that the diet will be much more effective if I'm doing this to boost my metabolism. So I've taken my first step.