On the road to good health

I have joined a gym. Actually, it's a health club (if there's a difference), and because we are leaving in a month they waived the registration fee so after the military discount it's only $38.  They also have free child care.  Which means they watch your children while you are in class.  FOR FREE.  So when the novelty of working out wears off I can still go, drop off the kids, and hide in the bathroom for a little while and get some time to myself.

Let me start by saying I am not the "working out" kind of person.  I used to be, but that ship sailed a long time ago.  Now I don't run, ever.  I'm definitely not the type to overexert myself.  I think the last time I actively participated in being healthy was right around the time I got pregnant with Ashlyn, which coincidentally was the last time I went to the bathroom #2.  Maybe it's all connected, I don't know.  There was a short, three month span after Owen was born where I went to a gym while Scott was in Afghanistan, and there was also two weeks this past summer, but nothing really of substance to count.      

I went for my first class on Friday, 3o minutes of step aerobics followed by 30 minutes of abs, and all I can say is HOLY HELL!  Luckily I did not have a heart attack though it was pretty close.  I used the highest step, because the two people I went with used the highest step and the 70 year old lady wearing spandex in the row in front of me used the highest step and even though I have not attended a step class in 11 years I am such a sucker for peer pressure and I didn't want to be a pansy.  Going to workout first thing in the morning gives you such a high and you feel super healthy and it was almost too much for me to handle so I came straight home and had an apple pie, which felt AWESOME because after working out and burning lots of calories it all balanced out and it was like I didn't even eat the pie.  

So now I've looked at the gym schedule and picked out one class each day and made all sorts of plans to meet people there and work out.    

This summer Scott and I are going to start a running regimen too.  I am hoping that all these cardio classes added with the running will boost my overall health.  After my last doctor's appointment I was told I have high cholesterol.  I responded with "Everybody's got high cholesterol" which didn't make the doctor very happy.  Also, with my grandmother and my father being diabetics I am kind of trying to take care of myself a little more.  Plus I've been in a funk for a while now and I'm hoping this helps me work through it.  

I have mentioned to several people lately that I have joined a gym and plan on actively participating and some of them have raised their eyebrows and questioned my intentions.  So please hear me out.  I am not going into this in an effort to be the skinniest person out there.  There's more to life than trying to be the skinniest, always trying to lose weight, and obsessing about it all.  I just don't have the time or effort for any of that and frankly it gets old after a while.  I just want to be able to go on a run with Scott or play a game of tennis or ride a bike for a couple miles without falling over.  That's my main goal.  I do not want to weigh 120 pounds.  I am not built to weigh that and I would look bad if I weighed that.  There comes a point where you should stop losing otherwise you'll look sick.  Also, I don't think that it's such a big deal if I leave Skylar in the day care area at the gym for an hour a day.  She gets interaction with other kids and she has time away from me and she needs that.  So thanks to everyone who has been really positive about me joining and repeatedly telling me Skylar is okay not being up my butt all day.  Because she is.      

So we will see how I feel at the end of the week.  I've been told that working out not only helps improve your physical health, but also your mental and emotional health as well.  I've got my fingers crossed!!  

And lets all pray that Amy or Morgan doesn't drop a weight on my foot tomorrow because that would kind of be a downer for me.