I Needed a Bump

Since Aerie's foot surgery, some things have fallen off the priority list. She's doing much better now, and I'm trying to get myself back on track, but it's hard. I've gained a few pounds; I can't understand how that happened since I more or less stopped working out and ate and drank whatever I wanted. When I did work out, back pain really affected my intensity and my motivation to do it again anytime soon. I wanted to find a yoga class to help with the back pain and refocus my attention on health, but cost and childcare were both stumbling blocks. So I started looking into yoga studios and gym memberships. Yoga studios didn't have childcare. Austin Kula Yoga had a toddler class at the same time as an adult class, but that doubled the cost, plus it's a long drive.

I was surprised by what I found at the YMCA, though. A month's membership costs the same as five classes at Kula, and it includes much more, like child care, and Aerie can take advantage of it, too, whenever she stops hobbling. So on Saturday, we joined the YMCA!

Thumper and I made our inaugural trip today. Yoga classes didn't fit into our schedule for today or tomorrow, but I should be able to give that a try by Wednesday. Today I stuck to weights and cardio. Thumper and I talked about going to the gym! He was excited about going to the gym! Let's go to the gym! Of course, he had no idea what going to the gym meant. I've never just dropped him off with strangers and then disappeared for an hour, so I wasn't sure how he'd handle it. When I came back he was sitting by himself, sucking his thumb and staring off into space. I caught his attention, waved and said hi, then stepped to the counter, out of his sight line, to sign him out. In those five seconds, he completely lost it, turning into a sobbing wreck. I asked how he did, and the woman at the counter said, "Not too bad, for a first-timer." I'm not sure what that meant.

For me, it felt good to get back into a gym. I had a Gold's Gym membership years ago, but I let it lapse because of the expense. I've been working out at home on my own ever since, and it felt good to be in a roomful of equipment along with a bunch of other like-minded people. I was a little surprised how crowded it was at 11:00 a.m. on a Monday. I'm looking forward to experimenting with times to find out when is my best shot of not standing in line waiting for a bench to use with the free weights.

Motivationally speaking, I'm hoping this will be a good thing for me. I need it, before I gain back all the weight I've lost. When I was sticking to the Weight Watchers, I had my most successful weight loss, but I really didn't like doing it at all. And psychologically, I think it should help me with the drinking, too, because I'm rationalizing the monthly expense by telling myself that the booze portion of our budget has now been re-assigned to the gym membership, so I can no longer afford to blow all that money on booze. That way we can afford the gym membership because we won't actually be spending any more than we already are. Win-win!