Sportsplex

You have to exercise to loose weight. I have always been pretty athletic but I have never enjoyed exercising. I don't get an adrenaline rush. I am not one of those people who are in bad mood if they have to lie in bed and read all day and miss their work out. In fact I am the opposite of that. I would so much rather curl up with a good book than go work out. Or curl up with a good remote and watch TV or a movie. I can think of a lot of things that I would rather do than go out and exercise. This may be surprising given the fact that I have done 3 triathlons since turning 40 (ok they were super sprints) and I still hold discus records from high school and college. I only exercise for the benefits, because I am supposed to.

I signed up for this weight loss study in January. The same day I went to my intro meeting my husband signed us up for the Sportsplex. So in one day I am in weight loss program and have a gym membership for the first time in my life. We are paying monthly fee for the gym and have year commitment-- not my choice mind you but done is done. So I figure I better get my money's worth since Hubby hasn't grace the door of the Sportplex since he signed us up. Maybe he never intended to and knows that I am too cheap to let the money go to waste so I better use it. Well it has worked, mostly.

I started out trying every class during the week days and found some instructors I liked and some that I didn't like and one I liked but I was just not ready for Zumba and her yoga class that was half down dogs and planks (for what seemed liked 10 minutes each) when my speed was dancer, lotus and child's pose. I did like (read didn't hate) the spin classes and swam a bit which I am good at but find really boring. I felt I was getting good variety and getting my exercise minutes in. I wrote my exercise classes in my planner, if it is scheduled it happens. It was tolerable and it was working. The weight was coming off but I wasn't really enjoying it.

Then I got a pedometer and my life changed. I started walking instead. (More on this tomorrow.) I still go to the Sportsplex for yoga and Pilate's and an occasional spin class and treadmill walk when there is something on TV that I really want to see, like a Vikings game. I have found that the intense exercise classes aren't really for me as my primary exercise. You need to find what you enjoy and then exercise will be so much easier. Try everything and something will click.