Update! My bff Karen has posted a response to this very post! Read it! I command you.
First week of going to the gym: completed! And it hasn't been too bad.
Last week, I went to the gym everyday. Hold for applause. (Except Sunday. I mean, c'mon. It's the Lord's day. And I need to rest too.) The first half of the week, I went during the morning while the second half of the week, I went at night. On Saturday I got there in the afternoon. And I discovered no one goes to the gym on Saturday afternoon.
I guess the mornings are the most crowded. I go late enough at night (around 8:30 pm) that only less than a small handful of people are there, which means most of the machines are freed up. The problem with working out in the morning is that there's a lot of people who have their machine routines down, and I can feel their judging eyes on me whenever they're waiting for me to finish up. Yes, I can only lift 15 measly lbs above my head, but I still have just as much right to pause between my sets of reps as you do, much more advanced gym-goer!
My routine consists of this: 30 minutes of cardio on the elliptical, followed by weights. I rotate between upper and lower body lifting, by using three different machines for each. Nothing crazy.
As of now, I don't really feel any different. I mean, working out and showering before work gives me a sense of accomplishment (I guess), but I'm not going to get super pumped and motivated until my clothes start feeling looser. Then, I can see myself trying to squeeze in gym time twice a day. (It's happened before.) But my thighs no longer resemble skin sacks stuffed with cottage cheese, so that's a nice little improvement.
ETA: Oh! I forgot to mention the one thing that's totally terrible about the gym: morning television. I discovered I can't read on the elliptical because I bounce too much, and I'm currently too cheap to purchase audiobooks. (Although I may just breakdown and get some, knowing me. But not now.) So, that leaves me to plug my headphones into the equipment and watch the televisions. And morning TV is awful.
The usual suspects in terms of the channels they have on are CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, ABC and ESPN. Now, I dont give a shit about sports & business, so ESPN and MSNBC are out (usually Squawk Box is on and other business based crap that bores me). CNN is generally ok sometimes, but I usually stick to switching between CBS and NBC. Now. From watching The Early Show and The Today Show this past week, I've got a few observations.
- They air the weather every. five. minutes. Once every half hour is enough!
- They also take a commercial break every five minutes. They always say something like, "And now, more on this story ..." I get excited for news "... right after this break." FAIL. And the breaks are always super long.
- Both channels go to commercial at the same effing time.
- If a major event (i.e. - President Obama speaking at Kalamazoo High School [Ok, I use the term "major" loosely here.]) is happening in the middle or at the end of the week, the shows will report on it extensively, every day leading up to the event, repeating the same crap over, and over, and over again. Oh my God. This includes the stories about the van der Sloot guy, and the lost 7 year old in Oregon. No new information about these two news stories has come out recently, yet most of what I've watched has been about these two stories. (FYI, he totally killed that girl and Natalie Holloway, and I think the step-mother has something to do with the boy's disappearance. Just my Encyclopedia Brown'd hunch.) Not that these stories aren't important, but you know, just let me know the outcome, then relate to me the less important middle, please. I'm not solving these puzzles. I don't even like puzzles.
So yeah. TV morning shows: a waste of time and brain cells. You heard it here first!
