Felt the Fear, and Did It Anyway
i did it. earlier today i threw on work-out clothes and went with Brian to the ?ber yuppie health club to work out. we pulled into the parking lot. yuppie couples and singles came and went. my anxiety wasn?t too bad; i didn?t feel nauseous, anyway.
in the lobby i was ok, but when we walked into the treadmill room, i was like, ?fucking forget it.? Brian said it wouldn?t be crowded. nearly every machine was taken! and we?re not talking ten machines, there must have been about 40. he still insisted that it wasn?t crowded.
obviously, our definition of ?crowded? isn?t the same. i told him that to me, five or six people equals not crowded. not only that, everyone i could see was probably in their mid-20s, early 30s and in really good shape. no thanks. i already feel uncomfortable about myself; i don?t need to be surrounded by others and feel even more insecure.
he led me to another room and up the stairs to a balcony where there were two exercise bikes next to each other. there weren?t as many people, so i rode the thing for 20 minutes. i even went way past my target heart rate (149 for a 36-year-old; i was up to like 158 ). maybe i should have ridden the thing a bit longer, but so what.
i showed up. i wanted to turn right back around and leave, but i didn?t. it made me realize how much i miss martial arts, so when we left, i called up the school and will be going back on Tuesday.
See more progress on: Lose 20 pounds
‘Grats!!
I’m terrified…of any kind of health club, let alone an uber yuppie one!
January 8, 2006 3:29 pm
I hate people watching me work out because I know I look like an out-of-shape weakling and a dork. Not to mention the “germ factor,” sweaty people touching things, ICK! Good for you for going! I love the name you have for the gym… Makes me laugh.
January 8, 2006 4:59 pm
Woo hoo!! Way to go, Barb! I’m really proud of you for going and staying. Good idea of Brian’s to find a more secluded spot. I would have been totally intimidated, too. I’m not a big fan of gyms. You rock, Barb! I’m looking forward to hearing about your visit to martial arts class!
January 8, 2006 9:45 pm
That’s what I love to hear.
Bike machines are better than treadmills anyway.
January 8, 2006 10:00 pm
Oh hell yeah lady, now you’re talkin’. I need to do the same!
January 8, 2006 11:11 pm
I have to get off my lazy butt & exercise too. I’ve got no excuse though, i have a treadmill @ home. I dont’ like gyms, they seem more like meat markets. But with Brian there with you, that’d be different.
Keep working towards that goal Barb!!
January 9, 2006 1:38 am
yeah, health clubs do suck. this particular one didn’t strike me as a meat market, though, so at least that’s a plus. and there weren’t women walking around with a thong bodysuit over leggings, like i’ve seen at Bally’s. yuck.
January 9, 2006 10:53 am
Oh man you are a brave soul! Crowded to me is more that 3 or 4 people. It stops me from doing a whole lot of things on a regular basis. Congrats on facing that one head on!
January 10, 2006 8:20 pm
[...] here’s an example: after my first visit to the ?ber yuppie health club with Brian recently, i called the martial arts school as soon as we were back in the car to tell them that i wanted to take classes again.? they said i could come back on Tuesday and just fill out the contract on Friday. that was last week. on December 31, 2005, i wrote: not only that, every time i?m in [my yoga] class, it makes me itch to go back to training in martial arts, which i still want to do, just not at this time. [emphasis added] [...]
January 17, 2006 2:16 pm