I think that I'm addicted!

I've got a new addiction!  Thankfully it's an addiction that is actually healthy for me. I really hadn't planned on sharing this.  I was even a bit worried about mentioning it on facebook.  But I decided that I no longer care, and I want to share!

I have become addicted to exercise!  About 2 months ago my doctor decided to put me on a medicine for 6 months that while helpful, also does some bad things to your body.  A couple of those things are bone loss and weight gain.  Both of which can be countered by exercise.  I have NEVER enjoyed exercise!  Typically you have to drag me kicking and screaming to any type of exercise.  Because of my back issues, I never even had to take a normal gym class in junior high or high school.  I've always avoided it and came up with excuses for not doing it.   I've even had doctors order me to exercise in the past to help my back, but it just never happened.  This time, my doctor convinced me.  She was just the kick in the butt that I needed!!!

So I looked around at the gyms by me.  I narrowed it down to Gold's Gym and the County Rec Center.  I ended up going with the County Rec and I am very happy for that decision!  It's just a great environment.  Nice people, great equipment, clean, and I don't feel out of place among a bunch of super models and body builders!

The first two weeks I started out pretty slow.  Walked on the treadmill, used the elliptical, and went to some water aerobics classes.  Didn't really feel any different, wasn't really excited to keep this up for 6 months.  But then came a lucky chance!

When I first joined the gym they handed me a schedule of aerobics classes, both land and water aerobics.  I barely even glanced at the regular aerobics and just focused on the water.  I was TERRIFIED to even think about the regular classes.  I was assuming that I'd need to get in a lot better shape before I attempted them.  But 2 weeks in, there was a Monday that the ONLY time I could work out that day was the 5:30am kickboxing class.  So I showed up expecting that this wasn't going to go well!  First thing I went to the instructor and asked her if it would be even possible for me to do or if I'd be better off heading to the fitness room and the treadmill.  She was great, very encouraging, and told me that I could do it, and anything that I had issues with I'd just need to modify to my own ability!  *That's been the biggest tip I've learned since!  Modify, Modify, Modify!*  Surprisingly, I had a lot of fun!  And better yet, I could tell that I had gotten a LOT better workout than anything else I'd been doing for the last two weeks.

But this was going to just be a one time thing......right?  lol, a couple of the people that were in the class that day started trying to convince me to come the next day at 5:30 again.  I kinda brushed them off, went home thinking that there was no way I was going back the next day!  While I'd had fun at kickboxing, I knew that the Tuesday class was Sports Cycling.  That sounded even scarier!  But all night at work I kept thinking about how encouraging they both were and the things that they had said to me.  I somehow found myself heading back over there the next morning, and almost every morning since.  I just finished my 5th week of going to the morning classes, and have only missed once!  I'm loving it and am completely and totally addicted! 

This post is already long enough, so I'll tell you about the different things that I'm doing some other time.  For those of you wondering why I was reluctant to share this, it's because I always worry that people are going to start watching how I'm doing and judge if I'm not progressing fast enough.  Please don't ask me how much weight I've lost.  Most of the time, I probably couldn't tell you!  I'm not focusing on the weight.  In fact I usually only weigh in once or twice a month.  I'm keeping track of how I am feeling.  Can I workout harder this week than I did last week?  Are my clothes feeling less tight?  Do I have more energy?  And am I just overall feeling better?  As long as I can keep saying yes to these questions, then I feel great about what I'm doing!