OMG

You Guys.

What have I been doing all my life? Apparently, being a total dummy, because today I went to the gym with my new membership. For the first time.

Now I've been to gyms before. In high school I even worked out at the city gym fairly regularly for a bit, but I just paid the entrance fee and didn't have a membership.

Ok, there's a backstory. On Sunday, my Elliptical machine broke. It's nothing special; I paid $400 for it and I never expected it would be perfect. I use it a lot and well, it's kind of shoddy, and some sodering came loose. We bought the extended warranty so someday soon I'll get Nordic Track in here to fix it, but in the meantime, I freaked. No workout? Not going to happen. So I got online right then and there and joined 24hr fitness.

It was sort of a rash decision. Today, I went for the first time. This morning I went and got my membership validated, then walked around to see the place. It's pretty big, with every machine you can think of, plus a gym, spa room and a lap pool. I went at 9 so it was a little packed; I still managed to get on an elliptical. It's one of those fancy Precor ones, you know, that work and don't wobble, LOL. I did 2 miles in 20 minutes, no problem.

Tuesdays are nice because I am not at the studio and work at home, so I generally get some pretty good workout time in. After the 2 miles this morning, David decided to take Hank to Pt Isabel for some walk training, and so we did two really fast miles there.

Tonight, I couldn't stop thinking about the gym. I was imagining all that shiny equipment; I wanted to run, to bike, to strength train. I finally succumbed around 9:00 pm, and by 9:30 I was walking in the door.

It was much less packed, and I think 9:30 will be a regular time for me to do nightly workouts. I jumped on the elliptical and plugged my headphones in to the machine; the machines allow you to listen to what's going on the big tvs on the wall. I watched The Biggest Loser (which I'd never seen before) and a part of a show called Parenthood. Before I knew it, 2 miles had gone by and I jumped off the machine to bike. Then I biked four miles. I figured I'd end the day with a cool down walk of a mile on a treadmill - a machine I've never used until tonight.

All and all, I was there for an hour and I burned around 550 calories. And now, I'm in love.

I need to find someone to help me get started on the weight and strength machines, because I'm totally dumb about them. But it will happen. I plan to swim. I plan to take one of the spin classes they have there.

I'm so excited. This amazing fitness day is just a reminder to me about how my life has really changed, finally. The way I felt about getting in there, to workout, to keep moving; that's nothing I've ever felt before. My priorities are changing and I'm getting healthier as my size goes down. This week has been really shitty so far and I really needed today. It came out of nowhere, and helped me to remember that I am in control of my life and I am making some amazing changes that have already started to pay off.

Finally, here's a look at my Gowear Fit activity monitor today. Looking at this makes me so proud.

• I burned 4331 calories today. My general target is 2000 and I usually burn between 2600 - 3000. This is an awesome milestone.
• I walked over 18,000 steps! This includes my time on the treadmill and elliptical. That is a huge, gigantic record. I have yet to wear the GoWear fit to a wedding when I'm working, and I'd bet that I might get close or break that on one of those days. But this is another awesome milestone and record for me.
• I had an elevated heart rate and was exercising for 2 hours and 38 minutes. Totally awesome.