The Gym

So, a couple of weeks ago, Kasey and I joined a gym, Spectrum Athletic Clubs to be exact.

As I get older I see the world change around me. One of the changes that I see is my parents getting older. As they get older they are having more and more health problems. While some are hereditary, a majority of the problems that they are having are due to problems with their diet and a lack of exercise. It comes down to the basic logic of if you do not have a healthy lifestyle, then you will not have a healthy body. I do not want to start falling apart when I turn 50, so I have to do something about it now.

Kasey and I have both been aware of this need for some time. We have incorporated many changes into out eating habits that have good benefits. Simply put those are, more whole food, less box crap. More organic chicken, less beef (still organic though). Hardly any bacon at all (As a side note, I LOVE bacon. I used to cook up a pound of bacon almost every weekend and eat about 75% of it.). We have cut out hydrogenated oils as much as we can (no margarine or Crisco). I still really need to cut back on the amount of salt that I eat though. (I love salt. I like so much salt that like when you are at the theater eating popcorn, your lips get all puckered from the salt.)

Anyway, we both have pretty sedentary lifestyles. I have a desk job and Kasey has a recliner job. ;) We knew that we had to be more active in order to be more healthy, and besides, it makes you look better, which is great!

So we joined Spectrum.

Let me just say, this place is NICE. It is also EXPENSIVE. There is no way that I would have joined except that I get a discount through my job that makes it cheaper for Kasey and I than just going to Gold's Gym. I will post later about how nice it is and the things that I like, but check out their website to get a feel for it.

So, Kasey loves it for the classes. She has been several times and gone to a Pilate's class every time. She says that the best thing is the teacher. He looks like a short Mr. Clean, covered in tattoo's, and wears little stretchy shorts that no guy should wear, does not seem to be gay, pushes the class pretty hard, but most important to Kasey, he makes her feel good about herself while she is in the class. That is pretty important to a woman, and I am glad that she likes going.

I have just been doing weight training and hitting the treadmill some. I have pretty much been at least a little sore every day since I joined, so I am sure that something is going on in my body, but I have yet to see results after only a couple of weeks. I expect to see major changes though by November and that is going to be sweet. J

When you join, you get one session with a personal trainer for free. This includes an assessment and a work out plan based on your assessment. He told me that I am doing ok, but that my pulse is high and that I need to do a quick circuit style workout to get my heart rate up and keep it there. We then began the workout and it was pretty tough. Actually, I got sick. I started feeling light headed and told him that I needed to rest, then realized that I was going to hurl, so I ran to a trash can around the corner and puked up the peanut butter and Kashi crackers that I had eaten an hour earlier. (It still tasted like peanut butter!)

Since then I have done that same full body workout every other day but slowed down as I started to feel myself get light headed.

I have to say, I like the gym over all. I even like the soreness. It is a constant reminder of what the goal is and helps me to make better eating decisions.

Anyway, that's all I have to say about that.