trying to grok

TIME IS TIGHT

[Cross-posted at SpouseBUZZ]

I asked AirForceWife if I could write this week's SpouseBUZZ Fit Club post because I just exercised for the first time in over a year. Seriously. I hate exercising.

For me, it's not a matter of finding the time to do it; it's the motivation. I could either go to the gym or sit on my behind and knit. That's a no-brainer. But when the husband and I decided to start a family, I found the motivation to go on a health kick. I cut all kinds of things out of my diet and started working out. After a few months with no baby, discouraged and disheartened, I said screw it.

When I had the first miscarriage, I figured there was no reason why I couldn't drown my sorrows in chocolate and wine. By the time I was pregnant again, I was six pounds heavier and not too keen on adding another 25 or 30 to that. So when I lost the second baby, I figured I needed to take advantage of that do-over and get myself in a little better shape while I had the chance.

But now we were back to motivation. I was even using gas prices as a cop-out; it's too far to drive to the gym. But today I had to go on post anyway, and I forced myself to go to the gym while I was there.

The girl at the front desk was really nice and explained to me how the system worked and what they had available. She also apologized that the air conditioning was broken in the building today. But I didn't really mind that too much, because it meant I would sweat more, and more sweat makes me feel like I'm working harder.

I didn't do anything phenomenal, just 30 minutes on the elliptical machine. But I had forgotten how good it feels to get moving. I had planned on only doing 20 minutes, since it was my first workout in a year, but I felt good enough to keep going. And I learned that Booker T's "Time Is Tight" is a great song to help me keep my pace steady, so I plan to run that on a loop on the MP3 player next time.

I also learned that the National Geographic channel is a terrible thing to have on the TV in the gym. One screen had ESPN and the other had baby seals getting eaten and bloodied. That's a workout buzzkill.

While I was driving home, my husband called me from Iraq. I proudly announced that I was driving home from the gym. His reaction: "Woah." I said, "Feel free to expound on how awesome I am." Heh.

I plan to keep this up a couple times a week. I know it's good for me.

Maybe next time the air conditioning will work.

Posted by Sarah at July 7, 2008 02:39 PM | TrackBack