Blah blah fitness blah blah cardio

I did something new yesterday. I joined a gym.

Which is definitely a change in pace.

But I think it's a necessary change. Despite eating relatively healthy and walking to work, things in my physical manifestation are not as great as they could be. The belly never quite recovered from carrying an 8 1/2 pound baby and then, less than two years later, a 10 pounder. I did zillions of sit-ups after the first baby but never saw a change, and really didn't try after the second.

We took the tour yesterday, and it was intimidating. Our tour guide was huge and very buff and looked like he'd been that way his whole life. And while Craig has lost an amazing amount of weight (he's down 8 inches in his waist size), and I'm naturally pretty thin, neither of us has lifted weights since high school. The machines looked more like medieval torture devices than anything else to me, and I really haven't a clue how to use most of them.

Craig perked up when he learned about the spinning class. The area where the class is conducted is dark, with groovy Christmas lights and stuff. So that's going to be the first class we take. I'm already comfortable with yoga, but will start with the beginner-level class because I'm rusty. There's also a boot camp class that I think would be hilarious, but Craig has no interest.

So now I'm waiting to get a call to schedule my fitness assessment so the fitness professional can help me (a) figure out what I want/need to accomplish, (b) how to accomplish those goals, and (c) learn how to work the machines. Until that happens, I have a feeling that all I'll be doing is the elliptical machine (it's pretty self-explanatory) and classes.

And, yeah, I'm a little nervous about it.

I don't think it's body issues that are making me nervous. Honestly, I feel pretty good inside my skin. True, I don't weigh 110 anymore, but I'm okay with my curves. But I really don't like not knowing how to do things, and all those machines are absolutely foreign to me. When I was in high school, I got pretty serious about circuit weights for several months, at the Y in our small Wyoming town. I knew how to work the machines and I enjoyed seeing my progress. But that weight room was about the size of my living room, with about ten machines, so mastering that circuit was not at all difficult.

Now I'm faced with two stories of machines, none of which looked particularly familiar. And none of the people in the room looked familiar, either. Which means I'm totally dragging Craig along when I go, at least for the first few weeks. If I'm going to be in a strange and unfamiliar world, I need a buddy who is just as uncomfortable as I am.

Oh, here's the good news. There's a liquor store across the street from the gym.