Fitness Update

I've been a little bit better about working out this past week. I went and walked on the treadmill and stretched on Thursday, then on Friday I went to my Pilates Sculpt class and walked uphill on the treadmill before and after class. As for the scale, I'm now 12.5 pounds away from my Happy Weight, which, yes, means that my weight has gone up, but I'm merely satisfied that I've managed to drag my butt to the gym. I just feel better because I'm getting some cardiovascular exercise, which makes me automatically feel healthier.

I almost went to spin class today. I was all ready to jump into my exercise clothes, but then I checked online and realized the Sunday afternoon class is no longer taught by Jamie, who is one of the few spin instructors I like. I've actually tried out at least ten spin instructors, and I only like three of them: K-Dawg, Jamie, and Marianne. For the most part, the other instructors teach classes that are too challenging for me. I physically cannot move my legs that fast, and no amount of you yelling directly at me, telling me to "crank it up" or to "turn that wheel faster" is going to make me move my legs that fast, sorry. Coming over to my bike and cranking the dial up yourself is simply going to piss me off and make me leave your class early. I find that classes like these make me feel discouraged and worse about myself because I can't keep up with everyone else. Then there are other spin instructors who yell so loudly into their microphones that either I can't understand them or I have to wear earplugs. Both of those things really turn me off.

I like instructors who realize that everyone has different fitness levels and that everyone has a different idea of what "really challenging" is. Good instructors, in my opinion, push you to go the hardest that you can go, rather than pushing you to go to what their idea of "really challenging" is. When I take classes from instructors like this, I actually want to go to class every week, and I feel good about it afterwards.

So, to make a long story short, I didn't go to today's class because the instructor was someone I didn't know. I knew that if I went and encountered an instructor who did not match my workout style (which, based on my experiences, is a majority of them), I would feel like I'd wasted two hours of the day (an hour drive round trip, 45 minutes for the class, 15 minutes to shower). This might just sound like an excuse, but I really do feel like my time's been wasted if I go and experience a bad class, even though I'll have burned calories. I'm planning to go on Wednesday, because Marianne teaches the 5:15 class, so if I don't go to that class, please kick me, because then I really will just be making excuses.

I did get some stuff done while I was not at spin class. I washed the sheets, vacuumed the bathroom, put away some paperwork that needed to be filed, and input receipts into our expenses spreadsheet. So, I might still be carrying around an extra 12.5 pounds, but at least I'll know that my time wasn't wasted today.