Week One @ The Gym


As of today, I’ve belonged to a gym for one full week. I did some kind of rigorous exercise every day but Monday–my one exercise-free day of rest. I’ve been to four Zumba classes, a spin class, and had a thirty-minute session with my personal trainer.

When I weighed in Monday morning, I’d lost two full pounds–the most I’ve lost since my first week on Weight Watchers.  Rather than the gym,  I credit the increasing demands of the Couch to 5K program. I’m finishing up week three which involves running for ninety seconds, walking for ninety seconds, running for three minutes, walking for three minutes and repeating the sequence with a five-minute walk on either end. Running is getting a lot easier and other than a little pain in my knee, doesn’t hurt any more.

I’ve experienced Zumba now with six different instructors.  Each has her own style and emphasizes different kinds of dancing. One instructor handed out veil-like sashes with bunches of little silver coins sewn on. The coins jingle when you shake your booty.  Given my complete and total lack of anything you’d call an ass, I knew I was in trouble.

Tuesday night I tried out a spin class. Since I ride my bike all the time, I figured the class would be a piece of cake. Wrong! In less than ten minutes I was in trouble. Forget standing up or dialing up the tension. I sat there and focused on keeping the pedals going. Next time I’ll bring a wash pan or something to set under the bike to catch all my sweat.

So far, I’ve been the only guy in every class. Tonight several guys watched us getting our Zumba on from outside the room. Maybe I’m paranoid but I felt like they were laughing at me. I don’t care. They’re just jealous because all the women love me. Besides, since men seem to have an aversion to cardio (other than running), I doubt they could keep up with me.

Today was my biggest day yet.  I ran this morning before I went to work, had a thirty-minute session with my personal trainer (Armand), and then a butt-kicking hour of Zumba. The training session and Zumba were back to back and during the time when I normally eat dinner. So I decided it was in my best interest to have a big lunch.

I went through the drive-through at KFC. My plan was to get grilled chicken (breast and a wing for seven points) with green beans (zero points) and corn on the cob (three points)–hold the biscuit (five points).  At the last minute I changed my mind. I still got the green beans and corn, and I threw away the biscuit which I was too full to eat anyway after two extra crispy breasts (fourteen points, each). Damn it was good.

My trainer is making me fill-out a daily food log. He was nice to me tonight and praised me for pushing through the series of exercises he made me do. Pissing him off probably wouldn’t be a good idea. I suspect he’ll put an end to the nightly dish of ice cream I enjoy here in…

My Glass House


3 responses to “Week One @ The Gym”

    • I’m saving Armand for a later post–need to get to know him better 🙂 Did you see that 11Alive is looking for 60-second videos of your zombie survival kit? I immediately thought of you lol

      • I’m a channel 2 gal, so I missed that. I love how everyone thinks of me when they hear anything about zombies!