Monday, October 05, 2009

Y.M.C.A

A few things first: I don't go to the Y (normally) and I don't own the song. Nor do I own any Village People. I'm just running out of titles that fit when talking about the gym or work-out.

Yes, I did take this picture in the MEN'S locker room at the Y at the Outer Banks when we were there in August.

I found it HI-larious. I wonder if all the other men who use the facilities had the same reaction? Well, probably not enough to take a picture of it. But I am of a special breed.

It has been some time since I have updated anything about my work-outs. As I had mentioned, this was not to become a gym-blog. But on the other hand, I wanted to make sure people knew that almost eight months in, I have stuck to my guns - and to the gym.

Because of changing schedules - work and the actual instructors changing around, I have no upped my gym dates from four to five per week. It's probably insane, but it sounds so impressive. One day is just yoga, so it's not all that.

I continue on with yoga, which I am really really liking and finding that I can shut things out and I am finding some balance. I might even be bendier, but that is really the last thing that is coming with this. I kind of hate that school is back in session, as the classes have tripled in size and I just find it annoying. The rest of the gym doesn't seem to have experienced the same kind of growth. If I felt I could progress to the next class level, the size would be more manageable....but I don't think I'm there.

Spin is still part of my routine, but I have opted to cut down from three or four classes to two per week. And sometimes I can only make one, just due to timing. I try for Andy (who doesn't!), but sometimes I have encountered other instructors. Women ones. And they are vicious. They make Andy look like a wuss. They kick my ass - and they kick it hard!

Naturally, I'm still doing regular cardio when Spin isn't an option. And I'm doing weights. But the big new is (for me), that I am kind of / sort of graduating to the Big Boy room.

I've been completely intimidated by the free weight room - and it is one I thought I did not belong. Well, the room did not intimidate me. Architecture rarely can. But the guys in there did. I'm trying to take away from yoga that all this is not me and I am just an observer of my body and mind and that there is no judgment. That last part is way hard for me.

I don't judge others in the gym, but I compare them to me and I'm always the loser. My mind. My esteem, or lack of. But as I have ventured into the free weight area, no one gives a shit about me....and not in that normal way.

I think they see it as - he's out there, he's trying and he's doing it consistently and they just let me be. The more I observe, the more I find it a very solitary place, no matter how many people are there. So I started with a bare bar. And continually over the weeks I've been adding weights.

Free weights don't weigh more than the machines, but there is a balance (there's that word again) to using them in both body and mind. I feel like I've turned some kind of corner...even if it's just imaginary. I'm freeing myself up of what I thought I can't do.

I haven't lost anymore weight and I'm ok with that. Honest. 16 pounds is nice and puts me in a good place. I said it wasn't about weight at the start, but really, had I lost nothing, I bet I would not still be at the gym and I would have given up long ago. I just talked myself into it not being why I was there. ...and I do not think it was the main reason either. I just wanted to look and feel better....in that order. Yes, I'm vain, I admit it.

Apparently I'm some kind of a role model too. A reader (who won't be named) emailed me to say that because of me and another blogger he reads, it encouraged him to get to the gym and eat better. To date (or when he wrote) he had lost 25 pounds! I think that is great - but not because of me. Because of him. As we all know, it takes work and commitment to do any of this.

The other blogger he reads must be the one eating better, because for the most part I still have pretty crappy food patterns. I eat better at lunch for sure. Dinner is still a hodge-podge and I eat way to late in the evening. And I still like chocolate and wine. And peanut butter! Imagine what I could do if I ate better. It doesn't help that we're in crappy fruit season. Too late for most things, too early for my beloved oranges (good ones!). That leaves me with apples and bananas. Yawn.

So I continue my quest. My cousin keeps pushing me to go with him to a yoga studio, but I haven't committed to that yet. It seems a serious place for serious yogis - even though you are to be true to your practice, not theirs.

I don't want to compare or be judged - but I don't know I can help it. I guess I have a ways to go.


Song by: the Village People

2 comments:

DrRuss said...

Now wait a gosh-darned minute. Peanut butter is not bad for you. It is a great meat substitute. It is good with good fats. Also, it will turn that yawned-apple of yours in something palatable. Dab a little PB on a Granny Smith apple and you will never yawn at apples again.

As someone who used to weigh over 350 lbs with a 64 inch waist (while standing 5'11"), I applaud your efforts (and those of your readers).

Larry Ohio said...

Thank you Blobby.