The information you've been waiting for...or not

I know you've been waiting to hear if we've used up all five of our free visits to the gym. I don't want to keep you in suspense any longer. The answer is...sort of. Technically there are still spaces on the back of my card for a few more free visits. But we have been going. Occasionally. A few times a week. I tried out a second gym earlier this week, which didn't count against my five freebies. So give me some credit. That's way more non couch time than we've been pulling in recent months. I actually broke a sweat the last couple of visits. Shocking! I haven't, however been able to bring myself to enter a formal class like zumba or spinning.

I heard a phrase the other day that I've been thinking on. Something about creating a healthy environment. Dang it, now I can't remember it exactly. The gist is that to be healthy one must surround yourself with healthy things, a healthy attitude, etc. I know that's not a new thought. Duh. But it's not something I do. My life is set up for sedentary chub-i-tude. I work at a desk and rarely get up. At night I watch TV or lounge around reading a book. To get to the carrots I have to push aside the cookies, glazed donuts and pie that regularly appear on our kitchen counter. Even the dog is too old and tired to exercise. It takes a massive amount of self-denial and inner fortitude to push against the chub tide.

I seriously did not set out to write yet another post on this topic. I'm going to start writing fascinating posts about my rock climbing experiences, my triathlon victories and my rock-star ability to just say no to cranberry orange scones.

Trouble is, all the writing gurus advise writing what you know.

The Exit of Doom

I was driving home today, heading toward what I decided was THE EXIT OF DOOM. You have to say that in a really deep voice with lots of reverberation. Every day when I drive home from work I pass a perfectly respectable gym where people go to hold back the rapid expansion common to couch potatoes such as myself. I'm sedentary. I just am. I am not an athlete. It's not fair that by being true to my basic nature I am expanding past a point that is acceptable.

So at 5:30 today I found myself heading toward that exit of doom, where Mark was waiting to escort me into the gym against my will. Or at least against my nature. Yes. We had agreed to meet there. Yes. I want to be healthy. But it takes all of the minuscule amount of discipline I have after a long day of work not to run home to my couch and television.

I'm not a fan of large groups of people. I'm not a fan of sweating. I'm not a fan of trying to figure out how to work all those machines while attempting to look cool as I lower the weights to the lowest possible settings. I'm not a fan of boredom. So really, going to the gym is a little like my own personal hell.

We got passes for five free visits. That should be enough to get in shape and lose all the weight I need to. Right? Truthfully, if we actually use all five free passes we will be exponentially further along than we usually are when deciding to "get healthy". I'm not running out to buy cute gym clothes though. I'm nothing if not a pessimistic realist.

Just finish something already!

One of the dangers of having a busy, active mind is getting too many fun little projects going at the same time. I could think up projects all day long. It's the finishing of said projects that takes some discipline.

I temporarily misplaced my iphone over the weekend, and I could hear it vibrating somewhere in the vicinity of my closet, so I started to clean out my closet while trying to find the offending phone. I got most of it cleaned up, except for the "give away" pile and the "can't decide" pile, which are now stranded on the floor outside the closet waiting for me to come back to that project. But it's going to be oh so orderly when I'm done.

I'm almost finished painting and hanging new cabinet doors. So my painting "booth" is set up in the dungeon (aka garage-ish room). Oh, and I decided to paint the kitchen chairs too. So there's paint cans on the kitchen table and a path of footprints between the painting booth and the kitchen, and cabinet doors and chairs in various states of undress. But it's going to be oh so fabulous when I'm done.

I'm working on a new website project, so there are books and computer cords and multiple laptops spread around the living room. But it's going to be oh so cool when I'm done.

The Wii Fit board gets a spot in the middle of the living room also, because another project is to actually use it. But I'm going to be oh so healthy when I'm - well, you get the point.

The list could go on for a while. The point is, the house is disheveled, and it's a direct reflection of my brain. This is the point in ProjectLand that I must discipline myself to not start any new projects, and to methodically finish those I have started. It will be good for the mind and good for the soul and good for the state of my house.

Mind, Spirit, Body

I'm on va-ca-tion, I'm on va-ca-tion (said in a sing-songy voice while doing that little dancey thing). Not that I'm actually going ON vacation. I just took a week off from work. Tessa and niece Cori come home from college, we'll be doing a round of family dinners and traveling to the in-laws for a few days. I've been thinking lately how much I need to be putting emphasis on Spirit, Mind, and Body. Now is a good time to punch that into high gear. I'm feeling dull, drab, in a fog. Life is good. No complaints there. I'm just not taking care of myself.

True confession. I HATE exercising with a passion. I've never been particularly athletic. Never really had a hobby that involved getting my heart rate up. Biking? Hurts the tush, a good bike is expensive, I have balance issues. Running? Let's just say I'm well-endowed and the girls are difficult to constrain. Yoga? I missed out on the flexibility gene, plus there's the balance issues. I am a good swimmer, but it's just so...wet. Walking is my main form of exercise, but even then I get bored. What DO people do to stay healthy? I'm hoping to explore this side of myself this week. No promises, but hopefully fewer excuses.

I'm off to dust off my BEAN and see if I can at least work some kinks out.