I just purged my closet of ill/non-fitting pants.  And a few terribly stained t-shirts. Seriously, I just threw out over half of the pants I owned. I’d have donated them if they were in wearable condition, but alas.

I’m going to make an effort to buy a new shirt every week or two for the next couple of months in order to improve my wardrobe slightly. I have no plans to become fashionable, but it would be nice to have more than a half dozen shirts that are appropriate for wearing in public, heh.

The majority of pants I threw out had holes in the thighs. That’s a problem I wish I didn’t have. It’s a problem I know I could do something about if I really focused. I’m so good at making excuses though. Going out to dinner with my husband gives us quality time together away from the slew of electronic devices we’d be drawn to at home. Cook at home is often stressful and unfulfilling because the kitchen is usually a mass of empty 12-pack cartons, dirty dishes, and ancient leftovers. Going to the gym on a regular basis would mean spending less time with family and friends. See? I’m great at excuses. I have lots more, trust me.

Balance is not something I excel at when it comes to my health. I need to find an approach that isn’t all-or-nothing.

Tonight, Jon and I scheduled our trip to the gym around the airing of Mythbusters! It’s been a while since we had cable, so we’ve been stuck watching reruns via Netflix for a while now. But not tonight! We headed over to Snap at about 7:45 so we’d be there and ready to watch the new episode at 8!

It was a good one, with lots of marvelously large explosions. I think the best part was seeing Buster survive as a hot water heater rocketed up through the floor, a mere foot in front of where he was sitting. It was amazing. I also appreciate that if for some reason my Dad’s water heater launched itself toward the heavens, my Dad would probably be just fine, especially since Dad’s couch and computer chair are both farther away from his water heater, heh.

Beyond the novelty of having satellite TV access at the gym, Jon and I both walked for a solid hour during the show! I kept over 3mph for all but 5 minutes or so, but I’ve always been a fast walker. Yesterday’s feat was more impressive – 30 minutes on the elliptical! I still find that rather difficult, but my quads are starting to get used to it. In the week we’ve been going to the gym, I’ve already noticed that I have more energy. I’m hoping the ‘better sleep’ thing will kick in soon as well! *grin*

I got my first pair of glasses when I was just 5 years old. I inherited my bad eyesight from my father, who got it from both of his parents. I’ve gone through many pairs of glasses in my life thus far. Some of them were not so attractive… particularly the frames I wore during the late 80′s. Yikes! In either 8th or 9th grade I got my first pair of contacts. I thought they were going to change my life! No longer would I be the nerdy kid with the braces and four-eyes! I’d suddenly look more normal, cool even! Well, that didn’t quite happen, but contacts did make it a lot easier to do things I loved, like cheerleading. Any kind of sport, dance, or exercise was better in contacts.

Last February I accidently washed my contacts down the drain in a freak moment of stupidity, so I’ve been wearing my glasses for the past 9 months or so. I like them now. They suit me. I almost feel more like ‘me’ when I look in the mirror.

Recently I went in for an eye doctor appointment, and today my new contacts arrived. I feel kind of weird wearing them after such a length of time in only glasses, and I’m not at all used to my new appearance, but I know they are better for my eyes in some ways.  They produce much clearer images than my glasses. Looking through photos on my computer was strange after I put the contacts in, it’s almost like viewing them in HD!

Once I feel more comfortable with my new reflection, I’ll take a self portrait so you can see my lovely green, contact covered, eyes!

We did it! We joined the gym yesterday! Of course, now I’m eating Ben & Jerry’s pumpkin cheesecake ice cream, but you have to start somewhere, right? I’ll work on the diet later, after the exercise thing is a habit.

Yesterday was basically a ‘learn how the equipment works’ workout, but this afternoon I went in and started making some progress. It’ll be fun to see how long it takes me to be able to do 30min straight on the elliptical. I only managed about 12min today before I had to get off and stretch to keep from cramping up. I got on for a few more minutes after the stretching, but didn’t stay long due to my hip flexors being all crabby. They haven’t done this much work for a while! After that, I did a bit of upper body strength training. My shoulders are gonna hurt tomorrow! But man, I can’t wait to have my bicep muscles back!  I think I did about 35-40 minutes worth of exercise total, which isn’t too bad for my second day.

While I was there, I was the only female in the place. I kinda liked it. For some reason, I don’t care what the guys think of me. I’m way more intimidated by the buff women. Maybe it has to do with being married. Or maybe it’s my competitive streak. I don’t know.

Anyway, it felt really good working out today. Hopefully I’m not too sore tomorrow!

During a late lunch, Jon and I were discussing how our clothing doesn’t fit very well anymore. I’ve been wearing my “fat pants” far too often over the past few months, and since Jon quit smoking he’s been nibbling more often and it’s catching up with him. Rather than buy new, larger sized wardrobes, we’re going to try and get more exercise. Our apartment doesn’t have a fitness room, and winter is coming which means working out outdoors won’t be an option much longer.

So, after lunch Jon and I decided to stop by Snap Fitness to look around! Though they seem to have one of the least reliable websites I have visited recently, their clubs are just about right for the two of us. They have all the basic cardio and strength training machines, as well as free weights. They are open 24 hours, and have no contracts to sign! For the both of us, it is only about $50 per month, which is fantastic. Any other club we had considered in the past cost twice that much, and only had limited hours of operation. Also, there are a couple convenient locations on the light rail if I want to go after work! Gotta love that!

We haven’t officially become members yet, but we’ll probably be stopping in there after I get off work tomorrow. Here’s hoping that the only reason we’ll need to buy new clothing is because our old items have gotten too big!