Look over there...

Yesterday I had my “welcome to the gym” orientation. My trainers name is Dennis. He is a wonderful guy. Fit and yet not scary. Helpful and yet not pushy. He is a good fit.
So I walk into the gym. I see the enormous treadmills and the stationary bikes and all the other equipment that are suppose to become good friends of mine. And yet I am not drawn to them. I see the nice shiny machines on the side of the gym. They have gears sticking out of them. They have slidey feet thingies and they have only tone fit beautiful people at them! I want that! I want to only use the machines that all the pretty people use!
But Dennis is doing his sales pitch and showing me how to incorporate all of these new activities into my daily life and mentioning something or other about food and muscle and water. I am listening, I really am. But the shiny machine keeps calling my name. I am sure that all the rest of the things that he is showing me are great, but I want shiny happy machine.
Again, I stick with Dennis and listen to him tell me that Cardio is my friend and that my new friend and me should really spend time together daily! It’s ok if we need to take a break once in awhile. But remember to at least talk on the phone! (Which for all of you that don’t live in my head, that means take the stairs whenever possible and park far away so that you get extra steps!)
So we start at the bike. It is one of those with a recliner attached to it. At least that is what Dennis is trying to sell me. When your butt is a size 26 no little black piece of metal covered with cows skin is going to compare to my comfy oversized totally stuffed lounger. And to make matters worse, I now have to sit on this black triangle and bring my legs up to my chin and avoid smacking my stomach as I extend. Sure, the reclining seat is really making a difference! But I charge on. I go a mile, in 10 minutes by the way! (Oohhs and aahhs inserted here!)
Since Dennis has informed me that this orientation is just that an orientation and now a full on workout…I am ready to move on. Shiny happy machine here I come. Yet Dennis leads me to the treadmill. I breathe in and walk to the treadmill. It’s got buttons and lights so it’s still shiny so I am happy. We talk, We walk, and he makes a suggestion that I see how long it takes to walk a mile. Did I mention that Dennis is Evil! Nice, but Evil. But I agree and see where this leads me. Of course the whole time I am still looking at the shiny people! Before I know it I have gone a mile. 20.4 minutes has passed, I have burned 79.6 calories and I walked my mile. (Ok, all you skinny people that just said a 20-minute mile totally sucks-SUCK! But remember I still love you. In fact I love you because you suck!)
I feel good about my 20-minute mile. I did it and that was all that matters.
I have now decided that it is time for the shiny happy machine. And I tell Dennis! He smiles. Remember I did say he is Evil! He goes back to explaining the 3 parts of the gym and how each has their own place and time and difficulty. And then puts it in plan terms. The bike was about a 2 in the difficulty scale. And I succeeded. The Treadmill was about a 5 in the difficulty scale and I succeeded. The nice happy shiny machine is about a 792 in the difficulty scale. He describes all the pros and cons of the machine and tells me the good qualities of the machine and blah, blah, blah. And then points out this extremely fit, beautiful girl jumping rope in the “free weight” area. And says that she is a runner and does XYZ and uses that machine. But had to work up to it. Therefore, I am suppose to deduce that I must work up to that. :-( I do not do things gradually! I jump and then check to see that there is still land under me. Why would you have to work up to the happy shiny machine! Why! But I take one last look and realize that Dennis is right and that I must be happy with my treadmill and bike work for the day! But I will be back-you shiny happy apparently annoyingly hard machine! You have not seen the last of me!
As I journey on my adventure I believe that today’s lesson is a good one. And it reminds me of the Bible verse Ecclesiastes 3:1-3. There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build.
I have to say that mostly my “new” experience was Not getting on the machine that I wasn’t ready for, but I did try a machine that I’ve never seen before so that is my “new” for the day. The machine sounds something like AP-blah, but it is not a news source or writing manual so I do not know exactly what the name is. But it was a 7 on the difficulty scale, so there! I was only on it for about 7 seconds, but I tried it!
Remember I love you because…