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Friday, December 17, 2010
What are your gym bag essentials?
I admit: I’ve packed on a little itty bit of a pre-holiday Buddha belly. The reasons for my weight gain are twofold. I have had hypothyroidism since I was born, and recently my doctor adjusted the dosage of my daily medication, which caused me to put on an initial seven pounds or so. Even though I knew the cause, seeing the scale jump up was not all that motivating as far as keeping me on track with “healthy lifestyle choices.”
So I compounded the problem by showing a rather amazing lack of restraint and willpower when it came to food, along with an apparent allergy to exercise. We got a dog in mid-October, which helped get me off the couch a little, but by then, most of the damage was done. Then came the holidays and supremely cold, wintry weather and… fuhgeddaboudit.
I’m proud to say the Cox Media Group building has a pretty impressive gym facility, even though I had come up with all sorts of reasons to not make the most of it. Too much work to do to justify leaving my desk. Not wanting to work out at night (my typical shift is 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.) or right before or after dinner. Not wanting to come in early and take away from the precious little time I get with my first-shift-working husband, and not wanting to stay after work and watch my bedtime get pushed even deeper into the wee hours. I am really not a fan of public showers, but I also wouldn’t want to come back to my desk all stinky and sweaty. And so on and so forth.
But getting on the scale Wednesday morning after avoiding it for weeks, and hearing the nurse mutter the number that appeared there, was my wake-up call. I’m getting a jump on the New Year’s resolution bandwagon and have started using my hour break to get in some cardio - if nothing else, to get my money’s worth out of my membership. I’m hoping that by adding in that activity at least 3 times a week, I can get the ball rolling on bringing things back into an acceptable range.
Tonight’s workout pointed out to me how poorly stocked my gym bag is - especially post-shower, when I took a blow dryer to my newly-permed hair without using any product and came out looking like I’d spent half an hour rolling around on the floor with a pillowcase over my head instead of sweating it out on an elliptical.
So as I make a checklist of things I need to add, I thought I’d pose the question to my readers: What are your workout must-haves?
Do you listen to music on headphones while you work out? That’s definitely one of my must-haves, as it helps me keep a steady pace. If I just read a magazine or watch TV without music, I find myself losing momentum and focus and getting a less effective workout. And when I only have half an hour on the machine, I want to squeeze every last drop of effort out of myself that I can. I have my cell phone stocked with plenty of high-energy dance songs as well as some slower ones for the cool down. And because the gym is more or less empty in the 8-9 p.m. window when I’m there, I don’t need to feel silly if I start lip-syncing or otherwise grooving, which I am totally guilty of every now and then.
Do you work out in a gym, outside or elsewhere? Do you take fitness classes? What do you bring with you? Share your answers and any other exercise-preparedness tips you have.
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