Starting Fresh, Mid-October

I haven't written in a while. And yesterday, when I went to Curves, I realized that I hadn't exercised in a while either. 11 days, to be exact. I had thought it was more like 5. How does that happen? How do 5 days turn into 11? How does blogging every day turn into "oh crap, it's been 8 days"? The apartment is mostly clean, work has been busy, I could make excuses all day. But the reality is that I just haven't been doing it. I've been taking a break. And I know, 8 days of no blogging isn't a huge disaster or anything. But 11 days with no exercise (not counting a hike we took while camping last week)? And no excuse other than "I just wanted to come home after work and veg out"? That's not good. Not good for my waistline, not good for my health...not good.

Last night, I joined the Biggest Loser competition at my local Curves. It begins on October 19th, and goes until the end of November. Every competitor has a sheet taped to the wall, and we are supposed to check off (or maybe the staff does it?) every time we come in to work out. I think we also check off when we work out on our own (taking a 30 minute walk, hiking, etc.) - at Curves, you're supposed to do 3x a week of Curves, and then 30 minutes of activity 2-3 times a week as well. We get weighed and measured at the beginning, and then at the end. To join cost $5, and the winners in each category (total pounds lost, inches lost, body fat % points lost) will split the pot at the end.

I joined because maybe (maybe maybe) if I am being held accountable in a public sort of way, I will actually come in on days when I feel like going home and sitting on the couch. Looking up at those check boxes, and seeing other people's boxes checked, will make me want to be able to check mine as well. I won't want to be the only person who looks like a slacker up on that wall! I hope.

Since I have officially signed up as a fully-paying member (instead of being on a cheapo discount "student" plan), I will also be starting to use the Curves Smart electronic monitoring type thingie that they have, where you plug your little card into the reader on each machine, and it tells you if you're working hard enough. I've never used it before, but from what I hear, you enter in your goals, and get measured and all that (just like when I first joined Curves), and then the machines track your progress. If you're not pushing hard enough, it lets you know. I like the idea of tracking my progress, and having a sort of personalized coach type of thing, even if it's just a machine.

So we'll see. Hopefully these things will motivate me to hit the gym after work as the days get shorter and it's darker and darker as I leave work. Because, oh man, when I leave work and it's cold and getting dark, all I want to do is go home, light some candles, and snuggle up on the couch. I do not, however, want to gain 10 pounds this holiday season.

Wish me luck!