This Curves Thing Just Might Work

I was surprised to find that even when I woke up this morning I still had a craving to go back to Curves. Since I'm about to travel up to Rockhampton tomorrow and am not sure how often I'll be able to get to a Curves gym on the trip, I was actually tempted to go anyhow.

I had a lot of stuff to do today to prepare for the trip, so I was a bit worried that I wouldn't have any time to go. In the end, I did manage to get going. To my surprise, my mum actually decided to come with me. I thought after yesterday she might have wanted a day off between workouts, but I guess since I won't be here for a while, she figured the same thing I did - we'd better get off to Curves while we could.

It was a good work out. I was happy with that. And I love the games they play. Today it was yatzee - I only managed 3 ones. Grrr. Got beaten by 3 fives. Oh well. And I mis-counted the bugs. Twice. *sob* Errr....yes....one of the games this week is to count up all the pictures of bugs on the walls. Maybe I'll win something when I get back.

I've Joined Curves!

Last week I decided it was time to do something about serious exercise. I'd heard really good things about Curves from the Tony Ferguson forums, and I was lamenting the fact that there wasn't a Curves gym near where I live. Then I drove past one last Monday! The purple-ness of the "Curves" sign is what drew my attention at first - honestly, I've been driving past this place for ages!

If you haven't heard about Curves gyms basically, its a gym for woman. It is circuit training for women only. You jump on the first machine available (you don't have to go at a set time to start a class, which I LOVE!), then you go around the circuit three times. Once you're done, you do your stretches and you're out of there. I signed up with my mum last thursday and today was our first actual session. You have to make an appointment for the first session so that an instructor can follow you around the circuit, teaching you to use all the machines properly.

I love the fact that at Curves, there is always an instructor in the center of the circuit watching out for you. If you're not using the machine correctly, they tell you so in a very non-confrontational way. For the first time ever, going to a gym hasn't been a terrifying and painful experience. The staff and other members of Curves are very friendly, you get help and support for the machines and in my Curves gym - every time you complete a workout you get a chance to go into the draw for some great stuff - t-shirts, bags and so on. Last week it was trying to get a three point basket ball shot - that was fun. This week you have to accurately count the number of little bug pictures that have been posted around the gym.

I think my favourite thing is that once I was done with my workout, I couldn't actually believe I was done! The time went so fast. And nothing was hurting. I just felt absolutely great. I'm going back to Curves tomorrow to - I think I'm addicted already!

Well....plus they chose purple as their corporate colour...how could I resist?

Back on the Wagon!

This month has been kind of up and down. As you can see - I haven't written anything since almost exactly a month ago. I felt very bad about not sticking to my diet. I just let myself think "I can eat this one thing". Which is fine. The problem is that if you let yourself eat lots of things that aren't good for you all the time - you gain weight! Like I did. Last time I feel off the wagon, I was lucky - I gained nothing. This time I gained back 1.5 kilograms - not a good start. I can't let that get to me though. In the past week, I've managed to get that off again, so I'm back on track.

I'm not a person who is afraid of food - granted, not all foods are great for you. That doesn't mean you can't have them on occasion though. Its not about dieting really. I think that's half the problem - you think you're dieting and suddenly you feel like you're trapped in a cage! So, through shear bloody-minded-ness, you want the things you can't have!

However, I need to remind myself that for the next few months, I do need to restrict what I eat and I do need to forgo some of the things that I love to eat and perhaps learn to like other foods. This isn't a diet - its a change of lifestyle. To get the weight off to begin with though, obviously, I do need to stop eating the bad stuff until I learn how to control myself so I only have one piece of chocolate, not the whole block. Or one glass of wine, not the whole bottle.

This week has obviously been an eye opener for me. I've signed up for the Weightloss Challenge at the Tony Ferguson forums again, and I intend to meet my goal. I've come to accept that I'm probably going to have something that isn't "good" every now and again. But that's the point - it should be every now and again; not every day.

Weigh In: 91.5kg (201.7lbs)