5 Things About the Gym

I do my best thinking at the gym. I also am able to make some observations about what's happening around me. And I can't for the life of me understand the following:

1. Why do women wear makeup to the gym? Did you know that when you sweat and you wear makeup that your pores get nice and clogged? When this happens, you are more prone to acne and blackheads and really, who wants to give those little suckers any excuse to make a nice little home on your pretty little face?

2. Why would you wear a velour tracksuit to the gym? Don't you get hot with that long-sleeved winter ensemble on? Wearing your finest Juicy doesn't really scream gym-goer to me.

3. How could you have a really good workout when you're talking on the phone? The girl talking loudly on her Blackberry on the machine next to me would have been kind of irritating last night had it not been for my iPod. Through my peripheral vision I noticed her talk on three different calls in the span of my 45-minute workout on the arc trainer.

4. Don't you get hot when you wear your hair down at the gym? I don't know about you (and not to be TMI here), but I tend to sweat when I'm at the gym. If my hair were on my back (well, it's short now), I'd be disgusted and would probably get hotter!

5. I have found it's harder to have a workout buddy if you're just going to be doing machines. I like to go at my own pace. But I've seen lots of people in groups of four and five wandering around the gym, glued to each other. Are you sure you're getting the most out of your workout? Maybe you are - I just would feel overwhelmed having to keep tabs on so many other people.

Isn't the point of the gym to really get your adrenaline pumping and give you a few extra calories to play around with throughout the day? I think it is. That's what it is for me anyway. This isn't meant to be judgment at all (after all, I go to the 'Judgment Free Zone' and am just getting back on the gym train, myself), but these are just five things I saw last night as I watched the many people walking around.

Shopping and the Gym

"Shopping is my cardio." - Carrie Bradshaw

An article in the UK's Guardian from yesterday talks about how shopping is becoming a form of exercise. So for all you shopoholics out there - there's good news!

Back up the train. I know I'm walking when I’m shopping (and I frequently do this), but I think the least exciting part is checking out the bank account after I've made my fabulous purchases. And that requires movement of my arm, of my eyeballs, and of my mouth when I gasp in horror at the big bill I've just created…

Says the article:

"'Mallercise' - power walking while window shopping - is a craze sweeping the US and catching on here. It's free, safe and, because the weather's not a problem, you can wear what you want."

I'm not exactly sure when said "craze" became popular in the good old U S of A. I mean I've always loved to shop and all, but if this were the case, why would I need the gym I detest to get up for at 6am?! Additionally, I see it says free and safe. Although these mallercisers are getting up and entering the mall before the shops actually open, I'd see something totally cute in a window and just return later on that day to buy it. Or better yet I'd wait around in the mall, probably grab something to eat, and then make my lovely purchase - Costly and Dangerous! So really, they're not doing me any favors.

Nowadays I don't go to the mall every day, despite being the obsessive shopping freak that I am. But is Britain (where one American dollar equals maybe two English pounds) trying to convince me that I should take a little daily trip and do a couple of laps before my workday? I think I'll stick to online shopping and early morning drives to my gym membership. At least there I can get my CNN fix for the day.

The Gym: Friend or Foe?

The gym. Everyone's worst nightmare. You join with every intention of being good and going as much as you can. But let's face it - you think of any excuse possible not to go. Just last week I decided not to go because it was raining. Why? I don't know - it was just an excuse. It's been raining for over a week and I went away so you can imagine that it's been a while since I've gone. And I know I have to get back into it...

When I used to travel into the city everyday for school and work, I would walk everywhere. For as long as I can remember, I've been an active gal. I started dancing when I was two. Eventually I added in some softball and intense varsity basketball in high school. College brought me to living, working, and going to school in NYC. No need to go to the gym too much because you're getting a ton of exercise walking everywhere. And I didn't just lollygag either - I'm one of those get-to-where-you-need-to-go-as-quickly-as-possible New Yorkers. So that was always a workout. Add studying abroad and backpacking around Europe for a semester and you've got your own workout that keeps you in tip-top shape (although I'd lose my breath going up and down stairs).

So when I landed a job less than ten minutes from my house I decided that I had better do something to make myself a little more active, rather than stationary. What better way than to join the gym? And it's down the block from my office so I really have no excuse not to go. I like to get there at least three weekdays and one day over the weekend. I don't always stick to that but I try to work hard when I'm there. And as much as it sucks when you first start out, it gets gradually easier. I feel so refreshed and good about myself when I leave (especially after I take a nice shower). It's also a great place to kind of think and reflect on things. I get my iPod pumping with my classic Staten Island fist-pumping music and lose myself in the machines. It's great.

But it's also so easy to fall off the gym habit. Some things I think that can help all of you who are just like me, include gym buddies and a set schedule. The fact that I'm right down the block from the gym and I don't go home before I work out helps me immensely. If I went home, I'd kind of mull around and probably not leave my house again. I need to go because I'm not one of those girls who believes in diets and, like I said, I'm an active person by nature.

In reality, I'm already dreading getting back there and I can't really explain it. Some days Gym is my friend and some days, not so much. Since I've been back from my trip, I keep saying I need to clean my room. The room's still a mess. I've made an excuse everyday. I guess I'm just a fickle gym-goer. I need to work that out...