I used to totally advocate working out at home. It's convenient and cost effective, you do it whenever you want without having to drive anywhere, and no one else has to see you sweat and jump around like a crazy person. I easily exercised at home with my first, and then again right after my second.
However, Baby #3 has changed a lot of things. For instance, I do not get more than 2 consecutive hours of sleep most nights.. I can no longer sit down and eat a meal without someone on my lap eating as well (be it her or the second child). The third one caused my hips to pop out of the location that they are supposed to be in and make things uncomfortable. And most importantly, neither of the two children that nap are ever napping at the same time. I don't know how I got the first two on the same schedule so easily and I cannot get the third child to stick to that same schedule, but I fear I may have met someone who is almost as stubborn as I am. I said almost. I still will win. So put in to the fact that I have had no sleep, I am always wrestling at least one kid, and by the time they are all in bed I am exhausted, working out at home was becoming less of a reality. A 30 minute workout was doable some days, but with the hip and eventually back pain I was having, my programs were really too intense to keep up with. A lovely walk around the neighborhood sounded like a great idea, until I realized the reality of getting all 3 kids dressed (and get them to keep their clothes on for longer than 10 minutes), putting one in the stroller, wearing the youngest, and convincing the oldest that really, you aren't tired. Keep going! We have barely gone a quarter of a mile!
I finally bit the bullet and joined a gym. I checked them out last week and then yesterday, after the Physical Therapist said walking and yoga were great exercises I could do, I bought a membership for nine months. I totally bought 9 months up front. Why? Because I am CHEAP and if I spent money somewhere like that, I sure as tootin' am going to use it. And then by September I am going to be so addicted to going to the gym it won't be a problem to keep going. And with free childcare for an hour or more, it was almost impossible to resist. So I went in today. I was carrying an eight month old in her carseat in one hand, an almost-2 year old in the other, and had the 4 year old hold on to my shirt in the back. We looked like some freaky carnival ride I am sure. I toted all of my children to that blessed child care room and signed them in, giving the workers the heads up that there is an epi pen in the middle kid's bag, should he need it (God I hope not! They have a no food rule). And then, suddenly, I was free.
I was kind of expecting a beam of light to break through in to the gym with a chorus of angel voices. Instead, I heard the steady hum of machines and saw mirrors. So. Many. Mirrors. I had noticed them before, but now they were rather intimidating. They were EVERYWHERE. The walls were mirrors. As someone who doesn't really study herself in the mirror and just tries to avoid looking at her completely ruined middle section in general, it was scary. I tried to avoid looking as much as possible and found a treadmill in the very middle of all of the machines.
It took me way too long to remember how a treadmill worked. Why must they all be different? I put on the emergency clip, that I noticed several people were neglecting to use, and started pushing buttons. I figured "Go" might be a good place to start, and low and behold it started moving. And then I remembered I had brought my iPod, so I shut it back off, put my iPod on, and spent a good five minutes trying to remember what my exercise play list was called. It's called "5K," for the record. That means my play list is from Summer 2013, when I ran a 5k. I need an update. I finally got all adjusted and turned on the treadmill again. I got it up to a nice speed and started walking. Ahhhhh. Walking. Without anyone screaming at me that their shoe fell off. Or asking to go home and drink water. To say it was nice was an understatement. How can something so simple as walking on a treadmill in a gym be so wonderful??
Now while walking and not fighting children, I did have a lot of time to observe. And here is what I noticed:
Some ladies wear make up to the gym. I didn't even think of makeup this morning.
Straight haired people have it easy. My hair band fell out of my hair exactly five times before I gave up and put it in my jacket pocket. The curly frizziness could not be contained. Many of the women there were working out and their hair stayed in place. Lucky.
Gyms are hot. Being filled with sweaty people, this really isn't a surprise. But what was a surprise was this button that said "Fan" on my treadmill. IT BLEW COOL AIR!! Did you know that treadmills did this now? I had no idea! The ones I have used in the past just went forward and at an incline!
Running when your Physical Therapist said walk is not a good idea. She said walk for a reason. Don't tell on me, please. I'm sure she'll figure it out tomorrow anyway.
The elliptical will go when you start moving. They don't automatically turn on. I learned this after pushing multiple buttons and going to get a staff member to help me "turn it on." I had even gone to multiple machines thinking that something was wrong with the first one. Maybe the second one, too. I really hope no one noticed. I bet they did.
Weights can be mysteriously missing. I did not see a single person using a 10 pound weight, nor did I see one anywhere else in the area. And yet all but one single solitaire 10 pound free weight was gone.
Using one weight at a time makes me feel off-balanced. This is probably more of a mental thing.
Trainers can take pictures of you exercising. I do not need this service, thank you. In fact, very rarely am I going to take a "gym selfie." No one wants to see my messed up hair, with no makeup, all sweaty. Even I don't want to see me like that. Yikes!
An hour goes very quickly. Right at 55 minutes I went to go get my children ready to go. Since #3 is under a year, they will only keep her for an hour at a time. Still, an hour of exercise is better than none! I will definitely be returning to the gym. And not only because I paid for it, but because it was me time. Every mom needs some "me" time.
