By Jerri Dixon
April 14 2009
In one of my latest entries I promised to share a little about my recent journey to improve my personal fitness. This is a quest that has taunted me for years. I’ve tried going to the gym on my own; going to the gym with friends; going to the gym with co-workers who had good workout routines of their own. Each time seeking knowledge that I could use to develop a workout routine that would make me more fit and tone the MANY problem areas that still existed after my gastric bypass and corrective surgeries to remove excess skin.
When we moved to Northern California I met a wonderful lady who owns a gym in the town in which we live. The gym was for women only. The core of the gym is the circuit training, but they also offer elliptical machines, free weights, resistance bands, stability balls and many other great tools to use in your workout routine. This is an independently owned gym, not a chain. The staff are all trained fitness professionals. Each one having a different area of expertise but ALL willing to answer questions, demonstrate new ideas and encourage you during your workouts. When she told me about the gym, of course I was interested, but the old demons living in my head began to tell me that it would be like all the other times. I would spend the money. Not go. Be discouraged and fail yet again. So I put the idea on the back burner and came up with a number of excuses as to why I could not join just yet. But someday….
In early February, with looking as good as I could for a trip to Las Vegas in April, as my first goal, I decided to give the gym a try. I signed up for the minimum allowable membership time (6 months) and made a promise to myself to get to the gym 4-5 days a week.
My very first visit to the gym I was met by one of the staff who gladly signed me up for membership and then began showing me around the gym. Taking me to each machine and showing me how to use it properly, watching my form, generally making sure I was confident in what I was doing in my new environment. TALK ABOUT EMPOWERING! I left the gym that day feeling better about myself than I had in ages. The next visit she checked on me regularly and introduced a few new things that I could do to work on some of my target areas. Each time I went back, she gave me more information and tools that I could use. NOW I WAS REALLY FEELING LIKE I HAD CONTROL! I received the same treatment from every member of the staff. If I’m not doing something right or doing things that give me no benefit, the staff will tell me! The other ladies at the gym receive the same assistance and are all so encouraging and supportive. Most of us have a great time while we are there working out.
After 2 1/2 months at the gym, I have lost 11 pounds and have starting seeing dramatic results in the way I look. So much so that one morning when I was getting dressed, I looked in the mirror and was surprised to find ME! Not the 300 pound person I had been and had been seeing since my gastric bypass surgery SIX YEARS AGO–but ME! It moved me to tears. I couldn’t wait to get to the gym and share the story with the staff and other ladies. What a victory! This past weekend I tried on a dress that I bought to wear on a cruise in 2007. When I put it on, it fit better than it did when I originally bought it. That’s certainly going in the suitcase for Vegas!
The moral of the story is not YAY ME, but rather, if you have been struggling to find a fitness routine for yourself or a place to workout where you are comfortable and feel empowered to do the things you need to do to improve your personal fitness, keep looking! Don’t give up! Each person is different in their knowledge level, the type of people they want to be around when they work out, and of course, finances can also play a role. But I encourage you to keep looking! It is a quest that is worth accepting. A challenge worth facing. I feel better about me, healthier and stronger than I have in years! At 42, I feel like I am in the prime of my life.
Please share your own personal fitness quests with us (both the challenges and the victories). What you have to share will likely help someone else in their journey.
Best wishes for love, laughter and finding the elegance in common things.
Jerri
Read Jerri's follow-on article at her blog here
Take a video tour of the gym: