Going to the Gym...?

Do you go to the gym?

I don't know if it is just me, or if there really is some truth to what I am noticing. More people are going to the gym.

I joined a gym about 4-5 years ago. I had worked with someone who was going to 24 Hour Fitness. She started looking different. She dropped weight, and was toning up.

For myself, the fight against weight was ongoing. As I get older, it was getting harder and harder to loose weight. I was doing Weight Watchers (sort of), yet fighting with yo-yo weight gain/loss.

Now I have an even better solution, so I do not have to drive to the gym and stop on the way home...

My company opened an on campus gym about a year ago, for only $15.00 per month membership.For this $15.00 charge we get high end treadmill's, elliptical, spinning bikes, gym machines, weights of all sorts, TV to watch while working out, classes as well as personal trainers. All of this for $15.00 per month!

Now we also have this incentive that if you do not take sick days, you get paid for them the following year. The company has added another bonus, if you go to the gym 12 days a month, and do not have sick time from June through December, you will get an additional $120.00 at the end of the year.

What is very cool is how may people use the gym, and many in my age group!

Because I usually need to plan to stop on my way home by the Assisted Living place where Mom is, I have had a hard time going to the gym for an hour after work. Knowing I had to fight worse traffic as the afternoon/evening progresses makes for one long day.

So fast forward to now.

So, with a new shift bid I did something I have not done in a long time, took a shift with an hour lunch. Because my shift starts at 6:30AM, my lunch is at 10:30 AM. I grab my gym bag, and walk over to the gym for a quick change, and at least 45 minutes of work out (OK, yes I look a bit different after working out, for the last half of my day..to bad!)

I plan on 30 minutes cardio at least 3 days a week, then remaining with free weights or machines...and this last week was my first week doing this. I went 5 days, and each day got back just in time to eat a bit of my lunch too! The kind of work I do also allows me to eat bites of my lunch when I am back to work, which helps.

I must say, this seems to be the best solution for my challenge to go to the gym. I have already seen some weight loss... as I have found that if I do nothing, the weight does something, goes up!

I have some other things that keep me motivated. I have a great application on my HTC Incredible cell phone called "FatSecret" Calorie Counter. It lets me track all calories and exercise on my phone. I can even scan the bar-code's on what I eat (Lean Cuisine anyone?).

There are many of these very helpful applications, I happen to like this one. I can also access the same information I put on my phone, on my computer.

I also keep motivated by watching shows like Biggest Loser, and also Jillian's new show Losing it with Jillian.

How about you?

Anyone out there finding a creative solution for your need to exercise? I would love to hear, as it will keep me inspired!