Did you join a gym as a New Year's resolution??

We joined a gym two years ago as our New Year's resolution. The main reason for joining was so hubby could lose 30 pounds. His doctor told him he had sleep apnea and he needed to lose some weight. Wanted to try that before giving him the machine. But he was also told that having sleep apnea makes it harder to lose weight. So we joined a cheapy gym...only cost us like $40 a month for both of us and the monthly fee for our son to use the kid's playroom while we were there. Even then we knew it was going to be something we did for the long haul...not just a short term thing. I joined too, but I've always been happy with my weight. I really only wanted to lose 4-5 lbs and just tone up.

Here we are two years later and I've been extremely happy with it all. We have switched gyms...same price, but a new place that offers all kinds of classes. I got my body to a place I was very happy with...though I do still need to tone some areas. I gained a lot of muscle too. Hubby is getting there. He was having a hard time getting to the gym....could only go like 2-3 times a week. Just so much going on every afternoon. He has recently switched shifts at his job and it should be much better for him.

But the thing about the gym that cracks me up is the rush of people joining in January. It is fantastic and it makes me happy to see that people are making the effort to get healthy. But from watching the crowds at the gym, once we get to the middle of February...the luster is gone. People just do not come anymore. I wonder what happened...where their steam went. And I don't know about most gyms, but ours locks you into a two-year contract. You are paying that cash no matter what.

So how are you doing on your resolutions so far???

Another thing I LOVE about digital book readers!

It is so much more convenient to read while working out!!!!!!

I tried the magazine thing once while using the elliptical at the gym. Did not work at all. The constant bouncing made it very hard to read the tiny words. And turning the page....that is an accident waiting to happen. I am pretty good on the machines but it doesn't take much to throw off your balance when you're in a groove! I keep at least one hand on the handle at all times!

Then one day I saw a woman with her Kindle. At first I thought, great idea, no pages to physically turn. Seemed like something I could try, but I worried that the constant bouncing would still make it too hard to keep my eyes on the line and not re-reading the same one over and over.

Then I remembered the button to adjust the text size. BRILLIANT! I set the text to the biggest size, problem solved!! I do have to "flip" the page more often since there is less text on the page, and therefore, I run my battery out quicker, but still. This is fantastic!! Makes my workout fly by. I do 20 minutes on the crossramp/stepper thingy and it used to feel like a full 20 minutes. Now it is gone in a flash. Then I move to the elliptical for another 15 minutes and then a 2 1/2 minute cool down and I usually stay on a few more minutes cause I hate stopping mid chapter. I then move on to the other weight lifting machines for arms and legs and all that and if there was some way of still reading while I did that, I so would!

At this rate, I will surpass my book reading goal for the year, which is set at 30. I know some set a 100 book goal..that would be an impossible goal for me. I only read 16 last year and was very disappointed in that. 30 seemed much more reasonable, especially with getting the Sony Reader for Christmas.

My only fear with using the Reader at the gym is someone on the machine next to me peeking over while I'm mid sex-scene. :)