To the Gym!!

Bryann and I have started going to the gym again.  When I say "again," I mean that this is probably the seventeenth time we've resolved to work out regularly.  For the past two years that we've been living together, Bryann has complained about his weight, and I've complained about my lack of energy.  We get all motivated to get fit and start working out, and we do a pretty good job for about a week or two.  Then laziness gets the better of us.  We find excuses to not go for a run or head to the gym after work.  Our lives get busy during the week, or we're too tired after work.  And we slide back into our routine of TV and dinners on the couch.

The other night I asked Bryann what he needed from me to stay motivated and to keep heading to the gym regularly.  He told me he needed a buddy system, and that it would help if I would just come to the gym with him.  Ugh.....  The gym...  I don't really care for the gym.  I've never had any formal weight training, so I'm pretty lost when it comes to lifting.  That, and I'm a wuss and don't appreciate the uncomfortable burn in my muscles it requires to make weight lifting worthwhile.  But I can get on the stair climber or the elliptical, put in my ear phones, and zone out for half an hour.

So we've recommitted ourselves to going to the gym.  This time we've broken it down into baby goals. Goal #1 - work out three times a week.  So far, so good.  Goal #2 - stick to working out for longer than two weeks. (haha)

I have other motivations for working out right now.  Next weekend, I'll be heading up to Rainier with the gang for a 4-day backpacking trip, and I don't want to embarrass myself.  I'm a pretty good little hiker though.  I've gone on backpacking trips with Nate before, worried that I was completely out of shape, but still managing to do 15 mile hikes fairly easily.  I just don't want to be at the back of the group the entire time, gasping for air, begging for rest breaks.

So the stair climber is my new best friend for the next week.  After the trip, we'll see.  School will have started, and we've planned to head to the gym right after work.  Hopefully this time, we'll motivate each other a little better and the new routine will stick.