In The Beginning...

I've been going to the gym for two days now. Two whole days! I'm not too sore, but I imagine that is not very far down the road.

So far, I'm really just learning about the equipment and how to use it. First stop was the cardio room. Lots of bikes and treadmills and banks of TV monitors with the sound turned down and closed captioning turned on, and really bad pop music thumping out of the stereo. Note to self: here is a case for owning an MP3 player....

I'm very comfortable on the bikes - hell, I wasn't a "serious" biker in the past, but I knew my way around one and used mine constantly. It was my primary means of transportation for years and my primary form of exercise for years beyond that. And then the old green monster (my bicycle, that is) was snatched from my back porch and subsequently dumped, wheels bent and broken, in my back yard only a week later - but that's a different story. Nevertheless, I can do a bike with little instruction. Not really used to an electronic control panel on a bike - I did need someone to tell me what buttons to push for a "personalized" riding experience. Also necessary for recording my workout....

Okay. There's something worth mentioning - the recording of the workout. I guess I should have known that one records statistics about the events of the workout, that is, the type of equipment used, the weight and even its distribution, the number of sets and the number of reps within a set. DAMN! I'm beginning to use real gym words! Huuuuaaaah! Right now, I just have an 8.5 x 11 inch piece of red paper on file at the gym with the information on it. I'm thinking that a little notebook might be a good idea - a real journal of my training....hmmmm....

My "Quick Start" trainer, one provided by the gym, had me working in the weight room rather than in the "circuit training" room. I think that's where I really want to be. Now, I have this fat that I will be getting rid of, but my primary goal is to gain muscle mass in some key areas. Learning the different machines will be interesting. I couldn't name any of them right now, but I know they all have names like Ted, and Bruce and Kyle and Dexter. Knowing their names and being able to demonstrate their proper use: there is a subgoal.

If I have a problem with any of this right now it's the diet. Okay - I love food. I can cook and I like to eat what I cook. I like exotic things. I like fat, and carbs. I like cheese and nuts and pizza. I like candy! Plus, I like eating whenever I'm hungry, and sometimes that means constantly nibbling, sometimes that means going for long periods without a meal. Now I've got this, this...diet that I'm supposed to follow. I'm supposed to count calories and protein, carb and fat breakdowns. I'm supposed to eat 6 meals a day. I'm supposed to eat low fat cottage cheese and drink skim milk. Lite wheat bread. LITE! not Light....! 1 oz. of pretzels is now considered a course! I look at this list of things to eat and I am bored silly! So there is another thing to tackle: coming up with a menu that is similar in calories, carbs, proteins and fats but is actually tasty.

Okay. So, that's been the goal of diet gurus down through the ages. Maybe it just takes a fresh and motivated set of eyes to look at this problem.

I could be embarrassed to state this, but here it is: the heaviest weight on any of the machines that I used was 50 lbs. I'm a beginner - okay? It doesn't seem like much - hell - it isn't much. But I have to work up to this. I need to condition my muscles. Get them used to the idea that I'm going to be asking them to do more and more in the months to come.

This just demonstrates that this new world that I'm entering requires some real study. There is a new language, there is a new physical landscape with a different topography. A different set of facts and figures are important, there is a different criterion for establishing value....