I didn't adhere to my planned lunch today. I sort of forgot that with a visitor it's much more customary to go and share a meal together so we did that and I showed her around the centre. We ate at Nandos and I did reasonably well with my choices I think.
After she left to beat the traffic back to the north west of the city, I was able to sit in with Ops Man J and learn something new myself. It's an expenditure approval process the office staff don't often get involved in but I wanted to learn it as part of my development this year. I saw the computer half of the process today and later on in the year I'll get to see the bits that happen beforehand.
After work I headed straight down to Curves Blackburn to see Janet for my free tour and info session (and of course the obligatory sales pitch). I found the building easily enough but it took me a little while to find my way in. It is 8A Blackburn Road but you actually enter it from Railway Road. I went into the wrong building and up the wrong stairs at first!
Janet talked me through the 'Curves Complete' program, which is an exercise and weight management package in one. There are two problems I find with that. One, it's payment up front for 12 weeks and I just don't have that much cash to splash right now. Two, I feel like I've been taking pretty good care of my eating and planning my meals on my own so far. I don't want to change my eating and my exercise all at once. I think I would rather continue learning what works for me with food on my own.
So that brings me to just joining the gym. The circuit is geared for strength training, which is what I feel I am ready to introduce. They have machines designed specifically for women and you do 30 seconds hard on a machine, then 30 seconds on the 'recovery pad' - a bouncy, running on the spot thing, then 30 seconds on the next machine etc. You warm up, do the circuit twice (8 machines, 8 recoveries) and then stretch and warm down. The whole workout takes 30 minutes so given that it's so close to work, it really wouldn't take much longer than my 40 minutes on the cross trainer at home
If I join by Sunday, I get a discounted joining fee, and one month free membership, then it's $59 per month for 12 months. The cancellation is 30 days notice and penalty of $10 per month of unused membership, capped at $50. At that price, if I go three nights a week (I'm thinking Monday to Wednesday) then each visit is around $4.53. Spending that much extra per month would be a little bit of stretch, but I think I can manage it.
Janet took all my measurements in readiness. I weighed in at 113.6kg including all my clothes and a belly still full of lunch. She also got me to hold a little machine that apparently sends a pulse through you or some such and then tells them how much of you is fat. Not sure how it all works but it reported that I am nearly half fat, 46.7%. Not surprising really but fortunately that is not as scary as it sounds; as a woman I should be about 30% so it's not like I have to get to zero!
The whole session was a bit mentally exhausting, it took a whole hour and Janet talks a mile a minute (though I did get a LOT of information in that hour).
When I got home I heated up dinner, ate and then called my Aunty K. I knew she had done Contours which is a similar concept so I wanted to pick her brain. My call turned out to be fortuitous as she was on her lonesome. All four boys out simultaneously! It was really lovely to catch up for an hour and of course we discussed much more than the gym question but she did say that she had really enjoyed her time there which made me feel quite positive about it.
So... what do you all think? Do I join or not?
I'm actively asking for opinions people, don't hold back!
I'm actively asking for opinions people, don't hold back!
Today's food and exercise were:
- Breakfast was toasted banana bread with yoghurt, honey, slivered almonds and pumpkin seeds. This is such a delicious breakfast, I cannot stress that enough. Bertie, I love you to bits for filling my freezer with individually wrapped slices of this manna from oven.
- Morning snack was 250g of fresh strawberries. I'm liking this as a snack because I can graze on it without getting the guilts.
- Lunch was a Nando's Classic Chicken Wrap with mayo (ie. normal) and Lemon & Herb basting, a 390ml Coke Zero and a side salad, to which I added the 15ml Trio of Bell Peppers dressing. I wasn't going to put the dressing on but it was one of those fresh but pre-made salads that has been a little while in the fridge and I just can't eat dry lettuce.
- Dinner was homemade pumpkin soup and a buttered grainy bread roll.
- Exercise was 40 minutes on the cross trainer and... and... Oz and Willow... well... I may have teared up a little at the end there.
Jess
You know me - I'm pro gym! I'd be thinking what other facilities they have though - I always found gyms a great fitness kick because there's often a lot of choice so if you don't feel like doing weights or going to a particular class you can try something else. And, when you spend money on it it motivates you to go. AND, it's only a matter of time before you run out of Buffy and/or get bored of the cross trainer. And, it's not like you lose anything, because once you get into the swing of it you can be listening to music, podcasts or watching episodes of stuff. I vote join and I think you'll love it xx
ReplyDeleteMt friend did Curves for ages but this year changed to a regular gym. Curves hours are a bit weird if you need to change your routine for whatever reason (and Jacquie more than once got there for a 6am start to find the girl opening had slept in!) Also it got a bit boring. You really need a good mix of cardio and strength. I love the group fitness classes. They push you harder than you push yourself! I use a Leisure Centre run by the local council so it is very cheap by gym standards and has to bonus of a pool as well if you want to use it to mix things up. My membership is about $60 a month and I get all classes, gym room and pool included and they wrote a program for me at the start designed on my fitness and goals. I would probably look around a bit more before you commit to anywhere. Good Luck.
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