I Love Cookies

The last few days have been a major fail on the healthy food front.

The past several weeks there has been intermittent treating, but there has also been a conscientious effort to maintain control and substitute awesome things like cookies with less awesome but more healthy things like fruits and yoghurt.

And then the weekend hit.

My boyfriend and I finally had a housewarming party for our new apartment. We wanted to show it off to all our friends, finally. Clearly this was going to be a drinking party. Fail number one for me. Were there smart choices when it came to liquor? No. Anything was game. Instead of restricting myself to a couple of glasses of wine (honestly it would have just been a challenge to fit an entire bottle of wine into a couple glasses) or vodka soda, I grabbed anything and everything that was available to mix with my vodka. Mostly really sugary things like energy drinks and cranberry cocktail.

Bad. Very bad.

And I haven't even told you about the cookies and the cupcakes.

The first time we had a party and made cupcakes they were a huge hit. And so, ever since that first party, there have been cupcakes. People request that there be cupcakes before committing to the event. So cupcakes were made. And cupcakes were eaten during preparation. I also decided to make about 5 dozen cookies.

Well along with all the other appies that we made and the chips and veggies that were out, a lot of cookies and cupcakes were left. On the Sunday when I was hungover I decided that since the cookies were within reach, they would be excellent as a breakfast choice.

I went to the gym on Monday but as you know today is Thursday and I haven't gone back yet. After this confession, I think I have definitely shamed myself into going for a visit.

But I would so love a cookie right now!

Muli-tasking

I'm a multi-tasker in all things. I can't even just watch TV most of the time, I need something else to do, whether its list-writing, texting, reading during commercials (when watching non-PVR'd programming). I can't help it.

So asking me to go to the gym and just work out is like asking Lindsay Lohan to sober up- its probably not going to happen.

Luckily my gym has thought to add individual TVs to all of their cardio equipment. You would think that that would be enough for me to stay occupied. And to be fair, I do tend to plan my workouts around what I could be watching while I'm there. I feel less guilty watching Days of our Lives when I'm sweating on the treadmill too.

But even individualized television viewing isn't enough for me. Commercials remember? I wasn't a huge fan of commercials before we got the PVR but now that we have effectively erased them from our lives I really can't stand them. Since Days (those of us that watch all the time can just call it Days) tends to have a lot of commercials to build anticipation, I've started to bring books or magazines to the gym with me.

Yup, I'm that girl. I stroll into the gym with a book/magazine, headphones, keys, membership card, and a cell phone.

(Don't worry, I never use the phone in the gym. Its a security thing my boyfriend insists on when I leave the house)

If you are a gym frequenter you will probably guess that I'm not much for the weight machines and you would be right. I refuse to keep my gym "equipment" in a gym locker because I used to work in a gym and there's a good chance it will get stolen. And I can't transport all my stuff with me to each machine. That would be ridiculous.

Almost as ridiculous as trying to read an article in Vogue about Fashion Week in Pakistan while jiggling about on the elliptical.

It just can't be helped. I need to multi-task. But one day, cardio alone just isn't going to cut it. And where does that leave me?

Girl Power

I go to a women only gym. When I do go that is. Actually to be honest I have been going about 4 times a week for 3 weeks now. Four weeks? I should be keeping better track.

Point is, I go to a women only gym.

Its not that I have anything against men. I just don't want to work out with them. Mostly I don't want to work out with the kinds of women that put on full make up to go to the gym to work out with those men.

I never really got the concept of a women only gym until I started working at one. I thought it was highly ironic that they hired me in the first place, since my experience up until that point (I was 20) was that gyms only hired super fit staff. I was not (and am not) super fit. But they hired me and that was the first glimpse I got into this completely foreign (at the time) concept of a women only gym.

Five years later and I don't think I will ever go back to a co-ed gym.

I'm a bigger girl and working out with skinny girls isn't particularly motivating. They are all running on the treadmill barely breaking a sweat while I'm running on the treadmill praying I don't fall off the end and embarrass myself. Women only gyms mean all shapes and sizes of women at all different levels of fitness.

For me this inspires me with a healthy dose of competition.

If I see an old woman on the heavy side busting her ass on the elliptical beside me, you better believe that I'm going to try and work out longer and harder than her. Sure, I will probably fail because those old woman may look weak but if they are gym rats in their 70s, they can kick your ass. But for 10 minutes I'm giving it my all and that results in a better work out for me.

At a women only gym I don't feel like I'm being judged by other patrons. I'm sure that this is probably true of a co-ed gym as well, I'm sure that they are too busy with their own work outs to have any energy to spare on mine. But I'm a judgey person. I will totally judge strangers on their work outs. At a co-ed gym my inner monologue would probably be really catty to make up for my low self-esteem sweating beside glowing Barbie. But at my gym my inner monologue is much more positive and cheerleader-esque. I find myself fist pumping for the heavy girl running on a treadmill, or lifting weights, inspired by the older woman running for 20 minutes beside me.

I belong in a women's only gym. And that's a great feeling when you can't feel your legs.