I've Tried Nothing, and I'm All Out of Ideas!

I titled this blog thusly, because I'm self-aware enough to know that what you are about to read is a bunch of excuses. They do feel insurmountable to me, however, so I'd love some input as to overcome them.

I got rid of my gym membership, because of COVID. I'm not going back to that gym, even though I initially intended to. It's unfortunate, because it's close enough to walk, and it's by a grocery store I go to, but they annoy me. The gym was not clean before COVID. There would be the same gum stuck in the electronics holders for months, there was dust all over everything, and the cleaning crew was a guy whose arm was in a brace for over a year, so he had one arm to "clean" with.

When I went in to cancel originally, they said, well, you can just put a hold on your account, and then you can keep your current membership prices. They told me how they now charge an annual fee on top of the monthly fee, and that I'd be able to avoid that. I said okay, because yes, I did intend to return after COVID. Then, they charged me in December some weird amount. That ticked me off, so I went back in and told them I wanted to cancel, because I got charged this whatever charge.

The girl at the desk told me it was a fee for all the extra cleaning they have to do for COVID. Ugh, please. They obviously weren't using the membership fees to clean before, so they should have had plenty to clean for COVID, and they shouldn't be charging people who aren't using the gym during COVID. I said, "Well, I put my account on hold, and I didn't do that so I could continue to get charged, so now I want to cancel," and she gave me the paperwork.

About ten minutes later, I got a call from a manager, maybe? And he said, "They told me you came in to try to cancel."

I told him, "I didn't try to cancel. I succeeded." Then he gave me the same spiel about the annual fee and said he would waive the COVID fee if I stayed on, and I said, "I'm just going to take the gamble that you are going to have to waive that fee to get members in the future. You know that Planet Fitness just opened up down the road." And he said he wouldn't count on that, and I said, "Well, that's why it's a gamble."

But YEAH, a Planet Fitness just opened up down the road, in the same shopping center as another grocery store I go to, so I may not be able to walk, but it's not that inconvenient, and it's $10 a month. I don't pay enough attention to my finances, so I told my husband, "That's, like a third of the membership fees of Gold's" and he said, "No, it's not." And I said, "Isn't Gold's $30 a month, each?" And he said, "No, it is $30, but they charge every two weeks." So I was paying $60 a month for that dirty, gross gym where gum would be stuck on the ellipticals for weeks or months at a time, AND they charged an additional COVID cleaning fee??? Yeah, no.

Now, I don't know what to do to work out. Not that I'm proud of this, since it probably explains part of why I got so da(r)n fat in the first place, but there aren't many physical activities I enjoy. I've tried taking up running, but I hated it. I am afraid of cycling, of falling off, and I'm so short, adult bikes are still too big for me on their lowest seat height, and I can't dismount well. Swimming grosses me out, and it requires access to a pool. Team sports are out because of COVID, otherwise, I'd consider kickball or field hockey, but is that sufficient, really? It's better than nothing, which is what I'm currently doing, but again, COVID.

I spent a few months working my way through Richard Simmons's YouTube channel while my husband was dropping the boy off at daycare. Yes, the man has a YouTube channel! And he is delightful! I totally get why he was so popular in the late 80s and early 90s. He's a treasure, and I will keep doing them once he goes back to daycare next week. But that's 20-25 minutes a few times a week. Again, better than nothing, but I feel like I should be doing more.

I miss the gym. I like doing the elliptical while jamming to my tunes, and I like lifting weights. But I don't have space to put an elliptical in my house, and I don't want one of those flimsy numbers that are for personal use. As for weight lifting at home, I have a couple dumbbells, and I looked into getting a barbell and some plates, but they are EXPENSIVE. Have they always been this expensive? It's a huge investment, and will it be worth it after the pandemic is over?

So I feel a little lost. I know I should be exercising more. When it's safe, I'll go to Planet Fitness. I know it's not an amazing gym, but I'm not an amazing athlete, so what it has suits my purposes. I just wish I had more drive to do more right now. I try tell myself that the diet is so much more important, that it's "80% diet, 20% exercise," but after all the other excuses, this one feels worse. Maybe I should be easier on myself during this time, but being easy on myself has been really bad, and I'm in bad shape.