My Gradual Ascension to Gym Rat

I am a Gold’s Gym girl. I’ve been a member of the club since 2003. To say that I didn’t work out much before I joined would be an understatement. I did no physical activity at all. My sister is the one who got me into the gym, then named Lifestyles 2000 before Gold’s took it over. She was doing their power yoga class every Saturday and invited me to come along one weekend and told me to bring my checkbook. I had no intention of joining. I had weighed the same plus or minus a couple pounds since I was in high school and I was 19 at the time. Plus I was eating terribly and smoking regularly, yuck! I went with her, loved the class and signed up for my first gym membership and started something I had no idea I would eventually love so much. For the first 6 months I had my membership I did nothing with it but my Saturday yoga class. I was so intimidated by the gym and how little I knew about it I wouldn’t even use the restroom in the locker room. Heaven forbid everyone knew what a fraud I was. I paid $25 a month to do 4 yoga classes. Finally someone took me under his wing and showed me a little more about what could be done in the other 2 levels of the gym where all this foreign equipment was. I worked with Nick and he was a one time body builder/recovering addict trying to get himself back into shape. He taught me about what to eat, how to lift weights, how a body responds to what you do to it and what you put in it. At this point I was hooked. I made small adjustments to my eating habits and cut soda completely out of my diet. Instead of grabbing a coke I had water. Every time I was thirsty for something I drank water, until I couldn’t imagine a day without it. I also found it to be an oxy moron to be smoking immediately after an hour of heart pumping cardio. That had to go also. Shortly after my new lease on life Nick decided he was still battling his demons and stood me up for a workout. I never saw him again. Luckily for me I was comfortable enough in my gym to keep going on my own. Since then I’ve done yoga, spinning, Zumba, weight training and yes, even cardio. I’ve dieted and researched and worked out with a trainer. Suffice it to say I’m an all in kind of girl and health and fitness are no exception. So why am I a Gold’s Girl? It’s been my home away from home. No matter which one I go to I feel the same way. I can put my music on, zone out, and do something good for my body. I don’t have to do anything but that.

-Whitney