Start as you mean to go on

I finally did it! Following some not-so-gentle persuasion from Luca, I dragged my increasingly-expansive ass to the gym last night, and to be honest, it wasn't nearly as traumatic as I had expected it to be. The worst part was the day before yesterday, when I stopped by to make sure that a) I'm still a member, and b) the gym is still a gym and not a Chinese restaurant. Feeling slightly disappointed that it was still a gym, I walked in with my head held high and innocently asked the stick insect behind the desk if she could confirm when my membership was due to expire. "We haven't seen you for a while, have we?" was her response. Er, no. "About six months it appears" she said, looking into her evil computer. At this point, she was joined by stick insect number two, standing behind, who obviously saw an opportunity and jumped in with "Six months?! Honey, you have to come and see us more often!", complete with fake smile. It should have been enough to make me run a mile (might do me some good!), but actually these shock tactics really gave me some impetus to get in shape - if only so I can kick their stick insect asses at some point in the near future. And so, I returned yesterday.

The thing about me is I'm an all-or-nothing person. Either I go to the gym religiously every night for a month and spend two hours practically killing myself on the cross-trainer, or I don't go at all for six months. Having forced myself back onto the wagon, I started to remember all the reasons why it's actually a good idea to work out. Apart from the obvious health and weight loss benefits, you get to spend an hour in your own head, with no phone (I choose to lock mine away), no email and no TV (unless you count the sports channel on the big screen, which I don't). I planned the weekend, decided what to make for dinner, made a mental list of what to buy in the sales, listened to people gossiping around me, and tried to remember what happened in the last episode of Desperate Housewives, which together with a glass of red, became my post-gym reward. I even spent about 10 minutes while I was stretching not thinking about anything at all - bliss! So, not only will I be fully equipped to kick stick insects' asses, but with a little bit of effort over the next few months, I hope to be organised, have a carefully thought-out wardrobe, be fully informed about who's doing what with whom at the gym, and be onto series 4. I reckon it's a pretty good start.