A Satisfactory Soreness

So last night after work I headed to the gym again, but this time not for a date with the dreaded treadmill. For the first time in the over two years I’ve belonged to my gym, I finally tried a class. What took me so long, right? I’d say probably fear and obstinacy. I loved taking classes (Body Pump!) at my gym back home and I was afraid and maybe even determined that no classes here would measure up.

For those of you wondering, I go to Boom Fitness on the Upper East Side. Boom is a small chain with only two locations, but I got a great deal on my membership with them when I signed up through GlobalFit (highly recommend). I think I pay about $54 a month – which in NYC is a pretty decent deal. And the gym is very nice – everything you need and very clean.

So last night I tried a class the instructor called “Power Sculpting” and the schedule called “Ripped.” Regardless of the actual name, it kicked my butt. I can’t even name all the exercises we did, but it was essentially a circuit class. We did lunges, squats, lifting, push-up, etc. each for one minute and then moved on to the next. These were some complicated moves too – not just your basic lunge. The instructor varied everything and made it into kind of a choreographed movement.

The Result: I am super sore today. I was even sore when I left the gym last night. I’m heading back to the gym tonight to try another class called “Urban Rebounding.” This class looks really fun – it’s done all on a mini trampoline!

What is your favorite class at the gym? Did you jump right into classes at your gym or did it take you a little while?

Here are some of my new-class tips:

• Strike up a conversation with someone else in the class before it starts – ask them if they take this class a lot, do they like it, what’s their favorite part? When I did this, I found another woman who was also a newbie and felt less alone in my newness.
• Introduce yourself to the instructor – make sure he/she knows you’re new. If the instructor doesn’t know you’re new, he/she will proceed full speed ahead and you may get lost. With newbies, instructors tend to help out and coach a little more.
• Ask questions – ask them before, during and after the class. If you’re not sure you’re doing an exercise correctly, ask the instructor. Better that than risking injury.
• Don’t be afraid to scale back – if you’re just learning the exercises and routine, you want to be sure you’re doing them correctly, rather than worrying about keeping speed with everyone else. Don’t rush it – learn it right or even do the modified version first.
• Be prepared to be sore – new exercises will work different muscles than you’re used to. Expect that you will be sore the next day and feel gratified in knowing you’re challenging your body and reaching a new level of fitness.

After the gym, I came home and threw together an easy dinner. This idea actually came from my co-worker Reena. I recently bought some of Amy’s Butternut Squash Soup and Reena suggested adding some cheese to it to thicken it up and make it a sauce. That’s just what I did:

I added about 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese to it and let it sit for a while to thicken. Then poured it over some multi-grain pasta. I thought it was very good. The hubby winced when I told him it was butternut squash and told me he doesn’t like squash. I said it didn’t taste “squashy” and he should try it. He did so, reluctantly, and gave it “an okay.” Baby steps.

What do you think I had for dessert?

That was way too easy. The pumpkin bread is coming to an end though. It lasted us a while – thanks Mom!

The rest of the night was filled with reading (David Copperfield) and helping prep the hubby for some work-related things.

This morning’s breakfast was oatmeal with raisins, a teaspoon of agave, dollop of apple butter and flax seed. It was a yummy combo.

I’m happy that last night I finally brought home and cleaned my work water bottle. It was getting a little funky and now it’s nice and clean. I use a water bottle from my old office that was a give-a-way. It is BPA-free, but I’m considering making the switch to Stainless Steel. There just seems to be too many unknowns out there about what plastic is and is not safe. So now I’m looking for recommendations!

What water bottle do you use and/or recommend?

For lunch I had some leftover pasta from last night and Greek yogurt with oats.

Snacks for later this afternoon will include an apple and triscuits with laughing cow original swiss flavor cheese.

And lastly, some great blogger news – a big congratulations to Tina from Carrots ‘N’ Cake on her book deal! Tina and I went to college together and hers is the VERY FIRST blog I ever read/followed. If you haven’t checked it out (but come on, who hasn’t?!), you should! Her blog actually inspired me to start my blog. Her success is extremely well-deserved!