So, I finally made it back to the gym today, for the first time in several weeks. So did everyone else who has ever had a membership to my gym. Obviously, many people made a New Year's resolution to get back into shape. The people there could be divided into several categories: 1) gym regulars (who were probably more than a little annoyed at the upsurge in exercisers), 2) gym semi-regulars who had fallen off the wagon, so to speak, and were rededicating themselves to the cause (I consider myself to be in this category), 3) people who don't regularly work out but have finally decided that it's time, either because of age, weight, or lifestyle, and 4) people who should have started working out waaaaay before now (I was once in that category, by the way).

Our gym has put in some more machines, both resistance and cardio. That means they can pack even more people into the gym at one time. Fabulous. I wasn't thrilled with the machine I got stuck on (it's one I usually avoid because it grinds a bit), but it gave me a good vantage point to view the people around me. Most of the people around me weren't very interesting, but there were a few fun ones to keep me entertained. The girl next to me was one of those wonderful Southern sorority girls who are size two and feel they must lose five pounds so they won't look like cows. Ick. She was kind of funny, though, because she couldn't figure out how to work the stair climber. She wasn't sure how to get it started (um, you step on it and keep stepping, and it handles the rest, unless you want to get fancy). Then, she lasted about two minutes before announcing loudly enough for me to hear through Queensryche's "Revolution Calling" that she was "so out-of-shape" and "couldn't possibly go any farther". Whatever. The lady two rows in front of me was a hoot, too. She obviously had received a new mp3 player for Christmas, and between trying to work the mp3 player and trying to work the treadmill, she almost killed herself. First, she dropped the mp3 player, and it shot off the end of the treadmill and hit the floor. She awkwardly stepped off the treadmill and picked up the mp3 player, but then in her attempt to get back on the moving treadmill, she got hung up, fell sideways, and narrowly caught herself before she hit her head on the handlebar at the front. I was laughing so hard I almost fell off my elliptical machine, which would have made the whole thing even funnier to the people around me. I was content to just laugh at her, and not make myself part of the entertainment.

But this is the first step back on the path to 150 lbs, from which I have strayed so often in the past few months. Hopefully I will find it easier to stay on. We'll see...