exercise regularly

I always used the Precor elliptical at my former school which helped me lose 13 pounds and feel better than I ever felt before, but my current school only has 2 machines in the whole gym - the other ellipticals are weird off-brands that are less comfortable and burn fewer calories. But the 2 machines are always occupied.

Today I went during the middle of the day and nabbed one of the two machines and had my first satisfying gym cardio workout all year. And I can’t wait to go back! I can’t believe what a huge difference it makes to have “my” brand back.

Exercise is a habit that I used to have, but after moving I need to start again to return to the habit.

Last week I typed up a sheet of weight-lifting from the book New Rules of Lifting for Women, scheduled 8 workouts for 3 days a week spread over 3 weeks. I went as scheduled the first two times and FELT SO GOOD! And then I was tired and down and missed this Monday. I want to go today as scheduled because I know that I will feel good once I go. In order to do that, I need to put on my shoes and jacket, get into my car, and go. I want to. I really want to. And I will feel so good once I go.

I was doing so well at the daily exercise: I was biking an average of 7 miles a day, sometimes more, since my daily commute is 7.5 miles and I biked an average of every other day, sometimes every day. I also started lifting weights following the exercises in Strong Women Stay Slim.

Now I am not allowed to sweat for about a week, maybe two, because I had finger surgery and they’re afraid sweat will seep into the wound and give me an infection. It makes sense, but now I feel like I’ve backtracked.

I know that I’ll be JUST FINE in a week,but in the meantime I feel depressed and listless and have a hard time getting moving. Ironically, given how restless I feel.

The magazines always say “go with a friend” as an exercising tip, and it seemed like a hard thing to get a friend to go. Recently I realized that a friend lives very close to my gym and he’s extremely agreeable, so we’ve been going every day now for a week, and it’s actually really motivating to know that I have to be there at a certain time, and can’t put it off.

There might even be more of a story there because this guy is cute and smart and wonderful (and inexplicably perpetually single), and he’s had a puppy dog crush on me for about five years. We’re very different religions, and I want to marry someone of my religion which is a pretty big commitment for someone to take on, but he’s otherwise really good for me.