Leanne's Life

I’ve been very busy the past month creating my new workout room in my home. My gym closed down last November with no notice. One morning I went to workout and the doors were locked with a sign stating they were closed for repairs. Then a week later I received a phone call that they indeed were permanently closed. This was a big loss for me. This was a boutique gym that was easy to get to, only 2 miles from my home and a place where everyone was familiar and comfortable with each other. It had every strength machine you could want and plenty of cardio equipment. For goodness sakes, even Tiger Woods worked out there. OK, maybe that’s not such a good endorsement. LOL.
Anyway, the club didn’t leave us high and dry. They worked out an arrangement with the YMCA to transfer all our memberships there. I was ecstatic about this and immediately went to the nearest Y to sign up. Did I mention that in October before they closed I had just renewed for an entire year? This news meant I have a year’s membership at the Y! While as exciting as this sounds, it turned out to not be so great. The closet YMCA is 6.5 miles from home, 3 times as far as the old gym. With the extra miles and stoplights to get there it would have added an additional 30 minutes in the morning to go there (round trip). Even worse, the Y was constantly packed with people at all hours of the day. This place was very popular. And I was also surprised to see how much less fitness equipment they had. The Y is great for families – it offers so much for them. Plus it has great amenities that I would probably never use. After about 6 or 7 visits to the Y, I gave up. All I want is a true hard-core gym with enough equipment that I don’t have to wait in line to workout.

So, after gaining a few pounds back I determined I needed to get things under control. I have a room in my house that is totally under-used. I call it my piano room. It also served as Mikita’s playpen when she was a puppy. I’ve turned this extra room into my new home gym. This is what I’ve been spending the past few weeks working on:

It has a treadmill, ab crunch machine, 5# 10# and 20# weights. A bench to do flies and chest press. A step machine. A TV and stereo. And of course, my piano should I just get the urge to sit down and belt out a tune or two.

I worked hard, too, to make it appealing to me to go in there. I’ve decorated it with a black and white theme. I got the beautiful rug from Overstock.com at a great price with $2.50 shipping. It’s one of the thick rugs, not the cheap kind you see at discount stores. I found the gorgeous curtains at an outlet store near the Florida Mall. And the photos on the wall above the bench are pictures of the ocean in Cozumel, taken during our 7-night cruise on the Disney Magic last December.

How’s it going so far? It has only been fully put together for about a month but I’ve been faithful. I miss the variety of equipment found at a normal gym, but this is serving a good purpose. It’s really all about commitment. The mirror is my motivator.

April, 2010

A Fine Line

It’s “Working Out”