It feels like forever ago already, but less then two months ago I was on a trial at fernwood fitness. A friend of mine put the offer of a months free pass out into the world of Facebook… And even though I didn’t think I was probably one of the friends she had in mind when she put it up, I expressed my interest. The truth was I had always been a little curious about whether or not I would like the gym… Whether or not I would get much out of it… Or whether or not the reasons I had for not pursuing it earlier were true. Yet here I was with a Facebook message that said the 30day pass was mine… Enjoy. Now even though the trial finished in February and I haven’t continued at the gym, I did learn a thing or two from the experience…

1. It doesn’t matter where you are or what you can do, people will make assumptions and judgements based on what they see first…
This was probably the low light of my experience, but thankfully it was just a couple of people… just because I am bigger than you think I should be doesn’t mean I am lying about my exercise routine, my weight and what I do… I do exercise regularly, I know my weight and height… if you want it and I am a dietitian whether you like it or not…

2.  I could get used to the gym routine…
I have to admit I really started to get into the grove of squeezing it in around everything else, mostly first thing in the morning, but every now and again before or after something in the evening…

3. I am stronger than I thought…
On my weights intro session I had to use a piece of equipment called the ‘captain’s chair’… I am not really sure if that’s the real name for it… but that;s all I got… Anyway, it required me to lift my legs up while supporting the rest of my body weight with my arms and back… when I looked at it my initial thought was ‘no way… I haven’t been able to lift my own body weight with my arms since primary school and even then I was rubbish at it’. But feeling the need to prove myself I gave it a go and surprised my self… sure I wasn’t amazing but I could do it… more than once… and even if my trainer wasn’t… I was impressed.

4. ‘Free’ is a good motivator…
Because I had the 30day trial and I had already decided I probably wasn’t going to pay to continue I wanted to get as much out of the trial as I could… that meant cramming in session after session, all with the motivation ‘it’s free so you may as well make the most of it’. I have to admit the time limit also helped as I already knew it wouldn’t last forever… all I needed it to do was to kick me into gear again… get my exercise for 2013 rolling… and it worked… I think the fact that it was free made it feel like it a challenge and an opportunity… a gift that I could take and use or waste and I am glad I used it.

So there you go… my month at the gym… worth it, even with the good, the bad and the ugly.