LESS than one month ago, I joined the YMCA thinking it would be the best thing for me. The Y is literally across the street from where I live, and believe it or not, I have joined it three times and have left it three times. I haven't ever stayed longer than three months either. There is a reason. There is always a really good reason, and this time it was the fact that the new older machines that they put in are really not doing well with my muscle definition; I can get the same results from what I do at home. I just can't see myself using the machines if they're not going to work.
Most everyone reading this is probably thinking "You gave it less than a month!", and you would be correct. I really should give it longer, but my right knee is not the best, it's chronically injured from when I was a kid or in my late teens anyway. I can't push it no matter how hard I want to. The machines aren't set up with cables they are weight driven, and there really isn't a way to make the exercise work for me using less weight and more reps. I can do that at home with my resistance belts and squats.
The other machine I was using to sculpt my body was the pec-fly and the arm machine that I really loved, except it was always in need of repair. They just bought these machines too, but they are older machines and replaced the good ones they had before. The problem is that the Y across the street from me caters to older people really, and they let the really good machines go to another facility where younger and stronger people are. If no one really uses the arm machine at this Y it's not important to them to have it fixed. I used it, but I'm one person. I may go in 2 or 3 times a week, and that's not enough for them to send someone out to fix it. When several machines are broken or need repair they'll send for someone. I'm not dealing with that.
I can do my leg work out on the vibration machine doing squats, and I can lift 10-15 pound bars at the same time and get a near full-body workout. I just need to do it. If I was spending 30 minutes at a time 3x a week at the Y I need to do that here, and so that's the new plan. I have hand weights (5#, 8#, and 10#) that I use when I watch videos on YouTube and I have the pilates ball that I both sit on and balance/bounce and I use it to do sit-ups and/or pushups but I really like the pushups on the wall now. I do planks too, but the dog tends to giggle and I get to where I want to punch her in the throat. No one should ever feel that way about their dog! I need to start doing the planks in my room and NOT inviting her to watch or participate. She is my Doga partner.
I do Doga (Yoga with the Dog) at least 3x a week, and it's a great stretch and plank time. It really is, and I know I am walking enough. I tend to do about 5 miles a day, but lately, I've been keeping it around 3 miles since I spoke with a professional trainer about the dangers of overstepping and ending up getting heavier. The BHB that I use is supposed to be helping with that too, as it allows my body to use fat for energy rather than carbs or sugar. The BHB or beta-hydroxybutyrate is naturally made by the body but I do add some (1/2 tsp) every day to a shake or drink, to help get all the stubborn fat out from behind the organs. I think it's working but I won't really know until around November. I hate waiting. I am one of those who wants results NOW. It doesn't work that way.
The Y is a great choice for those patrons who go and just walk and talk, or maybe use the machines that are working. I needed them all to work, and I didn't want to have to keep asking when they would be repaired. I loved that place, and I think I would still use it if I could count on the machines being helpful, but I need cable-based machines, not the dead-weight push type. If I ever get around to buying myself a house I think I'll get a 3 bedroom house so I can have a little Box-Flex room. Those are the types of resistance machines that work for me best.
Speaking of Flip-Flopping! I've decided to stay in America rather than move to Scotland or even spend 1/2 of my time there. I just can't get over the inconveniences I face when I'm there. I start throwing mini-tantrums over simple things and I don't want anyone to think I'm THAT AMERICAN so I keep it bottled up a bit. Then I get mad at something else being so dad-gum backward or out of date, and I just blow it. I don't want that for myself or anyone else. It's not fair. They don't have screens on their windows, I need to just live with that. I can't live with it, but I should. There really isn't good water pressure (anywhere) to flush the toilets, wash my hands, take a shower, run a bath, do the dishes, or really do anything other than brushing my teeth. It doesn't matter where I go in that country, I don't have a satisfactory experience with the use of a faucet or tap! I need to get over it, but I can't. So I think I'll just stay home. I'll go back, yes, of course, but I won't stay long. I can't.
Some of the things I flip out about, which I know is just really dumb, but I can't change who I am in a day, is/are: No A/C and spotty heating. No condiments on the table or really in sight, I have to ask for it, and when I did I got an old bottle that looked like it hadn't been cleaned; sorry, I have to tell the truth. There was (is) no ice in the drinks, but again, it's OK as long as the water is cooler, but it wasn't. I'm still OK with it, but not really. I say I'm OK with it, but I'm not. I hate, and I do mean HATE waiting at the bus stop to be taken anywhere because in Edinburgh the buses stop literally every minute or less and I just end up walking where I'm going no matter what the weather is. This is stupid, and I know it is really stupid, but I can't stand the tourists!! I feel like I need to go twenty to thirty miles from wherever I am so I don't run into someone from America asking me where I'm from, and then they want to tell me all about themselves, their family, why they are in Scotland, and all the DNA test(s) results. OK. NO!
At least if I'm staying in, living in Oklahoma I don't have to be stalked at the bus stop because I don't stand at one. I don't have to be accosted at the checkout stand because I was stupid enough to wear an OU hoodie. We all wear OU hoodies in Oklahoma! No one asks me where I'm from. No one asks me who I root for. No one asks me if I'm married, have kids, what I do for a living, how long I'm staying in the area, where I'm staying, or if I've tried the HAGGIS. I'm not really staying in Oklahoma, and not going to Scotland for those reasons, but those things do happen to me when I'm there. If I wore a hoodie with something Scottish on it I may be asked by a Scot where I'm from since no one there actually wears apparel with identifying city names. Here, in Oklahoma, we do. Boomer Sooner! We do that.
No, the reasons I'm really staying in Oklahoma and not moving to Scotland are simple: inconveniences. I really love the place. I think it's where I want to live after the Rapture and the 7-years we spend in Heaven. When we come back with Jesus, then yes, I want to settle in Scotland, but for now, not so much. The weather is bad 80% of the time, though hearing and listening to the accent is great, and I could listen to it all day, I like paying less for my food, being able to flush a toilet when I need to, and I really love jumping in my car to run an errand -- and really that's about it. I don't like being inconvenienced. I go out of my way to help others, but when I'm put in a spot where I can't do anything but wait, or worse, to realize that I'm not going to have what I wanted and could pay for (dry clothes) I get pissy, and that's not fair to my Scottish friends. I can't go around changing who they are or expecting them to bend at my whim. Best to visit and come home.
That's it. No more YMCA for me. I'm able to make the difference myself and that's more or less up my alley to do it that way anyway. I think I'll wait until Spring to visit Scotland again, that will give me time to relax, save the money I need to make it a great trip and I'll hit up the Highlands and areas where the tourists are scarce and/or nonexistent. I know, the Highlands are full of tourists, but not every corner. I have friends willing to take me on excursions that are off the beaten path and without the souvenir shops. I won't wear my Oklahoma hoodie this time either. I may wear something non-descript and if asked where I'm from I'll pretend I can't speak English. That may work.
Far too many Americans to deal with. Photo Credit: The Scotsman
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