Now that the holidays are over, it is time to say goodbye to those 10 extra pounds that I have accumulated over the past few months. Plus it is a new year, so what better time to start working towards my body goals?

Luckily, Max and I are both working towards this goal, so hitting the gym together is pretty understandable. For me, I wanted to lose 15 pounds of fat, while ironically, Max wanted to gain 15 pounds of muscle. So off for a gym date we went.

Since I already had a very unused membership to Planet Fitness, that is where we decided to do our workouts.  However, Max was not a member so he had to pay a small drop in fee of $10.  

As we walked into the hot steamy gym, I realized how many people make fitness their New Year’s resolution.  Almost every machine, mat, and weight throughout that entire gym were being used. I have to admit, this sight made me want to turn around and go walk on my treadmill at home, but I had a column to write!

Fortunately, when I got into the locker room someone was leaving, so I snatched the locker before anyone else could. Before I stepped back into the gym, I checked my stats on my Fitbit– 1330 steps so far.  I set a goal to reach at least 6k before I left the gym.

I met Max back out in the gym by the machines.  We decided that we were going to start off with some cardio.  We each stepped on a treadmill and began our workout.

If you have read any of my previous columns, you know that Max and I are EXTREMELY competitive. So when I set my pace to four, he set his to five.  When he did that, I set mine to six.  This continued till I set mine to 10 (the maximum speed) and slipped right off the treadmill. Yes, everyone in that packed gym was staring and judging, even though their motto is something about “no one is a critic.”

After this little scene, I decided that I was not going on the treadmill again. I decided that I should go try something safe, so I went to the open floor area.  I set up a mat and started with some basic crunches and timed planks. Max, on the other hand, was still finishing off his run. I have to admit, doing little exercises on the mat got very boring very fast. I tried looking up some more floor exercises on Pinterest to spice things up. A few minutes later I was looking at “How to pair shoes with every outfit.” Realizing that I was getting nowhere fast, it was time to try something new.  

At this point, I cooled down a little bit and was ready to meet up with Max again. Next, we decided to lift some weights.  In a few short moments, I realized that weights were not my thing, at all.  Honestly, I assumed that I was stronger than I actually was, so when I reached for the 60-pound weights and couldn’t manage to get it off the stand, I was pretty disappointed in myself. However, after realizing that Max couldn’t even curl this weight, I didn’t feel too bad.

With every machine in use, there weren’t many things we could do during this gym date, so that is where it ended. During our 30-minute gym sesh, I accumulated about 700 steps, a very brief sweat, and a scratched knee.  

Although a Sunrise Sunset smoothie from Tropical Smoothie Cafe made everything better, (food always makes things better).

So in the end, mine and Max’s gym date was definitely not as productive as I imagined it would be, nor did it get us any closer to our goals we have set. Luckily, it is still only just the beginning of our fitness year.