My first trip to the gym went fairly well. I had a little anxiety about figuring out how to use some of the machines. They were all pretty intuitive. I began with the stairmaster, and after about two minutes of struggling (I probably picked too high a level for a beginner) I gave it up for the elliptical trainer, which I did for 10 minutes. I think this machine may be my favourite. I really worked up a sweat while on it, and could feel a lot of target areas being worked. I did the treadmill at a fast walking pace for 20 minutes, but it didn't seem as effective as the 10 minutes I spent on the elliptical machine. I did one set of about 10 reps lifting (arms) and maybe 2 sets of 6 reps of leg lifts (10 pounds in both cases). All told, I was there for about 40 minutes, and when I left I felt accomplished.

Yesterday Sarah and I went to Dick's Sporting Goods and I bought two 3 lb. weights, a flexibility ball, a stretching/Yoga mat, and 3 resistance bands (light, moderate, and heavy). After the gym tonight, I'll go home and investigate my new toys, and start actually using them tomorrow after class.

I've read that it's best to keep the body guessing as to what to expect, so I'm thinking that I'll alternate between the gym, aerobic walking on the track, and strengthening and toning with weights, bands, and the ball at home.

I debated buying a scale at Target, but I know it's still too soon for me to own one of those, because when I'm at Sarah's place, I usually weigh myself no fewer than 5 times in the course of 24 hours (or less). Even though I know to expect weight fluctuations from week to week (sometimes there is an apparent gain from a previous week due to water retention or the building of muscle), it still does a number on me, pyschologically speaking, to see no loss, or worse, a 2 to 3 pound gain. It seems to me that my metabolism is increasing, so it's also an adjustment to suddenly be hungrier than usual and to need to eat a bit more, while making sure my choices are still healthy and that I exercise portion control.

One of our stops yesterday was at the Baugher's open air Market (near Westminster), and we ate lunch at their full service restaurant; I picked up some grapefruit, navel oranges, and pumpkin butter. Now that I am eating better, it seems that I am always doing some form of grocery shopping.