The Gym

Some days I go to the gym and wonder who these people are who are there with me.
Who dressed them?  Is full hair and make up necessary for working out?  Should I match my shoes to my shirt or my shirt to my pants or my ponytail holder?  

I've started giving people nicknames.  Visor dude is still my favorite guy to watch.  I mean come on he matches his visor to his shoes.  I don't think he plays for the other team, but I'm married so I don't really care either way.  He just looks great for someone with 18 % body fat.

Mr MapleTan is the guy who complimented me on my fortitude. I asked him once if he'd just been someplace warm because of his tan and he said Maple Tan (the tanning salon across the street).

The Dud still works there and is late 90% of the time for his clients.  I seriously wonder how he even has clients or a job there still.  I guess people will put up with chronic lateness.
I see a lot of lonely older men some sporting wedding bands some not.  
The lady I shared a training session with once is still training and she is looking great.  Her name is Katherine and we high five each other when we meet at the treadmill. 

The Ben Affleck look alike is there everyday and I still haven't told him he looks like Ben.  

The Aqua-aerobic ladies have made some comments about how I'm looking when I'm in the locker room.  They think my headphones keep me from hearing them.  They've said things like "She is looking good, maybe I should get a trainer?" "She used to do water aerobics with us".
MrSkullCap is there with his little cap on and looking bad ass. It's kind of funny to watch him work out.  He does muscle building workouts.
CreepyGuy still stares at me or watches me workout on the machines.  

The "Girls" as I call the 2 ladies who get side by side eliptical machines and talk the whole time are there every day.  They used to talk to Chocolate MrClean, but have stopped for some odd reason.  He's a nice man who smiles and nods to others.

The 20-something girls all look the same to me.  Ponytail, t-shirt and victoria's secret sweatpants. Oh and smartphones, texting while on treadmill or eliptical machine.
I see the other overweight, middle aged women like me working hard at the machines or training with a trainer.  I know they want to tone up and get thinner just like I do.  As we age it takes a lot more work to get the layer(s) of fat off.

I had an interesting discussion with my daughter recently.  She was upset that her weight had creeped up a few pounds.  She said her pants still fit the same though.  She kept saying muscle weighs more than fat.  So I asked her "Which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of bricks?"  She thought and thought.  I think she was stalling knowing it was a trick question.  I told her a pound of feathers weighs the same as the pound of bricks. A pound is a pound no matter what it is your weighing.
I think the issue is the perception that muscle weighs more than fat is because of how our weight changes as we build muscle.
Fat tends to take up more space, it likes to spread out and get all fluffy. Muscle tends to be compact and tightens up on itself.  So when we think our weight is not changing when we've been working out or weight training it has changed.  The fluffy fat is converted to compact muscle.  The best way to tell is the tape measure or how your clothes are fitting.  

When my clothes got baggy and loose I knew I was losing fat if not pounds.  The scale went up last week, but my clothes didn't become tighter.  They fit the same as the week before.  
I see the changes in my figure too.  Many of my friends have noticed the changes too and have mentioned it.  I have to admit it does feel good to hear "You're looking great Diana".  I have been working very hard to shed this excess weight. 
I have a goal to get to and will continue to take it one day at a time until I reach it.  As I said on yesterday's blog I will not let one set back cause me to give up EVER!