Not my first trip around the Nautilus...

I first joined a gym back in 1990. My motives were not pure. I knew my ex went there, and I was hoping to reconnect. That did not happen. What did was a total surprise. This hunky trainer, Ward, told me that if I applied my self just the tiniest bit, I could sculpt my body. And I did. I became addicted to the gym, so much so that Ward told me to not come so often. I was rail thin. That didn't last, of course, because eventually, I moved to the coast, where there are no gyms, and even the 52 stairs up to the house and the 45 degree grades in the roads there couldn't keep me in shape. I eventually went on an eating plan and shed 35 lbs so I could be svelte for my 40th high school reunion. And then I gained about 20 back, over the next 7 years, not a difficult thing to do when eating and not moving very much. The swimming this summer got me back into active mode, and now, I am back to the gym. Like it is a new idea. I love my days there. I wear my gym clothes there so I can dig right in to the weenie workout circuit, after my warm up on the exercise bike (rode 1.95 miles and shed 30 calories this morning). I have already begun upping the weight on some of the machines, while others totally do me in at 20 lbs. After two circuits, I change into my suit to head for the pool. Today, on my way there, the scale grabbed me. I was all ready to accept a gain, as I am hopefully replacing fat with muscle, and so what a surprise to see that I had dropped 3 lbs! And I wasn't even trying! Which makes me think that it takes my old bod a while to catch up with what's (not) going down. I had a lovely cool down in the pool, lazy laps for 10 minutes, then a dip in the jacuzzi, how sweet it is. Then into the shower, allover lotion, into my skinny jeans (single digits, folks), blow dry my haystack, smear on some lipstick and mascara, and prance out to the car. I have become, once again, long and lean. I no longer resemble a string of Italian sausages. I think I am done with the eating plan for a while, anyway. At my age, it is easy to turn into something resembling a plucked chicken if you get too thin. And I do love to eat, especially in the winter. Stew! Split pea soup! Turkey with stuffing! See's candy! I can get away with it if I keep pumping away. It's a plan.