One Extra Hour

By now I’m sure you are all aware that we turned the clocks back this past weekend for Daylight Savings Time. Andy and I were celebrating our anniversary in Galena (details and photos will be posted this week!) When we got home I was in an “in-between” mood, not sure what I wanted to do. Andy decided to pounce on this opportunity and convince me to go to the gym with him.

You may recall awhile back that I have already joined Ultimate Fitness in Bettendorf. While I enjoy the gym for the classes, I’ve never been a big fan of the rest of the gym. I was (poorly) attempting to take advantage of the ActiveTrax that came with my membership. I only made it through one workout and for one reason or another I never got back to the gym.

So, yesterday I decide to spend my extra hour from Daylight Savings working out at Anytime Fitness, which is Andy’s gym. Although I probably would have equally enjoyed that extra hour sleeping, or reading, or plain wasting it surfing the Net, I’m glad I went with him. It may very well turn out to be a turning point in my life.

I’m really trying to look at exercising in a new light. Andy has gotten into the routine and truly made a lifestyle change; he has been going almost daily for the last two months. (Yay Andy!) Equally important, he has the mindset that it truly is a lifestyle change – not a fad, not a short term weight-loss or muscle gain goal, an honest change to his life and daily schedule. And it’s not just for his own purposes, it’s for us as a healthy couple and for our future family. He put it to me this way, “If you start working out regularly now you can add 11 healthy years to your life. Maybe you’ll still live those 11 years without working out but maybe you’ll do so with some kind of illness…we’ve got a long life together ahead of us. I want to enjoy it.” Well said. I’ve decided to look at it like that a little more rather than a chore. It’s one more thing we can do together that will improve our overall quality of living. How can I argue with that?

I will probably continue to hit UF for the classes, because those are usually more enjoyable than weights, but we’re headed tonight to get me signed up at AF as well. It’s an investment in our future and well-being. Andy goes at least 5 days a week so there’s no real reason I can’t do the same. Besides, it’s really hard to say no when you carpool and your 6′2″ muscle bound driver is heading straight for the gym after work.

I got all that out of one extra hour yesterday. Feels rather productive so far. What did you do with your extra hour?