How to lose weight

The days go by, the years pass and every year on my birthday I think, "I don't feel older."  Today as I walked pass the full length mirror I had an epiphany "I am older and I look it."  When did I get to be so old?  I don't mind the laugh lines, those I earned, but the flabbiness of my arms, the weight gain, these I hate.  As my birthday approaches, the weight of one more year begins to weigh heavily on my shoulders as no other year has. 

Doing these pins everyday has taught me one thing and that is that if you want to change your life you have to go out and change it. Waiting for a miracle to happen is only for the lucky and the only luck I have is bad luck. So there it is. If I want to stay young I will have to work for it :)

Two days ago I joined a gym and today I decided it was high time I dropped some of this weight and toned up my muscles. I headed out with enthusiasm to spare only to deflate like a popped balloon upon entering  said establishment. There is something intimidating about entering such a large place full of people in better shape than you. The thought of working out in front of all these people, my flabby bits jiggling about unceremoniously, makes my stomach flutter. 

Fighting past the hollow pit in the bottom of my stomach I trudge into the locker room and get changed. I walk into the main foyer and stare wide-eyed at the variegated array of machinery, half of which I have no idea what they do or how to use them. Things have changed so much since I was last at a gym. 

Luckily for me there is a women's only section and here is where I make my refuge. I start off easy with a five minute warm-up on an elliptical machine, then move on to some dynamic stretching to get limbered up. The last thing I want to do is hurt myself again. Then I jump back on the machine and sweat it out for fifteen minutes. 

Wondering what to do next I decide on a circuit of machines. I have no idea how to  work most of them but the gym was nice enough to provide instructions with pictures. I muddle my way through a whole body workout doing ten reps on each machine. I only did one set today but topped it all off by doing three sets of five reps on the pull up and dip machines. The last I regret to say I had to do in the main area, surrounded by beefy men grunting away at the free weights. 

Though nervous I managed to make it through and came out with a nice warm sensation in my muscles. It felt good to work out again. I forgot how good it could feel. It will take hard work and dedication but I know I can do it. Losing weight is hard, not at all like all those ads promise. There is no magic pill or diet that can do the deed for you. It takes sweat and I've got buckets to spare. 

Hopefully my story has inspired all of you. Wish me luck.