Fear and Loathing at LA Fitness

(By the way, I must still have Roger McGuinn on the brain, because all morning I’ve been humming “To everything … spin, spin, spin. There is a season … spin, spin, spin.)

Photo source: Phitar’s flickr stream

I equal parts LURVE and HAAAATTTEEE my spinning class. Here are a few reasons why (and note, in many cases — the love and hate reasons are the same).

Love: It kicks my butt. In a 60 minute spin class this morning, I burned 502 calories. That’s better than running, swimming … it’s better than running THEN swimming.
Hate: It kicks my butt. I hurt for the rest of the day, and half of the next day. Not a moment goes by in that 36 hour span that I don’t think about the class as I wince my way through walking.

Love: I take a 5:45am class, so even if I slack off for the rest of the day, crawl back in bed and eat Doritos on a bagel with cream cheese (my favorite former-life snack), I have done something productive.
Hate: It’s 5:45am.

Love: I sweat like a fat guy on a tightrope … and with every drop that falls, I think about the weakness that is leaving my body. Sweat=success. Sweat gets me one step closer to my goals.
Fat: Ugggh, the sweat! I am nasty, people … Clear the way to the showers at about 7am, because there is no one in the country that needs it more than I do after class.

Love: The instructor doesn’t give us a moment’s rest. After a sprint, we’re up into a climb. After a climb, we’re starting an endurance ride. By the time I’m up to speed for the next song, I realize that I never got to catch my breath.
Hate: The instructor screaming through class. I swear, I hear “Whooot whooot whoot!” and “Gear Up!” in my nightmares. Bless her for trying, but >6am, just leave the screaming at home.

I could go on and on, but you get the point. It’s all worth it when I cross the finish line of my triathlon, forgetting the screaming and the sweat. So I push myself for 60 minutes, loving and hating every second of the workout.

She did get extra points today for playing ’80s music … so I’ll be singing that, too, for the rest of the day.

By the way, I found a picture of myself by searching Google images today:

Just kidding … that girl has never been to the gym before — look how she’s holding that teeny dumbbell. And her butt would be sore for days if she wore that on a bike.

Anyway, eating was pretty boring yesterday. After the pumpkin mess came tomatoes, Progresso Zero point soup, carrots and a tangerine. I forgot to eat my frozen veggies so those will be today’s lunch.

Then came dinner (no pics, but it was steak, kale and corn) and THEN came the Christmas cookie meltdown … Luke’s grandmother sends us boxes and boxes and boxes and boxes and boxes (seriously, we got five boxes!) of cookies, everything from sugar cookies with sprinkles to Buckeyes to fudge to rice krispies treats. You can taste the butter in every bite.

And bite I did … I tasted one of every kind, and two of some. My tummy paid the price later, but hey — that’s why I get up at the crack of dawn to work out, right?

Off to work … I think it’s another pumpkin mess morning, maybe with some french vanilla tea?

Oh, and today’s question — what’s in your must-have makeup kit? I’m tossing my collection and starting fresh from 2009, and this year, it’s about quality, not quantity. I’d love to know what you use, and what you can’t live without!