So i weighed myself this morning and am now weighing in at 221 lbs!!  I am excited.  I have lost another 3 inches of body fat as well!  This is wonderful!  I am feeling much healthier and not as tired as I have been in the past.
Last week, I hit the gym 4 times!  Even though my week started out kinds blah, I was able to power through and get to the gym towards the end of the week.
It can be kinda intimidating to go to the gym.  There are so many people there who are so fit, you just wanna hurl!  It can make you feel outta place for sure.  But I have found that the time you go to the gym, changes the caliber of people going there.  The most fit and disgustingly active, seem to go in the evening.  This is the young crowd, who go to flaunt off their muscles and strength.  The ones you secretly want to fall on their faces.  The older crowd and those who really need to got the gym, generally go in the mornings.  This is when I like to go.  You feel less pressure and there is a better sense of equality.  I have never had a bad experience at the gym, but the feeling is a bit different when you go with the older crowd.  I just feel more comfortable with real size people opposed to the GTL crowd.....lol.  (GTL stands for gym, tan and laundry)
When you are starting a gym for the first time, take the time to check it all out.  Check the facilities for cleanliness and pleasant staff.  Also, check out those who are working out.  Most times, those working out are in their own world and are not working out to show off.  These are the people you want to work out with. Make sure there is enough equipment.  It really stinks to have a gym with just a handful of treadmills.  Most importantly, do NOT be intimidated!!!
Many times, we will sign up for a gym with good intentions and never really use our memberships.  Usually, this happens because we start to feel inadequate. We start judging ourselves against others and sike ourselves out.  Remember, you are doing this for you!!  Not for the GTL crowd.  I think that is the biggest reason why I keep going.  I have only one person I am competing against, and that is me.  It is easy to put blinders on to others working out.  Just do your own thing and get into your own groove and everyone else just melts away.
Another reason we stop going is because we get hurt.  Almost all gyms have personal trainers and other group work outs.  Use these amenities!  Take the time to get to know your body and what you can do.  Talk with the personal trainer and they will be happy to show you how the equipment works and you should feel as you use them.  Important to remember:  If it HURTS, STOP!!!  Do not work through your pain.  This is counterproductive to a healthy work out!  When you hurt yourself, you won't want to come back.  That is why it is important to know your limits.  You want to push yourself to muscle fatigue, not beyond!  There are times your muscles will hurt after a work out.  This is normal.  Your muscle hurt, because they are not used to being used.  Stretch them out, roll them out with a foam roller, get a massage, have a hot soak, but do not quit the gym forever.
Starting out, we tend to think we should go in guns blazing.  That is not the case.  You have to condition your body to work at higher levels.  Start small.  Make a goal to go to the gym 3 times a week for about 30 minutes.  Start on a treadmill.  Find a comfortable gait and maintain it for 30 minutes, then cool down.  Take a day off and then go the next day, repeat.  You have to give your body time to adjust to working out.  Having a recovery day is not a bad thing at all.  The key is, to get yourself comfortable with the idea of going to the gym and working your muscles.  Make a commitment to yourself and give yourself a goal.  And  mean a realistic goal.
When I started working with my trainer, I started basically from a sedentary lifestyle and have graduated into an active lifestyle.  My starting goal, was to make each session with my trainer.  I didn't go into this thinking, that on 18 weeks I would look like a model.  I went in with realistic goals.  I thought loosing a pound a week was reasonable, and my trainer agreed.  My goal for the end of 18 weeks, is to have gained knowledge to keep my active lifestyle progressing after I no longer have my sessions with my trainer.  I want education on how to maintain and progress myself.  I want to be able to take my kids to the beach this summer, or the boat, and NOT look like beached whale!  I am hoping for about a size 16 by summer.  With these goals in mind, I have been making great progress.  I am educating myself about fitness.  I am taking the things I am learning with my trainer and applying it into my everyday life.  I have bought an exercise ball, a yoga mat and a foam roller so I can continue with my work outs at home and the gym.  I feel empowered and you can too!