Back to the Y



Since I started college back in 2001 I have been a gym user.  The year I started NDSU was the year that the new Wellness Center opened and it was shiny, immaculate and state of the art.  There were rows of TVs in front of cardio machines and your headphones could tune in to whichever show you chose.  There was a huge expanse of weight equipment so "normal" students wouldn't have to make fools of themselves around the athletes in the sports arena weight room, which is how it was before.  The whole place, which has since been added onto and made three times the size it was, was a dream compared to the dingy but functional former shop classroom that was our weight room in high school.  And it was free for us to use whenever we wanted.  I was paranoid about gaining the "freshman fifteen" so I almost immediately became a regular user and continued to use it for the next four years.  When I headed to law school, I started using UND's not very functional and quite dated and dingy Hyslop workout center and by my second year UND had a new student wellness center which was so big it could have passed as the Grand Forks airport and not only had rows of TVs but mini TVs attached to the cardio machines!  It was huge and you rarely had to wait for a machine.  I once again used this place all the time. 

 

When we moved here I knew I had to find a gym right away and chose the YMCA because it has two swimming pools and I like swimming laps.  I was there swimming and doing light elliptical machine workouts until the week before Ben was born and I have been very antsy to get back to it!  I should mention that the machines at the Y have TVs attached and also USB ports so you can plug your iPod into them...it just keeps getting better...

 

The problem was that I couldn't go during the day any more because my membership didn't include the drop in child care and Justin is gone all day and at least two nights a week so I have not been able to go enough times each month (12) to get my insurance reimbursement.  So I have been bleeding money to the Y for something I use only a few times a month. 

 

Today I finally changed my membership to get the child care.  I have been hesitant because the child care costs extra every month and also the child has to be a member so I had to change to a family membership that costs twice as much.  I am quite annoyed by the whole thing and don't find the policy very family friendly but I don't want to switch because the Y has the pools unlike Gold's or Anytime Fitness or a place like that. 

 

I was able to use the child care right away so I nervously checked it out.  I was expecting a few kids to be in there but there were around fifteen babies and toddlers running around!  I was kind of nervous about leaving him there since I am not accustomed to day care settings but it is well staffed and clean so I went and exercised and rushed back to find Ben playing on the floor with another baby and one of the care providers.  He had discovered a very nice toy shopping cart!  He looked pretty annoyed that I made him leave! 

 

So...he likes it there and I am paying...no more excuses!  I will be exercising regularly again!  And...since I am paying for the child care maybe I will occasionally just go there to use the sauna and take a shower in peace and read magazines and chat with all the retired ladies and moms that are there in the mornings over the complimentary fruit and coffee that is available!  Haha...