So I Bought a Gym Membership… Now What?

For what seems like the 50th time I’ve started going back to the gym. I’ve always loved working out. The only problem is I suck at it. I’ll go to the gym for a month straight and then fall off the face of the Earth. But this time I’m determined. So determined I decided to buy my own gym membership for the very first time. Which means if I don’t go, I’m paying $21.99 for no reason, and I’m not okay with that. That’s money I could be spending on makeup, and honestly, I really do want to change my lifestyle for the better. Not to mention, I look forward to sharing this journey with y’all because it’ll keep me accountable, sane and will hopefully resonate with some of you going through the same thing.

Now you might be wondering how this journey has started…
LET. ME. TELL. YOU.

In terms of food, I was eating healthy-ish, which was definitely better than before. No junk food or anything of that sort. The only bad thing was that I was feeling hungrier more often that I had previously. But in terms of the gym… It was a disaster. I wish I could say I was being dramatic, but I died.

Ok. Maybe that was dramatic, but the struggle was real. On Tuesday, my Big (sorority sister/mentor) and I attended Zumba. The class was a blast! The music was fast and the moves were fun! However, there was a lot of twerking… and well… this is what I looked like (and why I stayed at the back of the room).

I gave it my best effort, but there were some cute little doñas (for future reference, we’ll call them Las Doñas de La Twerk) doing it better than I can in my dreams. By the end of class, we were tired, but felt incredible! Until the next day…

Wednesday was supposed to be Tone and Sculpt. It sounded like a challenging, yet doable class. HOWEVER. When we got to the gym and signed in for class, we noticed it was labeled BOOTCAMP.

I DID NOT want to take this class. I knew there was no way I’d make it out in one piece. Yet there we were. Our hearts were racing, and the class hadn’t even started yet. At 5:30, the instructor walked in, and this guy was on another level. He had so much energy and radiated positivity in ways I didn’t even know were possible. The class began and not even 15 minutes in I felt like I could’ve had a heart attack at any moment, and that’s when he said we just finished our warm-up… My Big and I had desperation in our eyes. We wanted out, but we weren’t quitting. So we “stuck it out” and by “stuck it out” I mean we spent at least 25% of the class trying not pass out. There were moments where the instructor had us doing high knees, jump squats, mountain climbers, etc. and he would come up right in front of you doing the same thing (to push us, I suppose), but I was not about it. I felt so personally attacked by this class that I was ready to fight if he came at me with his “motivation.”

50 whole minutes later, we finished the class…BARELY. The rest of the week was not as intense. Mostly because we were so sore it hurt to exist. Let’s just say it will be a while before we return to that class.

As I’m writing this, I’m entering week 2 and if you enjoy reading my gym adventures/fails, let me know and I’ll keep y’all updated on this journey. I would also love to hear from you! What do you like to do at the gym? I can’t be the only one who was both inspired and angry at a Bootcamp instructor. Until next time chicas! Besos!

*P.S. I forgot to mention that I went to a Mexican restaurant that Friday of week 1 (still really sore), and guess who I saw there…THE BOOT CAMP INSTRUCTOR.

I still enjoyed my plate of tacos though. #NoRagrets

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Serina Martinez is a 22-year-old Mexican-American Tucson, AZ native and first-generation graduate from the University of Arizona. She loves listening to music, spending time with family and friends, volunteering, and laughing at her own jokes. She is also starting her journey to a well-rounded lifestyle, which among many aspects of her life, she looks forward to sharing with y’all.