Stress management

Well I joined my local Cityfitness gym last night and am pretty excited about that!

I've done two classes over the last week and have loved them both. The first was bodyjam which I did in Wellington recently as part of a Hen's Party. It is essentially a dance class and is described as "the ultimate groove class". It's loads of fun and comes with a contagious feel-good factor. Last night I did bodycombat which I initially started doing eight years ago. It is a fast-paced workout that incorporates Martial Arts, Boxing and Aerobics. I tried bodycombat a couple of years ago when my daughter was quite young and just didn't have the energy to enjoy the class. Also, I just wasn't in the right space for going to gyms, preferring Yoga, Pilates and walks as gentle, nurturing forms of exercise.

When I am in stress mode like I am now with high anxiety levels, I do well with cardio exercise. And that has been confirmed over the past few weeks. I have felt soooooo good after an intense work-out, relishing the music, the class, the space to myself, and the feeling that I'm doing something good for myself.

There are a heap of classes available so I'm looking forward to trying a lot of them out as well as having a play in the weights area. If I'm in the mood for something a bit more mellow I can go to Bodybalance which I've also done before - it incorporates Hatha Yoga, Feldenkrais, Pilates and Tai Chi and is held in the Mind Body studio. So I won't be completely giving up Yoga (I've been doing that once a week for the last two NZ school terms). Last night when I looked around the gym I noted there was a sauna which I shall certainly use in the colder months!

I feel so much better having a new goal just for me! I was a gym bunny way back so I am not a stranger to the gym culture. Now as a Mum I appreciate how precious it is to have somewhere to go that is all about focusing on me, with other adults striving for similar goals and not a child in sight! There will be a creche in the future as the gym was only built recently.

I had to fill in a form as you do saying what my goals were and stress management is my ultimate aim. It will be good to get a bit more muscle definition but I don't need to lose any weight.

The gym is my out from family life - I can now literally escape to the gym if I need to let off a bit of steam. I am quite worried about flipping out on the Provera and/or the Clomid so hope the extra exercise will help with any mood swings I may have. I was reading about all the possible side effects of Provera yesterday when I picked it up from the chemist. Scarey, quite frankly. It cost $15.50NZ and came with a large information sheet. Interesting as the Clomid came with nothing. I will phone the receptionist at my gyno surgery this week to see if he's read the radiologist notes yet about the cyst found on my ovary in December.

I have signed up for a year at the gym but can either freeze my membership or transfer it/sell it to someone else if I need to but I do plan to keep going pregnant or not.

I was so hyped up after doing a 6.30pm gym class last night that I took a while to get to sleep and dreamt I got my period! A sad confirmation of how much this is all on my mind! ;)