Today, I was looking up prices for local gym memberships and I stumbled onto the LA Fitness website (not for the first time) and I noted that they still did not have their prices listed. Unlike that one other time before, I didn't just shrug and go on. I called them and asked for the price. The woman I spoke with, Karen, told me that their usual prices range from $30-40 a month and asked me if I'd like to come in to check the place out. I could've stopped her then and said no. Instead, we arranged a time for me to meet with her tomorrow at 10 a.m. Then Karen asked if there were anyway I could make it in to speak with her TODAY as their nationwide promotion was ending and there's no way for them to extend the deals (which, at the time, I had no idea what the "deal" even was) but I agreed. I arranged to meet with her at 6:30 p.m.
I could have not gone. I could have called and cancelled. I could have driven by without stopping in. I could have gone in, looked around, and walked right out. I could have left without a membership. I could have done a lot of things, but instead... I got ready, I drove over, I went in, I talked with Karen, I toured the amazing facility, I got my questions answered, I got a membership, I received a free "goody bag" with a bunch of good stuff in it, and I have a free one-hour appointment with someone tomorrow morning at 9:30 to help me get started on the right track.
As Karen said, something I'd already told myself about 50 times before I left to go to the gym, is that GOING IN that first time is the hardest step. I went in. I did it.
I even got a GREAT deal on my intial membership: even though there's no contract and it's a month-by-month payment, there is still an initial registration fee, which varies depending upon the plan you choose to get. If you pay a higher registration fee, you get a lower monthly payment, and vice versa. I chose the middle (of three) plans, which ordinarily has a $249 registration fee with a $39.99 per month membership. As they had a promotion going I got the $249 fee WAIVED! I did have to pay for the first and last months membership, which means that I received two months of gym membership today for $85.
What's really great is they have a LAP POOL with 4 lanes in it and no children are allowed to be in the pool so I don't have to worry about interrupted swim time, and though I didn't tell Karen this, that's what all but sold me on the whole deal. Plus, even though it was quite busy given that it's their last day of the promotion and was during their "peak hours" they had PLENTY of machines available for use. Additionally, they have unlimited free classes that you can just walk in and participate in without signing up -- ever! That, considering my random work hours, is just what I need to feel like I can hop in at any time. I even got 12 2-week guest passes for people -- I just wrote down 12 names even though, at most, I'll probably only get one or two people to go with me. Oh well!
Here's the bad news: I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to pay for it. It's about $40 a month, which I can swing with my paychecks or... by donating plasma (LOL!). If I absolutely cannot pay then I guess I won't be going, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. The thing is... I asked my mom earlier this week for gas money (she's back home in NW Ohio) and she put $100 in my account. I only spent about $50 of it (all of which hasn't gone through yet, because it takes a while for debit card transactions at gas stations to show up) so I had enough to pay the $85 at LA Fitness tonight, the problem though is that if the debit card transaction AND the gas payment go through tomorrow I'll be overdrawn by $40. To which the bank will charge me an additional $35. I have to ask my mom for $40 more, on top of the $100, until Friday (my first paycheck, hence why I've had no money to pay for gas, etc.) because if I hadn't purchased it today I would've had to pay a registration fee of $249...
I've been hounding my mom to get me a gym membership for 6 months now (well, initially I said for both of us, but she didn't seem to want to so I asked if I could) and she wouldn't have any part of it. At least, she wasn't interested until she went and signed herself up for a gym at her work that only employees can use. Thanks, a lot.
This "bad news" is more frustrating/annoying than anything because I didn't want to tell anyone (ESPECIALLY my mom) about joining a gym, but now I have to or she won't give me the $40. She might not anyway because I bought something I couldn't afford which is "irresponsible" and I owe her so much anyway. I will pay her back the $40 on Friday though, I'll have the money then... ugh. I hate feeling so dependent. This is something I wanted to do FOR ME, to take charge of my life and get on the right track, without feeling obligated to keep anyone abreast of the situation, without feeling people watch me to see how "well" I'd do and/or how hugely I failed. My mom isn't exactly the most positive support system when it comes to my body image... but I don't want to talk about that right now.
Overall, this is a GOOD moment, this is an EMPOWERING moment, this is a BATTLE WON in what has been and will be a life-long war. I want to -- and I am going to -- CELEBRATE by myself, for myself, because of what I did myself.
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"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do."
[Eleanor Roosevelt]
