WFMW: Free Gym Memberships

It’s Work for Me Wednesday over at Rocks in My Dryer. I’d like to share what works for me. Free gym memberships work for me! I like to add a little variety to my workouts and try new things. Depending on the gym, you may get access to a trainer. Since these memberships can range from a day – 30 days, I use this time to ask questions and get ideas of what I could do to help me lose weight (plus use their equipment). There is a catch to these FREE memberships. They will hassle you into purchasing a membership. If you are open with them and tell them upfront that you are not currently interested in joining, they normally leave you alone.

I’ve compiled a (small) list of some fitness clubs/gyms that offer free trial memberships. I have found that just about any fitness club will give you a day or week free trial – just ask.

24 Hour Fitness - 7 day free trial

Fitworks - Free 21 day Membership

Bally’s Total Fitness - Free 2 week guest pass

Dolphin Fitness Clubs - Free 7 day membership

NeoLimits - Free 14 day trial membership

Gold’s Gym – 1 day free membership

Curves – 3 weeks free offer
got milk?From March 17th through July 17th, 2008, get 3 Weeks free at Curves when you bring in 3 Milk Caps to a participating Curves club. Offer valid with 3 milk caps from any 3 fluid milk containers. Three free weeks must be redeemed on first visit or exchanged for special membership discount. Limit of one 3 week Curves membership per person. New members only. Valid only at participating Curves locations. Offer valid only in US.

Free Stroller Fit Class – find a location near you, register then print your coupon

FitQuest (West Chester, OH) – free two week trial membership

Ideal Fitness – 5 day free pass

Fitness 19 – 5 day guest pass (For locations, www.fitness19.com)

Fitness First (Ohio location) – Free week membership and free Yoga class

GlobalFit - 1 day free pass

Fitness First - 1 day free pass

Premiere Ladies Fitness (Ohio) – I didn’t find anything on their website but they almost always offer a free 30 day membership. I tried them out years ago on a 30 day free membership.

Weighing In #9

Weigh in day for me! It was supposed to be exciting. I was really counting on the scale moving in the downward direction. Instead, it didn’t move at all! I wanted to cry. However, I think it might have to do with my TOM. I have heard that some people gain anywhere from 2-6 pounds in water weight during their TOM. To stay positive, I’m going to blame it on that and hope the weight is gone (plus some for this coming week) when I get on the scale next Wednesday.

I finished the week with 4 weekly allowance points and didn’t add in the exercise/activity points that I earned (too much for me to keep track of). Could I have eaten better? Definitely! I’m working on my menu for next week and things are going to be better. My family will have to learn to like less fattening food or they will learn to cook their own dinners. I have got to lose this weight! My water intake was really high over the last week too. There was only one time that I had something other than water to drink.

I worked out everyday and gave 110%! I normally do not work out on the weekend (Friday – Sunday). This past week I did something everyday! I even started getting up at 4:00 a.m. to get that extra workout. My walking and elliptical routines are never the same – I add an incline or resistance and vary the workout. I do need to add some variety though but want to make sure that I am physically ready for it. So, it might still be a week or two before start back on my fitness classes. Here’s the breakdown of my workouts this week:

Total miles walked: 14 miles
Total miles on elliptical: 11.4 miles
hand weights
stability ball crunches
30 minute bike ride

My goals for this week are to LOSE 2 pounds (at least). I’m hoping for more than that and will work towards at least double that. I’m going to continue with the workouts that I have been doing. I need to add in my jump rope routine and even the strength training machines at the YMCA (leg press, abdominals, chest press…those machines).

I had cleaned out my closet and got rid of LOTS of clothes (actually, they are in bags in my family room until I decide what to do with them). Since my fiancé is out of town, I have been going through what I decided to keep (no summer clothes in my current size!) I did come up with two outfits that I would *heart* to get back into (pic below)...which would maybe even mean more date nights!!

Day 59, Food and Exercise Log

Ugh, I'm tired!! Well, it's time to refresh the weekly points. Weigh in day!

Daily Allowance Points: 24
Weekly Allowance Points: 35

Breakfast:
Tim Horton's Iced Cappucino (made with white milk) (4 points)
Banana (2 points)

Snack:
Banana (2 points)

Lunch: Progresso Zesty Light Southwest-Style Vegetable Soup (0 points!)
Toasted Cheese Sandwich (3 points)

Snack:
EAS AdvantEDGE Carb Control - Chocolate Peanut Butter (after workout) (4 points)

Dinner:
Meatball Sandwich (9 points)

Snack:
1 cup grapes (1 point)

Exercise:
1 mile walking on my treadmill
Walked outside @ lunch: 4 laps/35 minutes - not sure of the distance...it was over a mile
2.78 miles/30 minutes/400 calories on elliptical
1 mile walking/1 mile jogging on my treadmill

Daily Points Used: 24
Weekly Points Used: 1

Overall thought: I thought today went pretty well with the exception of the weigh in. I'll keep up with the exercise like I have been doing. If things remain the same next week (no weight loss), it will be off to the doctor for me to make sure there's not something else going on there.

Workout Wednesday - Stability Ball

Workout Wednesday: Stability Ball

I call it a Stability ball but you may know it as a Swiss ball. Stability balls are simply large, vinyl balls on which you can perform a number of strengthening exercises. By learning to balance your weight on the ball, your back, stomach/ABS and buttocks areas all get a workout.

There’s nothing quite like a stability-ball workout. It's easy to learn basic moves, and you don't need a lot of space or special equipment.

Early last year, I took several fitness classes that incorporated the use of the stability ball. I will share 7 of my favorite (I could write about many, many more of them) that do not include the use of weights. Using weights with a stability ball will be posted in a different Workout Wednesday post.

If you have questions about these exercise, leave me a comment.

Crunches:
Lie on your back on top of the ball with your legs bent at a 90-degrees and feet firmly on the ground. (The stability ball should be between your hips and shoulders following the curvature of the spine.) You can pick where you put your arms - across your chest, behind your neck, or out in front of you. Do NOT pull on your neck, if you decide to place your hands behind your neck. Relax in this position to obtain a stretch of the abdominal wall. Now flex your midsection raising your shoulder blades off the stability ball. Squeeze the abs at the top of the motion and slowly lower yourself back to a fully relaxed and stretched position.

Pass the Ball:
Lie on your back on the floor with your arms over your head holding the stability ball and legs straight out. Don’t let it touch the floor. Begin to raise your arms up at the same time begin to raise your legs up until the two meet. Now pass the ball from your hands to your feet and lower your arms and legs back to the floor. Again, do not allow the ball to touch the floor. Continue passing the ball from feet to hands, lower, raise, hands to feet using your midsection. Repeat.

Crisscross:
Lie on your back with the ball in your hands, above your stomach. With your back against the floor, raise your legs to a 45 degree angle from your hips. Raise head, neck and shoulders off the floor. Bend your right knee and bring it towards your chest. As you do this, bring your hand and the ball down towards your left knee (which should still be straight at a 45 degree angle). Continue switching legs as the ball moves up and over toward the straight leg. Repeat.

Side Bend with Straight Leg Side Lift:
Begin on both knees. Hug the ball into one hip. Lean sideways over the ball (hip and side against the ball) with you hands behind your head. Straighten and lift the leg that’s away from the ball to hip-height while leaning into the ball. Don’t move away from the ball. Do 10 times before switching to the other side.

Diamond Hip Lifts:
Place your ball against the wall. Lie on your back, with your feet on top of the ball and soles of your feet together, knees open out to the side (your legs should look like a diamond). Apply pressure to the ball with the outside of your feet, pressing your knees open wider, lift your hips up and squeeze your buttocks (maintain the diamond shape with your legs). Lower to the starting position. After repeating a couple times, hold your hips up, squeeze your buttocks and pulse for 10 counts.

Grasshopper:
Lie over the ball in a prone position with your upper thighs slightly turned out on the ball, feet together and knees pointed out in a slight V, with elbows on the floor. Lift both knees of the ball, while squeezing your buttocks (pelvis will remain against the ball). (You might think you are going to flip over…my first try, I did.) Return to starting position with your knees on the ball. Repeat.

Reverse Crunch on the Floor:
Very similar to Pass the Ball except you will not pass the ball. The ball will stay on the ground over your head. Your legs point up to the ceiling, as straight as possible. Hold you legs firmly together in a parallel position by lining up your ankle joints, the inside of your knees, and your upper thigh bones. Lower your legs halfway to the ground (your core will be engaged). Don’t let your lower back leave the floor! At the point where you feel your muscular control is about to run out, roll your legs overhead (to the ball), and exhale into the muscles surrounding the rib cage. Your feet end up resting on top of the ball (you should have legs straight from your buttocks to your heels). Exhale and roll down one vertebra at a time. Remember not to let your legs/feet touch the floor!

Sorry that I don’t have pictures. I’m not in shape to have my picture taken and couldn’t talk anyone else into it. If I can come across some, I’ll post them.

Day 58, Food and Exercise Log

Tomorrow is weigh in day. I can't wait. I'm really hoping for a weight loss.

Daily Allowance Points: 24
Weekly Allowance Points: 12

Breakfast:
Tim Horton's Iced Cappucino (made with white milk) (4 points)
Banana (2 points)

Lunch:
Progresso Zesty Light Southwest-Style Vegetable Soup (0 points!)
Toasted Cheese Sandwich (3 points)

Snack:
1 cup grapes (1 point)

Dinner:
Cheeseburger, French fries (baked) and pineapples (13 points)

Dessert:
Small Ice cream come (9 points)

Exercise:
1 mile walking on my treadmill
Walked outside @ lunch: 4 laps/35 minutes - not sure of the distance...it was over a mile
2.7 miles/30 minutes/405 calories on the elliptical
2 miles walking on my treadmill

Daily Points Used: 24
Weekly Points Used: 8

Overall thought: I did it! I finished the week with points to spare! I worked out quite a bit today, if you take into consideration all the other things that I did. With my fiance out of town, it's been pretty nice. I could exercise instead of sleep! Now for the big weigh in...

Barrel Beware!

Dear Orange Barrel,

I’m writing you today to let you know that I am annoyed by your presence. I'm tired of you following me around. When you showed up at I-70 and I-75 (almost 7 years ago), I thought that you were just coming into the area to check out the site for a couple months (or a couple years at the most). Not the case. You’re still there and you’ve called in your gang to surround me, as if that major intersection wasn’t enough. You were on St Rte 202 and I-70 until I found a way around you. Then you decided to move over to St Rte 201 and I-70. Again, I was able to find my way around you for the most part. Now you’re headed to the area of I-75 and Rte 4.

The sad part about this is that you have found out other places that I visit/travel and are starting to send your gang out in those locations (i.e. St Rte 73 and I-75 close to 129). I guess I can plan on see you and/or your gang along our route to Myrtle Beach?!?

Well, I wanted to finish my saying, I DON'T like you! Would you please leave me alone and stop stalking me? Before I take you permanently out of business with my soccer mom mobile!

Signed,
Mom_of2boys

A Few Freebies

Just wanted to pass on a few freebies that I found this evening...

Eucerin Calming Creme

John Frieda Sheer Blonde or Brilliant Brunette Lustrous Touch

John Frieda Frizz Ease Straight Ahead or Curl Around Shampoo, Conditioner and Serum