my past contributions to the Fitness Industry.

look at that photo! if only it really were pennies that i pissed away at the gym! maybe it's a reverse photo showing what i was left with AFTER the gym membership. the lesson i learned: having a gym membership isnt going to make you lose weight. using it, yeah, but just having the automatic monthly withdrawal set up to keep that membership, not so much. silly sha. these are the gyms i've made monthly donations to, in no particular order:

• 24hour Fitness. i went less than 5 times in 6 months and decided i ought to cancel. if you decide to cancel your membership, prepare to keep calm and have ample time to sit on the phone. When i tried to quit, the only way to cancel was to call this 800 number, and there was always a hold. i tried for 4 days in a row, holding for over 45 min each time, and when i did finally get through, a woman answered with a scripted message that the system was down and please call back another time. >:( i think i just ended up calling the gym directly and did an "angry customer" thing and demanded they cancel my membership right then and there.

• The Women's Club was close to my school, so i thought i'd for sure be coming here regularly, esp since it's a women's only gym. yeah, didnt happen. well, i did start out ok, i really loved the hip hop dance class, and i did stepping for the first time and enjoyed it. all kinds of different classes were offered regularly, but my attendance was sporadic at best.
  

• The Arc is the Aztec Recreation Center on the campus of my alma mater. It's also the acronym for the Association of Retarded Citizens, but that is completely unrelated. Tho the Arc was close, could be hit up before or after classes, and was open 24 hours a day, i found it too intimidating to work out with all those tight college bodies. if you went after 6pm, it'd be packed until well after midnight.
  

• Curves for Women opened up right down the street from my house, less than a mile away. thought to myself, "Huzah! The answer to all my problems is here!" yeah... no. yet again, i did not accept into my brain that you have to GO to the gym for things to happen. i made monthly donations to this thang for like 3 years. well, at least it was black-owned. Ujamaa!
  

• i've had home exercise equipment, treadmills and exercise bikes and the like, that i was fortunate to come up on for free, and whattyaknow: having them just sit in your living room doesnt make you lose weight either! :)
  

i dont have a gym membership anymore. dont know if i ever will again. not to knock gyms at all, glad i got to try all of these, but i think i am just not a gym person. i really enjoy my home workouts, but i think that is just my nature: i spend and enjoy a lot of my time alone. i get excited when i get in a groove, i talk to myself and the cats and the instructor on tv about how much fun were having. and of course, the type of home workout i do makes a difference. maybe im a little vain too, b/c i want to be seen in public looking cute, not sweaty or jiggly or struggling. Hmmm, maybe that attitude will change when i am closer to goal weight, maybe i will feel like i look like an athlete, glistening from a hard workout. time will tell. in the meanwhile, i'm still stepping in front of my tv at home. anyway...

do what works for you!