Oh yes, I've been able to get back into a work-out routine at the gym. In between laying my own laminate floors, painting my house, replacing a toilet, fixing electrical outlets, and a few other odds and ends that crop up when moving into a new home of the price range we chose.
But now that I have a gym routine again, a new issue has cropped up... The walk from the gym showers to the locker area. I'm proud to report that my weight and muscle mass have been cooperating quite nicely and I'm actually down a clothing size! But I'm still not ready for the naked shower prance. And apparently I am the ONE person in that shower room that this bothers.
I'll admit it, if I were a size two with firm boobs and a nicely rounded butt, I'd never wear clothes in the locker room. I'd probably go to the gym twice a day just to take the showers.
But I'm not - I'm 34 years old and I've had four kids. As armywifetoddlermom put it so well, there's Boticelli, and then there's Body Jelly.
My gym is not only filled with gorgeous hard-bodies, either. There are grandmothers and women far larger than I in attendance. And they don't have a problem with the naked shower walk. In fact, most of them are quite fine following the signs along the wall that urge us to "Conserve! Please take only one towel!"
Whatever! I need one towel for my hair! And one to cover my behind! That's two towels that are absolutely necessary!
I'm not judging people who are perfectly comfortable in their bodies - I want to be like them. I wish I could hold a conversation with a perfect stranger while sitting down without a stitch of clothing and applying lotion to places normally not even seen by a gynecologist! Instead, I'm the one huddled in the corner perfecting the "pull the jeans on before the towel hits the floor" move.
I have made some progress, though. I used to wait until I got home to take my showers. I'd get in my car, stinky and sweaty, and head home to take the quick shower that a parent with writhing and fighting children is well acquainted with, the one that involves breaks every 2.5 minutes to open the door and yell, "Don't make me come down there!"
I finally realized that they have more hot water at the gym. And someone else is watching the kids. And I can take my time. It's well worth it, I think.
But I'm not quite ready to surrender the extra towel just yet.
