No wonder Madonna is so ripped.

As many of you know, I recently joined a new gym. I've been going faithfully every day for a little over a month now. And I've really enjoyed it. Up until tonight.

I left work a little late and while I was on my way home, my roommate text messaged me to ask if I wanted to join her at the 5:30 pilates class. Now I've done pilates before and I loved it. It's all based on core strength. So I was really looking forward to tonight's class.

When we arrived at the gym, we found out that the class was actually called Fusion ... it's a combination of pilates and yoga. I've seen yoga before. I know that with my joint problems there are some things that I just cannot do. But I figured that I could just skip the poses that I couldn't do and just do the pilates.

HA.

First of all, the regular Fusion instructor was gone, and the sub apparently thought the class was purely a yoga class. No, an advanced yoga class. The next hour was one of the most uncomfortable of my life. I felt sort of like I was Chris Farley trying to perform Swan Lake. Oh AND the guy on the mat next to me looked like he was about 65 and he was busting out crazy poses left and right. I felt like an incompetant fool. And I'm sure I looked like one. I guess yoga's not my thing. I'll do 12 straight hours of spinning class before I go back to a yoga class.

But I did gain a new respect for those who do yoga well. It may look like the world's easiest "workout," but it takes a LOT of strength and skill.

I hear Madonna does yoga a lot. No wonder she is so ripped.

Six-pack abs, here I come.

I recently joined a very expensive gym. It's more like an exclusive health club, actually. I grew up in a home where we did NOT spend money on luxuries. Ever. So even though I feel like I should feel guilty about spending so much on the gym membership, I actually don't.

I decided it's one of those things that I get to do because I'm single.

Like buying really nice underwear.
Or getting my groceries from Albertsons instead of Walmart.
Or taking vacations to places like Costa Rica and Morocco.

Anyway, I've gone to the gym six out of seven days for the past two weeks. And I feel great! The early morning spinning classes are much more intense than the one I attended at the YMCA. Each cardio machine has a personal TV so thanks to The Food Network, The Discovery Channel and VH1, I do cardio longer now. The locker rooms are very high end - the spa, sauna and steam room make for a relaxing and quite enjoyable gym experience.

So Merry Christmas, me.