Why I Joined a Gym (Even Though There’s One Right Down the Hall)

I live in a condo.

It is a nice building with a movie room, a room filled with free computers to use and a printer that never has paper (stop stealing paper, people!). We also have a "Recharge Room" where you can hold parties and a game room with a pool table and a foosball table. And of course, we have a great gym. There are four treadmills, four elliptical machines, two weight benches, four bikes and a few weight machines.

Pre-baby I was in that gym A LOT.

I could go in the morning before work (yeah, that didn’t really ever happen) or I could go when I got home. I worked so close that I could even come home and work out during lunch, but my previous gig at AOL had a gym so I could just as easily work out there. I basically had two "free" gyms at my disposal to use whenever I wanted.

Then, I had a baby. Due to the haze of postpartum depression and getting laid off from my job at AOL, not to mention the constant breastfeeding, hitting the gym was at the bottom of my to-do list. I thought of every excuse in the book to skip the gym. "I’m too tired" was my favorite excuse. But it was TRUE!

It took about six months to start to feel somewhat back to my old self again, even after being on medication for my PPD. However, I had serious body image issues, which did not help my depression. Instead of trying to get to the gym, I sat on the couch just feeling blah. Occasionally I would play soccer or get a run in with my jogging stroller, but I just couldn't get into a routine. I felt like I did not have time to go to the gym because I was always with the baby and when my husband came home from work I was already cooking dinner, totally unmotivated.

Finally, 10 months postpartum I decided I needed to do something about my sporadic workouts. I convinced my husband that we needed to spend the money on a gym membership. We walked to the YMCA and toured their facility. The price was right and we signed up on the spot!

I couldn't be happier about the decision we made. I make it to the YMCA every weekday and have an hour to myself while my one-year-old happily plays in the nursery. My confidence is slowly returning, my mental health is back to my pre-baby days and I finally feel great! I plan on continuing my workout routine the next time I get pregnant and I will be back in that gym WAY sooner than 10 months postpartum!