... but I thought I'd throw it here, too!
"Curves, a Love Story" by Bree
Just went to join Curves... and goodness. I'm in love.
Fiance and I showed up a bit early... he came with me partly because he was going to help me pay for it, partly because I didn't know the way so he drove in front of me to lead me, and partly for emotional support.
I watched the trainer get out of her car, and felt this little knot of fear in my stomach... she was PERFECT! I could just visualize walking in there... her looking at me and my massive behind and going, "Well, there's no hope for YOU!"
I went in and introduced myself, and she was as friendly as could be. She talked to me a little, talked to my fiance, answered my questions, and then got out the paperwork. She was so encouraging and friendly that I relaxed pretty quickly. People were coming in as we did paperwork--all shapes and sizes, and mostly talking to each other.
Fiancee paid and left, and then we went to the back for the dreaded "weigh in" and "measuring". The fear was back.
She started the scale at 150. I kinda laughed and said, "Oh, you're going to have to go higher than that." She grinned and said, "Don't let me hear you talking like that anymore," and continued to inch the scale up.
Imagine my horror when I went all the way over 300! *gasps* Granted, I'm very bloated from my period right now, but still. That's higher than I've been in forever, and here I was feeling all spiffy after a week of being perfectly good, and water loss and everything!
I was horrified, but she just said, "That's why you're here--and think how good it will feel every time it goes down!"
Then we did the measuring... and she continued to be encouraging and light hearted, assuring me that in a few months, I'd be looking forward to weighing and measuring.
Then we went back to the table and decided what my goal size was: a 12. She figured out what measurements I'd need in order to be a 12, and how much I had to lose: 104 inches. YEOW!
Then she pointed over at the wall, where the last months losses were. At the top of the list was a woman who had lost 25 inches in just under two months! Even some of the lowest were all losing 3-7 inches a month, as long as they came in 3 times a week.
Then she asked me about my diet, and was very excited when I told her I was on a low-carb diet. She assured me that if I stuck to it, it would be no time at all before I looked in the mirror and didn't even recognize myself.
Then she had me set up an appointment for my first workout, so she could walk me through and show me how to use all the machines. So I'm going tomorrow at 9 am!
I'm in love.