The Gym Machines Are Actually A Good Alternative!

It's Saturday, it's not snowing for a change, and it's only -1 F, so I'm counting this as a win. After today's swim, I will have done two weeks at the gym with my new workout schedule and I think I'm starting to enjoy it. I'm allowing myself to swim four days a week, but I'm also forcing myself to work on the machines on Thursday and Friday, although the water still beckons. During the three weeks I was forced to stay out of the pool, I discovered that I was getting something from the machines that I wasn't from swimming, and that combining the two exercises actually was totally beneficial for me. Who knew? So now I grit my teeth and hit the elliptical and the recumbent bicycle two days a week. 

The elliptical machine isn't romantic or exciting, but it gives a
great low-impact high-intensity workout if you allow it to
actually make you sweat. I find that I get more from 15 minutes
on the elliptical than 30 minutes on the bike, but I like
mixing them up. 

Thank goodness for Spotify. I do have music loaded on a variety of players I can bring with me to plug in and listen while working on the machines, but I noticed the Spotify symbol on the splash screen, and decided grabbing a set of headphones and plugging into my genre while getting new music recommendations would be even better. In fact, it's beyond great. I can listen to an assortment of kick-ass music or swipe a song out of the way if the beats-per-minute aren't where I want them (no slow and easy songs here ... I'm pushing for BPM and a hard beat). I'm thinking about expanding a bit - grabbing the Spotify from my phone app and using the virtual landscape with varied terrain options on the machines. I might try that next week. 

I like Spotify. When combined with my Sirius channels, I get a lot of
new music to listen to and I'm rarely bored. Over time, my likes
get honed into almost all wins for suggested tunes. I like listening
to it at home too. I'll put on my bluetooth headphones, stick my
phone in my back pocket, and listen while I do housework or cleaning. 

Meanwhile, today is Saturday and I'm back in the water. That's an automatic positive for me. Next week is taken up with doctor appointments where, I'm sure, they'll tell me that there really are no options for regrowing my hair (won't be a surprise). I guess I'll find out, and then I can move on. I'm seriously thinking about just getting the last of it shaved off and owning the bald look. It's actually not a bad look for me, and I could totally own it. DH is thinking about wigs for those times when I want to be "normal" (not that I'm abnormal anyway), and if I can find a good one, I'll probably get one or two of those too. If nothing else, it will help keep me warm in our cold weather. 

I haven't worn my hair short in many years, but used
to have a style similar to this that actually was really
cute. I might look into a wig or two in this type
of style for those days when I don't want to just
work with a scarf. 

So I'm off to the gym and the pool. Since it's a Saturday and I won't be back until Monday, have a wonderful and fabulous weekend and stay cozy and loved.