One Month In And A Spinathon

I am very happy with my 2012 progress.  I am on a pretty amazing gym schedule and am making good food choices.  Shockingly, I am having a fantastic time at the gym.  I have become friendly with a little group of women who frequently work out at the same time and take similar classes.  We chat in the locker room and stand/bike in the same area during classes.  I really like The American (TA) who helped me with my first Body Pump class.  She pushes me to take additional classes, and we even text in the evenings to psych each other up for the following day's schedule. 
  
Last week she mentioned that she attends three back-to-back Spin classes on Saturday mornings.  I did not go last weekend, and on Monday morning she said that she missed me at the Spinathon.  Even though I work out for 2+ hours a day, I was concerned that I could not make it through three classes.  She promised me that if I make it through two classes, I CAN make it through the third.  So... I signed up for and COMPLETED all three classes this morning!  It was so much fun.  We both arrived early to get 'our' bikes and were the only two lunatics who did all three classes.
  
TA knows all of the instructors and told ours that she and I were both staying for all sessions.  He almost turned a ghostly white when he saw me.  I looked at TA, said that his reaction was not all that encouraging and laughed it off.  After the first class the instructor saw me eating two wedges of a peeled orange, and I think he understood at that point that I DO actually work out.  We looked at each other and laughed as he decimated his banana and I sucked on my orange.  His laugh was also probably a bit of a Holy $&*%, this gal is actually staying for a second class! 
  
In the middle of the second class TA tapped me on the arm and mouthed that we only have one more hour left.  The countdown had started!  Most people left after the second class, but we remained.  A few minutes into the third session we were listening to the same B.r.i.t.n.e.y.S.p.e.a.r.s. song that we use for our Body Pump triceps routine.  It was my time to tap her, and I acted like I was working out my triceps, with my hands coming to my forehead.  A few seconds later we looked at each other and said SINGLES, mimicked the triceps routine and burst out laughing (I realize that this is probably only funny for some of you who do Body Pump).  The instructor thought we had lost it, but it just helped keep us going. 

The best thing happened at the end of the class.  Because our gym has wireless receivers for Spin, the studio is not at all loud.  We just plug our headsets into the receivers and adjust our individual volumes.  We had finished our last climb and were cooling down.  The instructor looked directly at me, nodded and said 'good job'.  TA and I left the studio with the instructor who again said that I did really well.  I joked that he didn't look all that convinced that I would make it in the beginning, and he just laughed.  Getting a compliment from this guy was very gratifying!  
 
I am learning that having a gym buddy is SO important as long as that gym buddy is really serious with his/her workouts.  Another girlfriend flits in and out of the gym and only comes if it easily fits into her schedule.  That is fine for her but doesn't work for me.  I will stick with TA and the other women for my gymming. 
 
Lastly, here is my January vs. February comparison picture.  It is hard to see much difference, but I think my thighs and waist have come in a bit.