I’m getting better at monitoring my diet to make sure I am getting the required macronutrients to support my fitness goals. It is tedious to have to measure how many calories I am eating every day, but I think I’m going to have to give in because putting on weight is a real challenge for me. Right now, what works best for me is having a very protein-heavy and calorically dense smoothie in the mornings. I’d be happy with gaining 10 lbs of lean muscle mass in 6 months. I’m going to shoot for about 2500 calories a day and weigh in to adjust accordingly after a month.

In my last post, I mentioned that I previously joined YYoga about a month and a half into moving to Vancouver. For the first month of my membership, I was pretty good with using it every day. I used it fairly frequently in the second month. By the third month, I was only going a few times per week. The timing for the classes I liked was on the more inconvenient end. If I went for a spin class in the morning, I wouldn’t be at work until 8:15 am at the earliest. I like to be at work super early so that I can leave early.

I decided that I needed more variety in my fitness routine. Running and yoga are very complementary, so I went with that. Towards the end of December, I went for a 10 km run with a running crew that meets in Yaletown every Sunday. Runners are a very friendly bunch. I had a really great conversation with another runner who was closer to my age. She explained her rationale behind her fitness routine and gave me some great advice on adjusting to my new life here. After my conversation with her, I started thinking about exploring group fitness classes.

About a month later, I joined Equinox after hearing about their famous group fitness classes. After working out at their swanky West Georgia location for the past two weeks, I don’t think I could ever go back to a regular gym. I love working out there because they offer a wide variety of classes and the instructors are phenomenal. My favourite classes right now are The Pursuit: Build/Burn and True Barre.

I have spin class in the morning. I need to go to bed now, so I can try to get 7 hours of sleep. In short, I love my new gym and I feel motivated.