Joyful Vegan Family

Vegan Goodness:

Today we ate the following.

• Breakfast: Gasp – no smoothies today!  Instead we had Creme Brulee Oatmeal (from The Hearty Vegan).
• Lunch: Leftover pasta for LP, leftover red lentil stew for Mom and Dad
  
• Mom and Dad had some chocolate chip cookies for a snack
• Dinner: White Winter Soup and no-knead bread (made by Dad)
  

Money Matters:

Today we spent the following:

• $100.00 for graduate credits for Mom (after her National Board Certification)

Workout Wednesday

I’ve written a lot here about exercises to do at home and the joys of running.  None of this type of exercise requires a gym membership, but I have one anyway.  Here are some of the reasons I am keeping my gym membership, even when I rarely use it these days:

The gym was what I needed when I was pregnant.  I wasn’t one of those awesome people who run and bike all the way until their due date.  Instead, I was ready for the elliptical machine and a couple of ten pound dumbells by week 16.  The gym gave me the equipment to making working out a lot easier during my pregnancy, which I think helped me a lot through labor, delivery, and dealing with an infant.

The gym is great when it is cold.  I went to the gym today to run on the elliptical instead of running outside.  Why?  Because the high today was fifteen degrees.  I’m not that hardcore – I wasn’t running when it was that cold.  This reason also helps me when I’m working and my only opportunity to work out is at 5am.  Sometimes a run outside just isn’t feasible, and I’m going to have a hard time forcing my body up and out of my cozy bed without somewhere specific to go.  Enter the gym!

It’s free.  That’s right.  Free.  Well, sort of.  I pay $10/month for my Planet Fitness membership.  It’s a pretty basic gym without fancy yoga classes or a luxurious locker room.  But it is clean, pleasant and it has everything I need to work out.  And it’s on my way to work.  But the free part?  Well, my health insurance will reimburse a gym membership up to a certain amount – the amount I pay for mine.  So, every year I get the cost of my gym membership reimbursed – it’s a win!

I use the gym a ton when I’m working, but I considered putting my membership on hold during this Year of Family  However, since I can get it paid for through my health insurance reimbursement I figured I would hang on to it, especially for cold days like these!