No More Excuses

It's official. I have no more excuses. For Christmas I received a pair of new jeans from Wal Mart, which didn't fit me the best. I took them back a few days ago, and tried on a different size, only to find the other size to not fit too well either. So I headed for plan B - the shoe department.

You see, for months I've been wanting to use our nice facilities on campus to start working out. I've been waiting because I wanted to use the personal trainer services, which would write up a workout plan based on my needs and goals. I feel that this would help me to stay on track so much better, and would get me past my "I know absolutely NOTHING about working out in a gym" mindset. Unfortunately, this costs me money. So wait I did. Then I got the money for Christmas - gym here I come - or so I thought. Next thing you know I'm sick and missing two days of work. My gym dreams looked pretty dim.

Then I looked at my budget, and while I can't afford my orginal plan (5 sessions with a trainer) I can afford the fitness evaluation (it's free! and that's where they come up with my workout plan) and 1 session with a trainer ($15)! Therefore, I decided to get a nice pair of running shoes to workout in after returning my jeans and finding other pairs to not fit me so well.

Now I have no more excuses...except one: Pracs. I was all set to go to the gym today to schedule my fitness evaluation, except I found a pracs study that will fit into my busy schedule. For those of you who don't know, Pracs is a medical testing facility up here in Fargo which tests new medicines. They host a bunch of studies each year, and pay their participants good money to have the tests done on them. Sometimes you take a pill and stay at their facilities for a few days, other times you wear a patch or have a cream put on for a certain number of days. All their medicines are in the last stages of testing, and are quite safe. They warn you of any possible side effects before hand. It's not something I recommend doing a lot of, but let's face it - they pay better than any job I can get, and I really need the extra money. I did a study back in September which helped to pay for my tuition last semester, and ever since have been keeping an eye out for a study which fits in my schedule to help pay for this semester. And last night I finally found one.

After some schedule adjustments, I offically am signed up for the study. I'll have to stay from Saturday afternoon until Monday morning at eight for two weekends, and then will have to go back four days after each weekend for return visits - most likely blood draws. The drug they're testing is for transplant patients, in order to ensure that they're bodies don't attack the new organ. But get this - the two weekend study pays $1,100!!! This means that I'll be able to pay all of my tuition and books for the spring semester. Unfortunately, I can't start my new workout plan until after the study - so mid February. I'm saddened by that, but for over a thousand dollars, I can wait. But after that - no more excuses.