Healthy obsession...

If you know me well, you know that what I'm about to say is one of the least likely things you'd ever hear come out of my mouth (or off my fingers): 

My life has been overtaken by my obsession with going to the gym.

Yes. Really. I go four or five days out of the week for at least an hour. Thursday and Sunday are the only days I definitely don't go, but when I'm not there, I'm thinking about being there. I want to be there. I love it there. I love the hour-long kickboxing and martial arts classes wherein I push my body to the point of exhaustion and leave feeling so incredibly good. And on the drive home, I'm already looking forward to the next time I'll go back. I love breathing hard and feeling my heart pump and the sweat running off me (and in general, I really hate the feeling of sweating). I love learning the new things I'm learning there, and I love finding that I can do things that I didn't think I could possibly ever do. I love the environment, the people, everything about it. I love what is happening to my body as a result of this experience. In two short months, I've come to feel better in my body and about my body than I have at any other time in my entire life. 

Obsess much? Yeah. :}

See now, the downside to this obsession is the risk of completely burning myself out. This I know from past experience with other things. But somehow, this all feels different. I mean, I've struggled with my weight and with living a healthy lifestyle my whole adult life. I've tried so many things, but nothing stuck. Nothing clicked. Nothing interested me long enough to really made a lasting difference. Not so this time. Rather than my interest starting to wane after a couple months, I feel it continuing to build. I'm holding my breath and almost afraid to say it, but it seems that maybe I've finally found the right thing for me, in the right place, at the right time.

So here I am, after eight weeks of this crazy adventure, 19 pounds lighter, feeling insanely good about myself, and praying that it never ends. 

ETA: I feel compelled to clarify: when I started doing this, it was largely because I wanted to get off my arse and do something active. And this is active! However, at this point, my enthusiasm for it is as much (if not more) for the learning as it is for the fitness benefits. And I'm pretty sure it is going to be my passion for learning that motivates me to continue with it all in the long term.