i'm getting a head start on one of my usually unfulfilled new years resolutions - partly because a brand spanking new ymca has recently been constructed twenty minutes from my house, and partly to head off the rush of newbies come january second. they set you up in the computer system that keeps track of how much energy you're exerting and such, they're open all sorts of odd hours, they have a NURSERY, and when the weather outside is frightful, i can sit in the big white tiled hot tub...lovely. i can't take it all too seriously, though...today i gave swimming laps my best shot, and when it was over i went to log it into Fitlinxx, where i was informed that i had just burned eighty calories. great! after which i went out to my car, threw my bag on the passenger seat, and took a granola bar our of the glove box...and looked at the label. 230 calories. i decided right then and there to never (not this decade anyway) become an obsessive calorie counter, scale frequenter, or workout queen. if it's not fun, to me, there's just no point.