Club pilates

Do you book classes with XPASS or ClassPass?
Been a long-time ClassPass member bc I like variety and travel a lot. I haven’t seen many/any Club Pilates offered in my area on ClassPass although I have seen some while traveling.
Saw an ad on IG about Xpass that seemed tempting bc it said it has rewards and was free to download. I was curious and saw a few Club Pilates reformer classes being offered for 2pts & $96. Meanwhile PureBarre was 5points & $15
Has anyone else seen prices like that for a Club Pilates class? The price I’m seeing on the Xpass app is roughly twice the cost of drop-in classes at that same studio so I’m very confused.

Does anyone know what their pricing is like? I see they have 4-pack/8-pack/annual memberships but no price information.

• Decorating the house
• Sewing
  • Sewing your own designs onto your own clothes once you get good at it
• Reading (possibly join a book club?)
• Watching comedy shows (e.g. Dry Bar Comedy on YouTube, Netflix specials, etc.)
• Hanging out with friends
  • Be careful who you’re friends with as they can influence you in ways that can break your marriage
• Learn more about Islam, reading more Qur’an, praying more, just getting closer to Allah SWT in general
• Arts & crafts and advancing from there
  • This can help you decorate your house more)
• Beauty/self-care
  • E.g. skincare, hair maintenance, waist-trainer, etc.
  • No tabarruj though, except towards your husband 😉
• Talk with your family
• Learn new recipes
• Come up with fun date ideas for you and your husband
  • Sometimes men might be too tired or too lazy after work to go out (may Allah SWT Protect us all from such) so they might not want to, which can let you down (may Allah SWT protect us all from such); the way to get around this is to let him know in advance (but not too far in advance!) when he’s feeling more active and energetic
• Exercise, pilates, yoga, and general health & fitness activities
  • Stay away from most of the fitness section of social media because you’ll start comparing yourself and your husband to the people you see there, possibly making you ungrateful for what you have (may Allah SWT Protect us from such); and it’s just not good for your mental health and perception of how people should/shouldn’t look like
• Grow plants and vines (decorating your house)
• Gardening & growing your own food
  • Be aware that animals might eat them, you might need to put something up to protect them (or you could let the animals eat them and you get good deeds for it, doesn’t really matter)
• Start a small farm
  • Chickens are one of the easiest since they’re pretty much pets (my grandparents did this and just let them roam free, no one really cared cuz they’re just chickens lol but you might want to buy or build a coop for the nighttime because you’ll attract animals like owls, foxes, coyotes, raccoons, etc. that might try eating them)
• Learning about parenting if you plan to have kids (don’t be a Karen!)
• Video games
  • Some games have a co-op option where you can play with others online
    • I’d advise you not to get a headset because most video games are male-dominated, and once they hear your voice and find out you’re a girl, they might act like complete horndogs, and it's just a terrible thing to do to talk to other men behind your husband's back (may Allah SWT Protect us from such)
• Bake bread from scratch, or anything in general
  • Apparently it’s super hard, especially if you don’t follow a recipe, but it’s a learning experience (and on that can get you better at baking in general)
• Get involved in the masjid more, taking classes there, etc.
• Sleeping
• Send love notes/love letters and hiding them in places your husband frequents for him to find (I’m just making stuff up lol but the gist here is to find ways to invest in your relationship)
• Prepare yourself for intimacy with your husband (maybe get some lingeries, thongs, crotchless panties, etc.)
• Start a blog (it could be about anything!)
• Pottery & ceramics

You just take your time with this stuff. You don’t do them like a checklist of things that need to get done on a deadline. Take your time with it all and enjoy the process of everything and let your mind wander. Relax. No need to overthink things.

Okay so there’s a lot of context to this lol, so if you have the time and energy to read this, buckle up!
So scrolling through Instagram the other day, it made me realize how many friends (or maybe acquaintances or people to hang out with) people have even after college. I used to have a big friend group both in hs and college too, but once college ended we mostly all live in different areas and I lucked out and live in the middle of nowhere far from anyone in that friend group. Most of us ended up drifting apart and doing our thing. For hs, it sizzled out longer than after college, but it’s kind of in the same boat now. In the time of living those 2 experiences with those friend groups, it never seemed like it would happen. At least with my hs friend group, since we were so close. But everyone’s off in grad school in diff parts of the country so it’s hard to keep in touch. It’s only rlly a birthday if someone’s celebrating where most of us get to see/catch up/hang out with each other.
I wasn’t particularly super close with anyone specifically in this college group of friends, but we spent most of our college time together being part of the same club org in college and I enjoyed being around them and spending time together. Where some of us wouldn’t hang out with someone one on one, but altogether as a group it was a good time. So maybe more of acquaintances? Party friends? Event friends? Some of the friends in our group also had a major falling out due to some drama (a reason why some big friend groups do not work well lol), so that was a reason we scattered our 4th yeaafter college. Now, I haven’t seen or talked to most of them closer to the time we graduated aside from the occasional chat or comment through social media. I only keep in contact with my little/big/grand of the cultural club I was in and like 3 other friends from that club, for a grand total of 6 people who live in different areas of our state, that I would truly consider friends and would actively try to see/hang out with if we lived closer.
Whenever I go on Instagram, I see people hanging out with new people and large groups and I miss it. Granted, the people posting are mostly new people I met recently through my partner, but I’ve noticed that they know and hang out with SO many different people. For the girls, I’ve noticed a trend where it’s sorority sisters (even if graduated) they’re mostly hanging out with or going on trips. I was in it for a year in college (went to a pretty small college) and it wasn’t for me at the time, but looking back and now it makes me wish I stayed in it if it meant I could connect with people even after college because of that community of just being in one.
I think I just miss the feeling of being in a community and that connection. I spend most of my days alone and then only people I really talk to are my boyfriend (been together for almost 4 years now) and my family. We’re long distance too, whenever I visit I visit for a week or 2 at a time and usually hang with his friends on the weekends when I visit. I love all of them he’s introduced me to, but for some reason in my head they’ll forever be his friends first. I would love to get rid of this mindset so I can truly connect and get closer to them. The girlfriends of course are friendly. But since I’m not around too often, I don’t really get the chance I want to get to know them better, but I try to when I’m there.
On a side note, my boyfriend has a lot of friends (his childhood/hs friend group are still close and his college friend group is closehang out way more than mine) and they hang out often and sometimes he does too. I don’t blame him for it and he doesn’t go out as often anymore, but when he does I do feel lonely because I don’t have my group of friends to hang out with anymore. I am a bit jealous tbh which is why I would love to make my own friends separate from his group of friends/their gfs though.
I’m not a big textephone caller, more of an in person type socializer. But the thing is I’m more of an introvert and know how to put my semi-extrovert mask on in social settings (more group settings, I kinda struggle 1 on 1), but that requires a lot of energy. I get drained after those large group setting interactions and I need to recharge my social battery after for a while. I do love going out and clubbing and that sort of things when I’m with my boyfriend (he lives in a big city and we go to festivals/take trips from time to time with his friends).
In college, I was pretty social but having difficulty now since I’m not around people all the time now. I have a FT remote job and the only time I leave my house if I’m not visiting my boyfriend is to go to the gym or go grocery shopping. Live in my hometown, a pretty small town with not many socializing activities (like music/DJ events, pilates, or other fun classes like painting or pottery like in a bigger city) aside from the bars and do not go to them because I don’t want to see anyone from hs lol. I eventually am planning to move with my boyfriend to a bigger city so hoping I get a better shot at making new friends/connections there where those activities are big. It just worries me that in the future that this is how it’ll be, with a lack of friendships and genuine connection (I know how important it is to have those friendships later on in life and how it affects health too) even with moving so it’s been making me insecure about it and I’d love to change that.
So I’m wondering, how does everyone successfully make AND maintain friendships in the day and age of now after graduating college? Also, when meeting new people, do you have pre-decided topics/things you talk about? Or a list of your things you ask everyone so you don’t have things to run out of talking about?
I’ve always just tried to go with the flow in a convo and if we connect awesome, if we don’t that’s okay too. But it’s more exhausting than picking questions/topics beforehand so I don’t get to that point where I’m struggling to find common ground lol.
If you’d read all the way up to this point, wow, thank you so much in advance! Would love to hear your thoughts and replies.

I just signed up for equinox! I was doing club pilates for a year and before that using classpass.
Was wondering what some of your favorite equinox classes are, and also I did a trial for barre but noticed after using equipment people just put it away. Do the instructors clean this later on when re-setting up?

I had this realization yesterday with my pick of the poison, TikTok and Instagram. I spent years arguing to myself that I needed social media to be "social." "What if someone wanted to reach out to me?" "What if I find friends online?" The sad truth is that never happened. Nobody reached out to me online, I never made any online friends after being on the internet for over 12 years. I had a video go viral once where 12 million people liked my video. Out of 12 million people, not 1 reached out to become friends with my like I delusionally thought. The harsh reality I had to face is that I was afraid that being offline would be more excruciating than being online, and I would truly realize that I am alone.
We are all social creatures, and evolutionarily if we were alone in the wild, we would die. We need to communicate for our brains to be happy. The problem with social media is that the conglomerates like Meta push this rhetoric that social media gives us this opportunity to meet new people and connect with others. This sounds very enticing to our monkey brains, but it is all a lie. Research shows that our brains are able to differentiate the difference between reciprocal friendships (in person friendships) and non-reciprocal friends (influencers & online friends). (Here is the journal article: Walla, P., Kulzer, D., Leeb, A., et al. (2023) Brain Activities Show There Is Nothing Like a Real Friend in Contrast to Influencers and Other Celebrities. Brain Sciences. 13(5); 831. doi:10.3390/brainsci13050831). Your brain doesn't feel the same feel-good community cuddly feelings in an online friendship than in person. In order to fully convince you, in one of my psychology classes I wrote and conducted a 10 page correlational study on the relationship between friendship quality and loneliness. A significant positive correlation was found between the amount of time someone spends on social media a day and reported feelings of loneliness. This means the more time you spend on social media, the lonelier you feel and the worse friendship quality you have.
So, we're lonely people online. Now what?
In order to work through these feelings of loneliness, it requires GRIT and strength. However, everyone on this subreddit is capable of overcoming arguably this difficult aspect of smartphone addiction. You are actively working against your brain in order to do this, since it would really like to go back to TikTok to hear people voices. Your brain hates silence. In order to overcome this struggle, here are my best tips:

1. First replace the noise you hear online with another noise. You can't cold-turkey loneliness: you will become depressed. Fill the void with reading, audiobooks, podcasts, music, or ASMR videos on YouTube. This is what your brain is trying to hear if you are lonely, you just need someone to "speak to you."
2. Then take steps to become comfortable enough with yourself to be alone. Arguable the most difficult step, since being alone with your thoughts after years of allowing yourself to be semi-conscious while scrolling is very uncomfortable. This is super necessary. If you can't be comfortable within your own brain, you will never beat your addiction. Journal or talk to yourself out loud. Alternatively, seek out a therapist that you can talk to about this issue. Read self-development books. Don't stop until you can sit with yourself all day without feeling the urge to go online.
3. Start building meaningful connections offline. This is another scary step because it is an action and actions are hard. You need to get out of your comfort zone and make friends in real life. The best way to do this is to join a club or a class. Join a workout class, get a personal trainer, join a pottery class, yoga, Pilates, pole-dancing, I don't care. If you don't want to spend money, join a walking club in your area or become a member on MeetUp. Yes, I know what you're thinking. These clubs are full of old people. I want to meet people my age. The right people will come to you at the right time, right now for the sake of your mental health you need to put your judgements aside and just be surrounded by other people. Hell, go to a coffeeshop if you're not ready to commit to a class yet. The absolute worst thing you can do is rot in bed all day alone.

These are the first steps to stop feeling lonely. Eventually over time you will meet people that align with your goals and hobbies, but you have to put in the effort. This all depends on you. Nobody is coming to save you or be your best friend. At the end of the day, you determine your own happiness, and whether or not you overcome this addiction is completely your own responsibility. Make the right decision and go make some new friends.

Does anyone know membership cost for Club Pilates? Thanks!!

Does GoodLife have any pilates group fitness classes? If yes, does anyone know which club/s have them in the GTA? I recently rejoined after about 7 years & realized EVERYTHING has changed

Anyone know how much the membership fees are at Club Pilates?

Hey all, I started back at Club Pilates a month ago and am quite serious about making this my workout program and I am being very careful about sticking to my macros so I am very happy to report that I am currently down 8 lbs and really starting to feel the difference particularly in my posture. I am currenly doing three level one classes per week, with the goal of doing 4 classes per week within the next few weeks. My question for everyone is - what do you do for muscle soreness? I am curently using a muscle recovery water soluable supplement called BCAA pre and post class, and it does help, along with stretches, but my obliques are continuously sore and stiff feeling when the rest of my body is seeming to bounce back after a day. Does anyone have any recommendations?

After not taking Pilates for about two years, I started going back again to club Pilates. I forgot how amazing the center and balance classes were. I was super lucky to take it with an instructor who also implements elements of Yoga in each of her classes, since she is a yoga instructor as well. This class eliminated my anxiety. I don’t struggle with too much anxiety, but sometimes I feel so overwhelmed with emotions. I struggle to find my inner balance and peace these days, but this class really put a lot into perspective for me. I freaking loveeeeeeeee!!!!!

About the book:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B2F2PP95
You can get a free copy by leaving a request in the comments.
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..1..
Charlie’s voice pierced the stuffy silence of a dimly lit office, interrupting its owner’s habitual post-lunch alcohol-infused nap. The door cracked open, and a beam of light that came through the gap illuminated a part of the wall decorated with discolored boxing match posters. Above them hung an old championship belt. The belt was so grimy and dusty that it was almost impossible to tell the win in which championship it was awarded for.
Some of the light also fell on the face of an old and extremely raddled man reclining in a big chair. The large executive desk in front of him featured several pieces of paper, an almost finished bottle of bourbon, a smudged glass with some golden liquid left on the bottom, and a desk nameplate that said, “Gerard McKee. CEO, One-Two Boxing.” McKee screwed up his face and tried to turn away from the light, ignoring the words of his assistant who now stood in the doorway.
“Hey, Pops!” Charlie raised his voice and took a step forward. “There’s some dude looking for you. All businesslike. With a tie and everything. You’d better go talk to him.”
“Kid, how many times did I ask you not to bother me after lunch when I’m dealing with paperwork?” McKee asked hoarsely.
Charlie sneered.
“Paperwork? You mean these two papers? They've been on your table for a month! I bet you already forgot what these papers are.”
“No one asked for your opinion, smartass.”
With an effort, McKee moved closer to the desk and assumed a vertical position. The chair squeaked pitifully. McKee glanced at the swarthy, skinny boy standing in the doorway, shook his head disapprovingly, and picked up the glass.
“What if it's from the bank, or the tax office, or some sanitary inspector? Go talk to him. They won’t be tiptoeing around you, you know that. Next time, they will show up with the cops and seal the gym.”
McKee sent the remaining bourbon from the glass down his throat, and then stared at the bottle, wondering if he should finish it off completely. Finally, he heaved a deep sigh and looked up at Charlie.
“Fine, I’ll come out. Tell him to wait.”
The boy didn’t move. McKee tried his best to give him the evil eye, but quickly gave up—Charlie wouldn’t leave him alone until he got up from the chair. The boy knew all too well the profound gravitational effect exerted on his boss by his favorite chair and bottle. McKee heaved another sigh, leaned on the desk with his enormous calloused hands, and rose to his feet. As if mimicking his cousin the armchair, the desk, too, made a sorrowful noise under the 300-pound weight of its owner.
Despite nearing the age of retirement and being overweight, the six-foot-nine former heavyweight champion still looked imposing and sometimes downright formidable. Especially when he was about to meet someone he had no desire to see. And lately, that was the majority of visitors at One-Two Boxing. In these cases, McKee would square his broad shoulders, pull in his stomach, and proudly raise his eternally unshaven chin.
The transformation never ceased to amaze Charlie. It was only at those moments that the old man turned back into the Gerard McKee who was Charlie’s childhood hero. The person whose fights, home-recorded on VHS tapes, were constantly played by Charlie’s father back when they still lived in Guadalajara.
“So what are you waiting for?” McKee’s hoarse voice pulled Charlie out of his daze. “Go on, show me that suit of yours.”
The boy turned around and hurried to lead the way to the main entrance—past old punching bags, sadly hanging from the ceiling, past hopelessly worn-out speed bags and a couple of body opponent bags, whose faces over the years lost their menacing features and gained a depressive aspect, so characteristic now of all the furnishings of the formerly renowned One-Two Boxing.
A man in his mid-30s was standing at the entrance to the club. His appearance sharply contrasted the surroundings: he was short and lean, if not to say skinny, with a cleanly shaven, well-groomed face and a stylish haircut straight out of a fashion magazine. He was dressed in a bespoke and undoubtedly expensive formal three-piece.
The man could have easily been taken for a banker, a broker, or a large company business executive if not for one detail. His appearance lacked that relaxed disdainful arrogance so common among successful white-collars. In contrast, the stranger looked very tense. As if he himself believed that he didn’t belong not only in that old and dingy, yet basking in its former glory, boxing club, but also in his own high-end suit, and maybe even in his own skin.
“Hey, Mister,” MacKee shouted from a distance, addressing the stranger. “I was talking to your guys at the bank two days ago. We have agreed on a delay until the end of the month. Just don't tell me you've changed your mind. I have it all on paper, you won't be able to take my gym so easily!”
Charlie thought that the visitor flinched slightly, scared by McKee’s threatening appearance and the speed with which he was approaching. But when the old man stood right in front of him, looming like a cliff over the stranger who was a full foot shorter than him, he stretched out his hand to McKee without missing a beat.
“Mr. MacKee?” the stranger was clearly trying to make his voice sound more masculine than it really was.
“Yes, it's me,” answered the old man and automatically shook the outstretched hand, continuing to glare at the visitor.
The stranger’s palm, almost child-like in size, drowned in McKee’s giant hand.
“Jack Sullivan, nice to meet you. Don't worry, I'm not from a bank or any other organization that might threaten your gym.”
“Threaten? Me?” McKee roared, reflexively attacking even before he could figure out the situation.
Unconsciously, McKee emphasized his words by squishing Sullivan’s hand. Noticing that the visitor clenched his teeth in pain, Charlie hastened to intervene.
“Pops, he didn't talk about you! He said "threaten the gym" and that he's not one of those who can do it!”
“Yeah, right,” McKee released Sullivan's hand and took a step back. “Sorry, Mister. My bad.”
“It's okay,” the guest responded, rubbing his palm, almost crushed by the hot-tempered old man.
“So how can I help you, Mr. Sullivan?”
“I want to train with you.”
“No problem, the price list is hanging over there by the locker room entrance. Punching bags, barbells, dumbbells, and everything else is included in the price. There are gym membership options and group discounts. Charlie will show and tell you everything.”
After giving his assistant a slight push forward, McKee was about to turn around and go back to the armchair and bottle he loved so much when Sullivan stopped him.
“No, you didn't understand. I don't want to train in your gym, I want to be trained personally by you, Mr. McKee.”
With a quick glance, the old man examined Sullivan’s puny physique, his pricey suit, well-groomed face, and delicate hands.
“Listen, buddy, I understand that a healthy lifestyle is a thing now and everyone in your world is doing some kind of aerobics or Pilates. So you decided to show off in front of your golf-club buddies and instead of some faggy gym join an old-school boxing club. It’s one thing to play around with pink girly barbells that won’t serve even to prop a door open in the summer or take a bunch of selfies next to a punching bag, but it’s something completely different to box. Trust me, that’s not for you.”
Charlie noticed that McKee’s tone, as rough as his hands, made the visitor’s cheek muscles flex. The boy almost opened his mouth to intervene again, but Sullivan didn’t need his help.
“Mr. McKee, I understand very well what boxing is. I don’t go to the golf club. I already have a faggy gym membership. I don’t take selfies, and I don’t have friends to brag to. I want to become a fighter. A real one. I want you to teach me. And I will pay as much as you ask.”
Sullivan’s words sounded unexpectedly harsh, even though there still was a touch of insecurity and even fear in them. That odd stranger had probably never had to confront anyone half as formidable as McKee.
At the mention of the money the gym was in desperate need of, the old man paused to think. He took a step back and, once again, examined the man in front of him from head to foot.
“How old are you?”
“Thirty-five.”
“How much do you weigh?”
“One hundred and twenty pounds.”
“Have you ever boxed, wrestled, maybe did some karate shit in school?”
Sullivan shook his head.
“Any sports at all?”
Sullivan shook his head again.
“Were you at least a boy scout as a kid?” chuckled McKee.
Sullivan didn’t bother to reply to what was obviously a mockery. The old man scratched his chin and added, “Got picked on by a bully? Or struggling to stand up to your boss at work? Or maybe your wife dumped you for some hunk?”
Sullivan shook his head three times.
“So what do you need boxing for? Was there a re-run of Fight Club last night?”
“I want to become the IPBU World Champion,” Salivan replied in all seriousness.
The old man gave out a cry of surprise that was a mix of a cough and a sob, and then the gym turned silent for a second. It wasn’t long, however, before McKee rejoined.
“So you like the International Professional Boxing Union?” the old man barely stifled a laugh. “Neither WBA, nor WBC, nor IBF, nor WBO suit you, only IPBU?”
Again, Sullivan ignored McKee’s mockery. McKee waited for a couple of seconds and added, “To hell with the IPBU. Let’s train you to be a fairy godmother.”
McKee found his own remark so incredibly funny that he couldn't hold his laughter anymore. The booming sound traveled through the entire gym, peeking into the farthest corners that Charlie had been overlooking when washing the floor at night for more than a year.
The boy peered at the visitor’s face, expecting him to burst out in anger or maybe burst into tears under the avalanche of the old man’s derisive laughter. Surprisingly, Sullivan didn’t respond at all. Charlie even thought that he became calmer than he was at the beginning of his conversation with McKee.
When the old man’s guffaw started to die out, Sullivan spoke in a calm, neutral, and this time quite confident voice,
“Mr. McKee, your club's official website states that you provide services to prepare boxers for professional fights. I want to purchase these services. Why I need these services and what the chances of my endeavor being successful are is none of your business.”
McKee finally stopped laughing, exhaled loudly, and wiped away the tear that appeared on his seemingly long dried out eyes. Sullivan continued in the same unperturbed voice,
“I need your professional services as a coach, and your opinion on the potential success of my endeavor interests me no more than the opinion of a supermarket clerk on how well I can make a frozen key lime pie from the ingredients I purchased from him.”
Charlie chuckled at the clever jibe.
“Mister McKee, do you provide coach services or not?”
The man’s scoff, his calm tone, and especially Charlie’s reaction brought McKee’s legendary short temper to life. He made a menacing step toward Sullivan and roared, “Listen to me, you faggot-haired piece of shit! This gym is the holy temple of boxing! Of the greatest sport in the history of humanity! Of the sport built with the hundreds of thousands of gallons of real men’s sweat and blood. And you are defiling it with your mere presence at the doorstep of my gym. There is no way in hell I would coach such a sleazy bastard even in a dirty craphouse, let alone in my ring. I would teach you a boxing lesson right here and right now if I weren’t worried I’d kill you with one punch. But I can still change my mind, so hurry up and get your thousand-dollar suit and your shiny heels out of here.”
A shiver went down Charlie’s spine even though McKee’s angry outburst had nothing to do with him. But to both Charlie’s and the old man’s surprise, Sullivan didn’t back down, even though his voice betrayed his fear.
“Again, I’m ready to pay any amount you name.”
“Get out of my gym!” muttered McKee through gritted teeth. “I’m counting to three.”
“Call me if you change your mind,” Sullivan took out a business card from the inside pocket of his jacket and handed it to the old man. “I pay forward. Any amount.”
McKee sharply slapped Sullivan’s outstretched hand, sending the business card down on the dirty floor. Sullivan’s face contorted in pain. Rubbing his injured hand, he turned around and headed for the exit, saying as he went,
“I will be waiting for your call.”
Standing in the doorway, he turned around and added, “By the way, my suit is worth three thousand dollars.”
Sullivan stepped outside, slamming the old rusty door behind him.
As McKee dashed after him, Charlie grabbed his boss by the shoulder with all his strength. “Hey, Pops! Take it easy! You know there are cameras on every building around here. If you mess him up, you won’t get away with it. I bet he has a big-time lawyer on standby.”
The old man let out an angry breath, like a fighting bull, spat loudly on the floor, aiming at Sullivan’s business card, then turned around, and, without a word to Charlie, headed back to his office. As the door closed behind his boss, the boy bent down to pick up the card and, happy that McKee had missed, stuck it in the back pocket of his shorts.

F42 diagnosed in Feb with 9 months of hell prior. Just failed Embrel, still on MTX, which does cause some side effects.
Can anyone share experience with the infusion? I’m asking early because who knows if my insurance will even cover.
I was really optimistic about starting treatment and now I am just sad, frustrated, and just shy of terrified. This is for both my life and to start the infusion.
I was so active before diagnosis and long to swing a golf club, run, or do a Pilates class workout a ton of modifications. Thanks for any advise and for reading.

hey! im a early 20s woman looking to move to birmingham in the next couple of months. im about to graduate from another college in the state and moving to birmingham to practice as a nurse. wanted to the best places to find other women in the city to make friends :) some of my interests include: fitness (wanting to get into running + pilates), night life / brewery scene, brunches, and wanting to travel to places like nashville, chicago, etc for girls trips.
please let me know if you think there are any gyms/clubs that might fit for woman in their early 20s. thanks!

Absolute beginner here! Looking for beginner friendly pilates classes where I can start easy and then build up the intensity. Club pilates looks like a good place, do we have any fav friendly places??

Y’all I’m bored before dinner so I’m thinking… what are modern day things you think each character would be into. Can be food, stores, shows, etc. iI’ll go first…
Rhys: Tesla’s. Especially the model X With the bat wing doors. Armani suits. Mont Blanc pens. High end gyns (Equinox), the mile high club, classy wine bars. Local eateries or ones that have Michelin stars. He would hire an in home nanny for Nyx. Watching the property brothers. Podcasts. Lint rollers
Cassian: 24 hour gyms. Monster energy drinks. Theme parks (specifically ones with rollercoasters). Sour Patch kids. Spicy Cheetos. UFC matches. NFL. Cruises with Nesta. Taking Nyx to Chuck E Cheese and getting too competitive on skee ball. Claritin.
Azriel: speak easy’s, pawn shops, guitar stores, therapy, dive bars. My Chemical Romance and Pierce The Viel. Hot Topic. True crime podcasts. Motorcycles. Ax throwing parties. Going to Taylor Swift concerts with Elain. Star Wars.
Nesta: Barnes and Noble. The Kardashian’s. Love Island. Rose’. Flamin hot Cheetos. Massages/self care appointments. Strappy heels, makeup, getting her hair done, gyms only cause Cass drags her out of bed. Brunch. Aritzia. She would drive an Audi SUV. Matcha lattes or Chai latte with sweet cream cold foam. Anything Alani Nu. Being an fitness influencer. Crystals/witch craft/astrology. Morning yoga.
Feyre: digital art and photoshop. Baby Brezza machines. Craft fairs. Being in mommy Facebook groups. The 1975 and Taylor Swift. Pilates. Places like Paris. Montessori’s and Gentle Parenting. Crumbl cookies.
Elain: brunch. Malls. Lululemon and Anthropologie. Farmers markets. Local coffee shops. Lavender latte’s. Beach cruiser bikes. Taylor Swift. Disney adult. HGTV, food network. The great British bake off. Frozen wine slushies. Owning a cat named Sir Mittens. Journaling. Hot girl walks with Nesta and Feyre.

There is a new Club Pilates opening up by me so I called to get the founders price for the first three months.
When I asked to see the contract, I was told I would only see it after I sign it. Obviously a red flag - is this place scammy or was this just a weird interaction?

There is a new Club Pilates opening up by me so I called to get the founders price for the first three months.
When I asked to see the contract, I was told I would only see it after I sign it. Obviously a red flag - is this place scammy or was this just a weird interaction?

For context, my sister has watched both semis while the others have not been following this year’s Eurovision season at all. We had a lot of fun on Saturday night!
🇦🇹Who the Hell is Edgar? My sister: didn’t really pay attention to the performance because she was too busy telling us a story about a creepy stalker she had who was also named Edgar My brother: kinda catchy song but the performance lacked something My mom: not impressed
🇵🇹Ai Coração Sister: very charismatic and fun performance, enjoyed it Brother: same as my sister, but wasn’t blown away or anything Mom: loved it, gave her 1 vote
🇨🇭Watergun Sister: great voice but that’s all Brother: thought the overdramatic choreography in the chorus was a bit hilarious Mom: said he seemed like a sweet and talented young man
🇵🇱 Solo Sister: reminded her of a 00’s girl bop song but she couldn’t remember the name, pretty generic and bad but also a bit fun at the same time, ended up singing along to the “solo, solo/show ya, show ya” parts Brother: wondered why she was randomly engulfed by the sun out of nowhere Mom: not impressed
🇷🇸 Samo mi se spava Sister: too creepy/dark/weird, said he was trying too hard to be edgy, didn’t like it at all. But she did reply every time he sang “hello?” Brother: loved it (especially the instrumentals), could relate to the lyrics, gave him 1 vote Mom: why is he whispering so much?
🇫🇷 Évidemment Sister: not too impressed, said it felt very stereotypically French and unauthentic contrary to Barbara Pravi (who she really loved) but by the end of it she thought it was a bit groovy and catchy though Brother: same as above, the “à chanter la grande France” part with the French flag was very over the top Mom: thought she was a drag queen at first, said she has a great figure, thought the reaction/gesture she did when she received her televote points was a bit disrespectful
🇨🇾 Break a Broken Heart Sister: the most generic and uninspired sad boi pop ballad she had ever heard Brother: thought he was really whiny with the oooooooooooh’s in the chorus, also very disappointed that the waterfall was fake Mom: not too impressed either
🇪🇸 EAEA Sister: is this some sort of alien cult ritual? (weirded out) Brother: is this some sort of alien cult ritual? (impressed) Mom: captivated by the performance but not sure if she liked it or not
🇸🇪 Tattoo Sister: said Loreen is great but the song is really mid, also winners shouldn’t be allowed to return Brother: really liked it but not as much as Euphoria, gave her 1 vote, pretty happy that she won Mom: said she has barely aged and is still in great shape, really hated her nails but thought the song was okay
🇦🇱 Duje Sister: loved it!! Very balkan and dramatic and catchy and wholesome, gave them 1 vote Brother: didn’t love the song but liked the handkerchief dance, died inside while trying to imagine us and the rest of the family singing this together on stage Mom: loved it too, her favorite of the night, gave them 1 vote
🇮🇹 Due Vite Sister: said it was a pretty standard ballad but anything sung in Italian is automatically beautiful though Brother: thought it was a bit boring Mom: agreed that Italian is a beautiful language, said he seemed a bit nervous
🇪🇪 Bridges Sister: loved her vocals and loved the piano arrangement, didn’t love it enough to vote for it though Brother: good voice, meh song Mom: also impressed by it, said that “this girl can sing, that’s for sure”
🇫🇮 CHA CHA CHA Sister: LOVED IT, her favorite, she voted 19 times (the last vote went to Albania), she was really sad when he didn’t win but Verka didn’t win either and is still a legend so there’s that Brother: didn’t understand why he was a fan favorite at all but was really amused by how passionate we were about the song Mom: thought he was really fun and entertaining and said she would have preferred to see him win over Loreen, gave him 1 vote
🇨🇿 My Sister’s Crown Sister: liked the song, didn’t like the creepy hands on the LED screens Brother: called them “Czech Blackpink” Mom: didn’t care too much about it
🇦🇺 Promise Sister: liked the verses but thought the chorus was repetitive and weak. The camera cut to the band members as they unexpectedly received 12 points while eating was the highlight of the night Brother: loved the performance, Back to the Future vibes, gave them 1 vote Mom: liked his hair and the car
🇧🇪 Because of You Sister: initially made fun of how cliché the lyrics were and called it Zara store music but ended up finding it a bit catchy though, she thought Gustaph’s reaction when he got points was really sweet Brother: yeah he didn’t like it at all Mom: liked it, said it was very 90’s
🇦🇲 Future Lover Sister: didn’t like the beginning of the song but it grew better and better as the song progressed, she was glad they got rid of the smoke during the dance break, also said she looked a lot like Ariana Grande Brother: genuinely thought “begu dogu logu” was Armenian, didn’t care too much about the song Mom: didn’t care too much either, went to the kitchen
🇲🇩 Soarele si Luna Sister: liked the vibe and the performance but it was nothing too special, said she preferred Fulenn last year Brother: same as my sister, thought the lil flute guy was epic though Mom: liked Pasha but didn’t really like the song or the performance
🇺🇦 Heart of Steel Sister: not impressed, was disappointed that the other guy in the duo didn’t do anything Brother: Matrix vibes, cool and sleek staging, liked it Mom: wondered why they were wearing sunglasses indoors, didn’t care for it
🇳🇴 Queen of Kings Sister: loved the song, didn’t love the staging and the outfit, relieved that her vocals were much better than in the semi Brother: liked the song too but agreed that the staging felt a bit dark and empty Mom: thought Alessandra was adorable
🇩🇪 Blood & Glitter Sister: liked the outfit, song was ehh Brother: thought it was good but wished they’d sung in German, said they absolutely DID NOT deserve last place Mom: didn’t like it
🇱🇹 Stay Sister: didn’t really watch as she went to the kitchen but she thought it sounded very nice and pleasant Brother: same as my sister Mom: liked the chorus, thought the staging was lovely
🇮🇱 Unicorn Sister: found the lyrics to be a bit cringe but loved it overall and thought she slayed, didn’t vote though Brother: missed the singing part and returned from the bathroom during the dance break, wasn’t too impressed Mom: asked why she was stretching and doing pilates on the floor
🇸🇮 Carpe Diem Sister: thought it was just okay, said it was Franz Ferdinand/Two Door Cinema Club/Arctic Monkeys but worse, wasn’t really convinced by their charisma, said the song title was cliché, buuuut she liked their outfits Brother: enjoyed it but it was nothing too special Mom: heavily disturbed by Bojan’s camera lick
🇭🇷 Mama ŠČ Sister: thought it was weird but not weird enough at the same time (if that makes sense), at least the vocals sounded better than in the semi Brother: said that he appreciated the message behind the song but it was musically and visually painful Mom: found it pretty amusing
🇬🇧 I Wrote a Song Sister: thought it was generic, said that the UK probably doesn’t care about winning again because they’re hosting, bathroom break Brother: was not impressed by her performance, thought it lacked energy Mom: didn’t care for it either

My sister’s top 5: Finland, Albania, Israel, Norway, Estonia
My brother’s top 5 (in no particular order as he didn’t have a favorite): Sweden, Serbia, Australia, Ukraine, Norway
My mom’s top 5: Albania, Portugal, Finland, Estonia, Italy or Lithuania (she couldn’t decide)
My top 5: Finland, Albania, Spain, Slovenia, Norway

First of all, you go in with the intention to sign up and charge you a BS initiation fee. Then they try to rope you into personal training, which is obviously an additional fee. I wasn’t interested in the personal training-as I’m already aware that their “free training session” is a way to pressure to you sign up. I made a mistake in my early twenties to do a free training session and they literally blocked me from trying to walk out of the door telling me my BMI was high (it wasn’t) and that I was fat (I wasn’t) and that I NEEDED a trainer otherwise I would never get in shape.I argued with them for almost an hour I was young and naive and should’ve just walked away but I shit you not they wouldn’t let me walk out I said I was not making a lot of money and they said “you have a degree and can’t afford training???” Literally three people surrounded me trying to get me to sign up”your cc is on file we can just charge it” I’m telling you it was insanity…..they were really trying to bully me into it!! So it definitely traumatized me from ever going back to that particular gym. When I tried to work out there after, they would watch me and laugh. It was so uncomfortable. So I went to a farther gym just to avoid those vultures.
10 years later I decided to sign up again after having a baby as I see they offer Pilates. I sign up, pay their initiation fee and then they ask me for my contacts to add to my “VIP list” so they can reach out and offer a free week to my friends/family. Why isn’t that offered to me?? I say no thank you since I don’t want them to get harassed and they said I HAD to and it was my only chance to do it. So I just have them add my husbands who already has a membership. “Just give me 7 people in your contact list they won’t know it’s from you “ how predatory is that!? NO.Later on I saw that i can add people and remove people through their app. So I removed my husband. But why lie and say you can’t move on to the next sign up process without adding names??
After I paid, I asked for the Pilates schedule-“oh that’s a third party you have to pay extra for that but the first class is free” are you FKING KIDDING ME??? Then why is it called Club Pilates By LAF????? So I go to the Pilates teacher to inquire about pricing and she tells me she will give my contact information to their sales person because she doesn’t know. Great. I was curious to know how much because SURELY it can’t be that much since I’m paying for my gym membership already-surely it’s a small fee since it’s INSIDE LAF. I checked online and their pricing wasn’t there, so sure take my number and call me…so here we go….
Well folks, it’s an additional $159 a month for unlimited classes PLUS another $99 initiation fee. Or…$89 for ONCE a week, $129 for only twice a week….PLUS your LAF Monthly membership. I was floored. Why does LAF have Pilates but it isn’t included? Oh and if you pay for that Pilates membership you can’t go to a different La fitness and take a Pilates class there-you are locked into one location only, which wouldn’t be a problem if I didn’t travel so much. The cherry on top? I got 3 calls in a row and a text from La fitness people to come check out my new membership “perks” which is their new technique to have me come in and try to get me to sign up for personal training. This experience really makes me want to cancel my membership again. I also hate how their sales people and trainers are right in the entrance-their whole set up is awful!!
Let me add, that the class is not even private-everyone in the gym can watch you take your class through the glass it’s so embarrassing someone who was harassed and laughed at by the LAF trainers in the past.

Does anyone have good suggestions for pilates classes? Moving to Fresno soon and looking!