Oh my goodness (as we say to the grandchildren), back to work after a small break! Over the break it took 2 weeks to alter my body clock, lie in bed late and change my eating habits. If sugar, cream, or preferably both, were not involved in the making of a dish, I wasn’t interested. Out went hot water and lemon and natural yoghurt in the morning, replaced with tea and a full English, or porridge (made with cream!). It took until this week to get back into better habits, including returning to the gym. Luckily my clothes still fit – just.
It was a real struggle getting to the gym this week. The final push was realising that I had told at least 3 new clients that before Christmas I used to go to the gym regularly and cycle at least once a week. So what was stopping me now?
- It’s cold
- Well, maybe not really cold, but wet
- I’m too busy (really, honestly, no a second free)
- Maybe I should shed a few pounds before putting on lycra again
- The “New Year resolution” lot would be in the gym…..I hate it when it’s crowded
- My “bad shoulder” was sore, and I have been told, once, by a massage therapist that I shouldn’t lift weights when it hurts
- Too much work to catch up on after Christmas
- The VAT return (there has to be at least 1 compensation)
- The accounts (now I really am avoiding something if this is my excuse)
- The cat, dog, puppy are on my knee and it would be unfair to move them.
- Lets be honest, Netflix and Sky boxsets
So, Sunday and Tuesday, I eventually got my somewhat enlarged backside off the sofa and went to the gym. I thought I would start will a gentle reintroduction of the morning routine, lemon, yoghurt etc to convince myself that I have the ability to be healthy. Sunday was fine, I even started to feel that I hadn’t slipped too far back and was quite happy on the cross-trainer, then weights, only 2.5kg less than the last effort in December. Tuesday was a different matter, stiff and sore from Sunday, not happy.
Then I see a septuagenarian, nipping round the equipment, and pushing more weight than me. I asked him, what gets him out to the gym, as I had seen him several times before. He said “it makes me feel good”, “every day I get up and get out. It’s hard when it’s cold like today, I don’t like scraping ice of the car to start with, but I feel great when I’m here.” He walks (proper 5-6 mile walks) and goes bowling and looks fabulous for his age. He told me that when his wife died it knocked him back for 3-4 weeks, but he had to get out and get on with life. I wish I could help more people of his age find the same drive. When I asked him where he found his motivation, he said he had exercised all of his life as he was in the forces.
So, can I learn anything from this? Maybe that being happy and healthy in older age is all about motivation and your routine, sticking to it and keeping fit.
Have I been to the gym today? No, the car is iced up, and not suitable for icy roads. I will go later, honest.
