Science ABC
“I didn’t make it to the gym today. That makes five years in a row.”*
My current exercise plan of doing ‘yoga-and-exercises’ one day and the elliptical trainer the next seems to be a good fit for me.
If I try to do both in one day I get overwhelmed since I’m a couch potato for some awful number of years now. I’m also trying to go through my over-30-year-old house, purging/donating/cleaning/reorganizing room by room, plus working out in the yard when the weather is cooperative, so I’m getting a good amount of other exercise on a daily basis, as well.
I envy folks who ‘discover’ exercise, quickly becoming addicted, feeling ‘off’ if they miss exercising one day. I envy folks who actually reshape their bodies with exercise, looking gorgeous in their cute little exercise outfits. I’m not dead yet, so I can really admire (and do a little bit of quiet drooling) over men who routinely rip their shirts off to expose their six-packs and bulging arms.
Reality is a whole different story, though. What I am going for – since at 71 I’m getting a bit long in the tooth – is
- balance – I don’t want to get tottery and pitch headlong down our stairs, and we have them everywhere here. I want to keep walking like I mean it, not hesitantly, as if I’m walking on eggs stiffly, as I see in so many older ladies.
- flexibility – I get stiff and sore at the drop of a hat, so I want to do all I can to get more flexible and then stay that way.
- lessening of pain – I would rather not be dependent on pain relievers in pills, gels, oils, or whatever. I would prefer to exercise my way to feeling as good as I can.
- loosening – this is probably weird, but as I exercise, my body is feeling ‘looser.’ I can feel my stomach muscles when I walk – a new feeling for me, believe me. My body is moving more easily.
- strength – One of the many ‘perks’ of getting older is getting weaker. I can accept that there are certain things I should no longer be trying to do, and that’s okay, I guess. But I DON’T want to accept giving up what I consider regular things and I will fight to strengthen my core muscles, my arms and legs, etc. in order to continue doing most of the things I would like to do until I croak.
- general health – as I get stronger, I’m healthier. I don’t get sick nearly as much. I feel better every day (unless I’ve killed myself overdoing the day before) and then MORE EXERCISE!
- new, smaller clothes – I also freely admit that I’m enjoying fitting into clothes that have been hanging in my closet – some of them for YEARS now – without being worn because they were too small. I’m enjoying almost being down 4 sizes in jeans at this point, with the thought that I might actually need to buy smaller ones in the future. :0) I like being able to look at clothes I really LIKE, rather than mainly concentrating on whether they are large enough to cover my bulk.
It’s okay that I will never be like the crazy people in the exercise machine commercials who seem to be in a sexual frenzy while bicycling. That would be wonderful, but it’s not gonna happen. What I FEEL happening is good. It feels good enough – along with the sweet little gold stars I give myself on my calendar each day when I do my scheduled exercise – that I want to continue. That’s good enough for this old broad.
“I decided to stop calling the bathroom the “John” and renamed it the “Jim”. I feel so much better saying I went to the Jim this morning.” *
* Quotes were sent to me via email by my good friend, Marsha Koenig
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