A 40-yr Old Going Back to Exercise

Being older and going back to exercise is usually not taken lightly. On the one hand, one has to take in consideration all the “gifts” that come with age. Such as, those things that were tight now are loose and those things that were loose, now are tight. Making hard choices is daily matter, such as bending down to pick up that paper, I mean, what is more important? One’s back, or the need of having the paper on hand? Oh, being older is a bundle of joy.

On the other hand, one has to also consider the possibility of being on a death bed thinking “had I exercised more, I would have prevented that heart attack, or those complications from diabetes”. Even worse, one’s physique! Because let’s be honest here, at 40 who cares if people think we are intelligent, all we want is to look fine.

So, in my case, after a short 25-year-exercise hiatus, the looks won and the decision was made, I had to start exercising. While my head was trying to convince my body that this was a good thing, I walked myself to a gym and enrolled. Knowing myself, I would need to have someone to be accountable to, otherwise, my exercise would become getting out of the car to get cakes and cookies, mmmm cakes and cookies… So, I also got a trainer. I thought, at some point, the money that I earn from my hard work needs to be invested in me, plus I will cut back on other things. I would make it work.

Everything was so wonderful, I felt good about my decision; until, I started the training sessions. I quickly and painfully discovered muscles I never knew I had, I never realized my fat could get so sore, and never knew that exercises that look so simple were so hard.

But, I stuck to my plan of having fine looks, so I continued on. Who knew that shallowness was helpful at last! After a couple of months of sweating and wishing that exercise became my friend -which it is still has not-, I started noticing little changes here and there. Like my dress shirts, I could button them down, after 4 years of not being able to do so. I was able to pick things up from the floor without having to call someone to help me stand up again! The lovely stubborn fat rolls around my core were actually getting smaller, take that! fat roll! My body started to question my food decisions and telling me “ya know, after all that sweating and hard work, are you sure you want to ingest that?”, wow, that was a big change.

In perspective, exercising has actually been a really good investment. And while I still dread going to exercise, I know it is making me healthier. So this 40+ year old will continue on for as long as my body allows me to. Plus, I can still eat my cookies and cakes, in moderation; after all, I exercise to compensate those nasty nagging calories.

A little note here. I want to thank my trainer Jana because she has stuck with me and she has motivated me all along. For some reason, she always tells me how proud she is of me. She even knows how to manipulate me so I feel bad if I do not get moving in several days, so now I try not to that that! Thank you so much Jana!