I believe in exercising and I think it's possible for anyone at any age. Its nice to be able to walk up the stairs and not pause at the top. Even though there is no competition in what I do except with me to keep doing it I guess I have to say I'm successful at it but you have to add in diet. you can exercise and stay the same weight. You still get the benefit of exercising. It took me over 2 years though (this time) to realize that I was not going to lose any weight or significantly change my body until I did something about how I was eating (sounds better than saying that dread word, diet!) and I was working out at a good rate not extreme but hard. I thought if I got up to about 5 miles a day jogging I'd have the body I wanted, I was wrong.
So at about 205 lbs and couldn't do a chin up or more than a couple push ups I started working out in the house. I had been in shape when my boys and I were in jiu-jitsu I could grapple 3 5 min matches back to back and keep training. I was in my forties and coach said at that time I was actually an athlete which was one of my proudest accomplishments coming from him.
I did a 30 min combo of single leg squats, push ups, sit-ups and chin-ups all cheating till I could do real ones. It's ok to cheat! Then I shadow boxed for cardio. I went back to the gym for awhile during this time, the wrestling gym but my arthritis had gotten too bad and I was not taking pain killers any more and I couldn't do it the pain was incredible. Then I started jogging.
I jogged a solid year at least, maybe two I really can't remember the sequence all that well) I never got the injuries because I had strengthened the muscles first, jogging is terrible for you I think. I have the hat I wore it got completely bleached from the sun and rain. (sweat!) All this was about anxiety relief and using it to change how I felt, to deal wit the stress and trauma therapy and not working. It works for me. It doesn't make me do anything, but I can exercise.
Then slowly I worked my way out of running into the gym. I really hated running! It was the dogs that
ruined it, but I hated the exercise and it never got much easier so everything together and I started looking for a way inside. The weather, cars, dogs, people. Really horrible lol. Timing also because I ran the beach at low tide barefoot. It was beautiful, but there was always someone with a dog off the leash and it would ruin me. Literally that would ruin my whole day. I almost got a baton to run with but what I really wish was that when a dog charged me I could whip out a pistol and fire a couple warning shots into the sand. lol. So I became obsessed with this and I wanted to go to the police station all the time and complain or go to the town meeting and make a speech but I knew they'd see I was crazy even though it is the law.
Well shortly after I managed to join the Y. I'd been looking and didn't think I could do it I hadn't worked for a long time. I have to go through the humiliation of the financial aid papers but it's really reasonable (I can't believe what they charge.) we get a family membership. I think if I applied for my daughters who are handicapped they'd give us a similar discount but IDK. I'm the only one who uses it seriously. We are working on getting the girls there more but I need help with them and I can't talk to the people who run the Y. They're zombies. That's another story lol.
The rest of the story is the gym which 'something else,' I'm sure I'll bore you with it another time!
As you can see, it's a subject I've spent some time thinking about. Like my wife says, I'm my favourite subject. : )
