Old Folks at the Gym

When I made the decision to go back to the gym, I looked up the fitness club where I used to have a membership.  This was mostly to see if the price of a membership had changed since I was there, but for kicks I thought I would look at the reviews online just to see what they said.

I liked this gym very much when I went there.  Great, knowledgeable trainers and you can set up sessions with them as part of your membership at no additional cost.  Reasonable membership fees. Open 24 hours. Conveniently located. A variety of classes and a pool, for those so inclined.  My biggest complaint was that the people there were so friendly and nice that sometimes you would have to wait for a machine while they sat on one of them chatting with someone.  Not exactly a deal breaker.

To say the least, I was surprised when several of the younger reviewers took a few points off their otherwise stellar reviews because there were so many old people at the gym, especially in the mornings.  REALLY???  

I have to say that I never paid any attention to the demographics of my fellow gym members, and more to the point, why do these younger people care about the age of those sharing their precious gym space?  Moreover I figured they were talking about me.  Well I would be joining these young whippersnappers on weekday mornings whether they liked it or not!

So I started back to the gym, which was pretty much exactly as it was when I left it. I did find a number of mature folks there, so I fit right in.  Some of them were even older than I am, if you can imagine. Fit, strong people of a “certain age.”  I quickly lost count of the number of octogenarians who routinely pass me several times when I am walking as fast as I can to put in my mile around the track.  Many do so after completing strength training routines that I could never dream of attempting.  One day I passed a twenty-something on the track, and got pretty excited until I realized he was texting, which was obviously slowing him down.

I have three wishes for those ageist youngsters who cite old people at the gym as a negative:

1. That workouts at the gym now will allow them to survive into old age

2. That they are still healthy enough to be using the gym on a regular basis when they reach that age.

3. That when they become the old folks at the gym, that the young people there treat them with the same respect they now show their elders at the gym.

A Weighty Matter

In January at my routine 6 month doctor's appointment all my numbers were great!  My blood pressure and cholesterol were down, my “good” cholesterol was up, my triglycerides were enviably low and…I had gained 7 pounds.

I long ago resigned myself to the fact that I was going to weigh more than those ridiculous height and weight charts suggest that I should. Honestly, if I was down to skin and bones, the weight of my bones alone would still put me well into the overweight range. I also came to the conclusion that my weight had little to do with my overall health. 

It never came easily, but in the past I could and did lose weight when I made an effort to do so. Once when I had lost weight between 6 month visits, my family doctor at the time said, “I see you lost some weight, which means either you are making an effort, or you're terminally ill.”  I’d like to say he was joking but he wasn't given to fits of whimsy.

Everything became more complicated in 2013 after I was diagnosed with IBS and acid reflux.  I am not sure why but people don't like to talk about IBS, which stands for Irritable Bowel Syndrome and causes symptoms like bloating, constipation and/or diarrhea, triggered by certain foods and stress.  It took six months of every imaginable medical test to get a diagnosis while enduring a living hell of bloating that made my abdomen feel like a balloon about to burst just about any time I ate.  It took another year of experimenting to figure out my “trigger” foods (which are different for everyone) that brought on symptoms.

My (identified) trigger foods for IBS are salads, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts, artificial sweeteners, carbonated beverages, dairy products, processed foods (especially meat), very rich food, very fatty food, and eating a large quantity of food in one sitting. 

To keep my acid reflux under control I need to avoid tomatoes, citrus fruit and things like peppermint. I should restrict salty foods for my high blood pressure, and carbohydrates in general (sugar, bread, pasta and fruit) to keep my borderline sugar numbers, well, borderline.

What's left you ask?  Good question. Basically I can eat all the boneless chicken breast and grilled shrimp that I want.

While this was all happening I was concerned with eating what I could without feeling violently ill. Weight was the last thing on my mind, although it is remarkable that I could gain weight on a steady diet of probiotics, shrimp and chicken. When things were under control I went to a nutritionist, followed her instructions exactly and continued to gain weight. She gave up on me after six visits.

Even though my health was generally very good and my IBS was somewhat managed, the fact that I continued to gain weight despite a generally healthy diet gave me pause.  I also have two arthritic knees and the extra weight did not help that condition.  I couldn't just keep gaining weight indefinitely.

So I re-joined the fitness club I used to frequent and started going there most mornings before work.  I do a combination of upper and lower body strength training exercises and walk a 15 to 19 minute mile up to four times a week. I continued to eat the way the nutritionist had taught me. For good measure, I stopped eating all the goodies that people bring into work.

I still did not lose weight until one Monday six weeks after I began back to the gym, when I got on the scale and saw a ONE pound weight loss!  I set out to the gym with renewed enthusiasm and resolve and what do I find when I get there?  A big huge sheet cake already cut and plated sitting in the lobby to celebrate the club's 26th anniversary.  Saboteurs, I thought!  I did not eat the cake.

However I thought this was funny so I shared the incident on Facebook.  Ah, the response I received from my sweet Friends! Words of encouragement and words of praise and wonderful  suppositions that I was just replacing fat with muscle came pouring in. 

But they need not have fretted.  A few days later I was babysitting my infant grandson whose arrival has brightened the world of our entire family beyond all measure. I was holding him while sitting on a low couch and when I stood up I could do so without using my hands to brace myself – my arms remained tightly around him.

That's why I'm going to the gym my Friends.  To have arms and legs and a heart strong enough to hold that precious little guy close and tight.  That's what matters.

That said, I was still pretty happy when I went back to the doctor's yesterday and found that I had lost those 7 pounds I gained the last time I was there!