I GOT FIT AND HEALTHY NOW WHAT?

How I became unfit and unhealthy.
I was always skinny but probably not a healthy skinny. Having kids and getting older did not make much of a difference in my weight. I always enjoyed dancing and aerobics. I briefly discovered strength training in my thirties.

In my 40s I had a series of injuries and surgeries and finally a fractured ankle. These injuries left me quite inactive. I began to pursue quiet sedentary hobbies and crafts. TV was my friend and I sat for hours studying to get my degree as well. It didn’t help that my husband is a junk food fanatic.

Eventually my five foot frame was enormous. I hid behind oversized clothes and avoided cameras and destroyed most pictures I could find. My family and friends, if they noticed me getting obese over the years either didn’t care or didn’t comment. I was not happy but was really too sick to do much about it. I stopped weighing myself at 170 lb.

By this time I was taking four kinds of medication for asthma; medication for hypertension, hypercholesterolemian, depression, anxiety, sleep problems, IBS, chronic pain and bladder problems to name a few. My blood sugar was testing high normal and I was advised to watch my diet. I could not walk up the stairs with a basket of laundry – I got too short of breath. I had a respiratory stress test which had to be stopped due to a rapid heart rate and shortness of breath. However, the asthma for which I had been taking steriods was actually in remission. Two years later after revolving around the health care system for tests of my heart, lungs, gastrointestinal and endocrine systems – twice – the result was – I was obese.

No surprise. I was told to lose weight and get fit. It was an effort just to walk a block. I could not see how I was going to do this. But I accomplished the first step – RECOGNIZING THE PROBLEM.

What made me start on my fitness journey?

I believe that every health and fitness success begins with a catalyst. In 2007 I changed jobs in my organization which required that I train away from home for 18 weeks. I was the oldest person in the training group. Over 50% of my coworkers are expected to retire in the next five years and there had been a recruiting program which yielded quite a few 20, 30 and 40 somethings. I realized very quickly that due to my age and my obesity, I was invisible. I quickly began to lament the loss of my youth and health in clear contrast to the youth, vitality and energy of the class. I had no idea what I was going to do to fill my time isolated from family and friends and as a persona non grata in the class.

My health testing was complete so my doctor had given me the ‘go-ahead’ to start getting in shape. I walked for hours. I walked to and from class and walked endlessly through the streets of Vancouver. I spend at least one hour a day on the hotel treadmill. I ate frozen dinners for portion control I only lost about 8-10 lb in 18 weeks. I gained knee tendonitis, Achilles tendinitis, and shoulder tendinitis. I could not figure out how I could work so hard and gain so little.

What I did to get fit and healthy

When I got back home I complained to my daughter how much effort I put in for so little reward. She suggested that I needed a personal trainer.

Coincidentally, my husband received a cash gift for Christmas which he decided to use to set up a home gym. We both detested commercial gyms. I felt we needed someone to teach us how to use it. I am RN but nurses training is more about the treatment of illness and disease than health promotion. I asked the gym owner if she knew of any kinesiologists who did personal training. She put me in contact with a personal trainer.

We bought the equipment, hired a personal trainer and the rest is history.

Back on track

At the very first assessment with my trainer, I found that I underestimated my food/calorie/carb intake and overestimated my exercise effort. I had blamed my lack of progress on my age. He taught me that age is not a barrier or excuse to finding health or a fabulous body. I learned to set short term and long term goals. I also learned that in order to achieve success, this could not be just another diet or attempt at fitness, it had to be a lifelong lifestyle change. He stressed keeping records to measure my progress. Soon I was finding changes week after week, in my weight, my shape, my energy and my health. This kept my motivation going. At one point I asked for a special program for my arms. It was so successful he has marketed it in a version that others can benefit for their fitness level with less equipment and time commitment.

The more success I had, the more I wanted to learn. The trainer introduced me to fitness magazines. Health and fitness literature became one of my only reading interests. Since I discovered Oxygen Magazine with Robert Kennedy and Tosca Reno, it is the only magazine I buy.

By April of 2008 people who I had not seen for awhile ignored me in the street. Not because I was a persona non grata but because they could not recognize me. I had to reintroduce myself to numerous people who had only seen the obese me for over 20 years.

After I met goal after goal I wondered what do I do next? I love training. I love being an "athlete."

A physician friend of mine once said if you want to get rid of depression and improve self esteem, find something you love and become an expert at it. Become an instructor, or a competitor - do something with it. So did I want to get one of those fitness certificates - maybe work with older women? Maybe. but not likely.

I have other interests. I can't even remember how I zeroed in on it - but I think it might have been magazines. As I became interested in weight training I was exploring the magazine racks and I came upon Oxygen Magazine. I think pretty much all fitness mags get their income from supplement ads. I ignore the supplements ads - I won't take most of that stuff. The magazine has awesome articles. It is my favourite reading now. I don't watch tv or read novels anymore (except my niece's books) I read all I can about fitness and nutrition.

I came to admire Tosca Reno (wife of the publisher of Oxygen Mag and contributor and body building guru). She found fitness and body building after age 40. I found her to be quite an inspiration to women in that she promotes you can grow older - healthy fit and sexy. I have all her books. I also found that for me I liked the bodies of figure competition contestants over female body building contestants in the magazines. I decided I had come so far that I could do it.I soon learned that not all the competitions have a masters or grand masters component but even the ones that do - I am a bit older than the range. This does not mean that I cannot compete just that I would be up against a number of lower age contestants in the same category.

Sort of a lost cause a 60 year old competing with a 35 year old don't you think? There are more older competitors in body building than in figure competition for obvious reasons. I thought that even if I did not compete, I would like to go through the training process. I searched for a training pro.

I explored that locally but remained unimpressed. I tried a few online trainers and although it was a fairly cheap training method, I seemed to gain more body fat and less lean muscle and they seemed to be more group oriented and definitely could not seem to get my training body response right. Nothing really fit me.

I set out to learn all I could and found some good e programs which expanded my knowledge base. Along with this and my Oxygen Magazines I became quite adept at managing my own training programs.

If you are interested in competing - it is not cheap. There is the expense of going to competition, the training, tanning, costumes, shoes, etc. There is a great deal of dedication, commitment, time and money put into training by competitors. They train for years. They are athletes pure and simple. It is a lonely world and it helps to have a family who is really supportive of the time and money commitment.

Now What?

For me fitness has become a way of life. I will continue to train and as well as maintaining my good health and great body at over 60, I am hoping my continued efforts and example will encourage other women my age to change their lives for the better. If even one person becomes healthy as a result, I will be greatful.