THE TORTOISE WON, DIDN’T HE?

As a consultant, I travel. My favorite place to travel, and for many years live, is New York -- Brooklyn to be exact. While I’m there, I lose weight because I walk. I can’t afford nor do I have the patience for a vehicle, so I walk. For a born and bred Midwesterner, the amount of walking that is done in New York is mind-boggling. We Midwesterners take pride in the fact that we can find the closest parking space to the door of wherever we’re going … including the gym.

The last time I was in New York, I spent five weeks walking up and down subway stairs, walking to the grocery store, the library, etc. Even with all of the wonderful food, I managed to walk 15 pounds off by the time I got back home. Again, I had an epiphany -- walking made me lose weight (yeah, I readily admit I‘m not always the brightest bulb on the porch)!!

So, I started walking…on a treadmill at my brother’s house. I puffed and panted and stopped a lot, but I managed to walk two miles the first night. Later, with my brand new membership, I started using the treadmill at the local YMCA. Most of the time, it wasn’t pretty, but I kept walking even if I had to stop three or four times or slow the machine down. I kept walking even if the skinny b%$&*h next to me was going three times as fast and NOT sweating while I was hanging onto the bar in a desperate attempt not to be flung off the back.

Now, six months later, it still ain’t pretty, but I walk three or four miles several nights a week and have noticed that I can do it without gasping so hard that I have to stop in order to breathe. I’ve also, very slowly, incorporated weights and additional cardio workouts into my routine. Guess what? I’m losing weight! Not a lot, I’m only losing two or three pounds a month now, but I am toning up -- something for which someone on the downside of middle age is eternally grateful.

Back to my epiphany … consistent EXERCISE was one of the missing components to my health goals. It wasn’t just exercise. It was the right kind of exercise for me. I recognized that I wouldn’t continue doing a workout that I didn’t like. I needed something that I was comfortable with, enjoyed, and would stick to for the long haul.  In order to do that, I had to stop listening to everyone else’s “advice.“ Believe me, there was a lot of it and while I like to think that they really were just trying to be helpful, they could only offer advice based on their experiences.  Something which wasn’t necessarily a good fit for me.

Rather than saying that I stopped listening to advice from others, I guess I should actually say that I sorted through the advice, started trusting my own instincts, and used what felt right for me. For example, I don’t like the weight machines. They bore me. Plus, a personal trainer told me that the machines were good for form, but couldn‘t compare with free weights when it came to toning / building muscle. That may or may not be true, I don’t know. However, I love free weights -- even if I‘m still not real sure of how to use them. So why waste my time on the machines?

My response went over, as they say, like a lead balloon. People got annoyed because I didn‘t listen to their advice.  For someone who has always tried to please everyone else, standing up for myself -- especially when I was a novice at the gym -- was difficult. However, I finally understood that only I know me and that only I would benefit or be hindered by my choices.

I had to ease myself into a program that worked, again, for me. I still don’t go fast. I don’t lift a lot of weight (the amount that I do lift causes my 16 year old nephew to roll his eyes and tell me to “get back to him when I lift 75 pounds“). I’m not particularly coordinated (I admit, I fell off of the stepper). I am determined and bull-headed, so I used those traits, put my blinders on, and went full speed ahead picking and choosing exercises that I enjoyed. I am the tortoise. I will probably never be sleek or fast, but that’s okay. The tortoise won, didn’t he??

If anyone out there is reading this, I would love to hear your story and, yes, even your suggestions for any new exercises. I may not use them, but maybe I will and I will definitely take all the help I can get. It’s good to know that I’m not in this alone.