Granny at the Gym

Ma’am, visualize your worst enemy is in front of you and that you are punching them on the face.” This was the advice by the well-meaning bystander working out next to Roy’s granny in the gym. Now, for some classic granny wisdom –

“I imagine me pummeling the negativity lurking inside – My fears, flaws, and the fat clinging to me, especially around my middle. I chip away at the anger, frustration and sadness before they can consume me”

On a separate note, why do we get sad? What makes us feel bad about ourselves when on the surface everything looks fine? Is it just a passing phase or is there a deep-rooted cause? When we feel lost and out of sorts, what recourse do we have? One of the best things I did was hit the gym. I was fifty four years young and a newly minted grandma, to boot 🙂

I can vouch for the positive effects of working out, specifically at my age. Let’s round off my age to an even fifty for the sake of this article 🙂  I tell my counterparts to go and work out to get rid of the feelings that are pulling you down and making you crabby and cranky. The added advantage of working out is that you feel good, look good, sleep well, smile/laugh more and worry less.

Sometimes you just don’t realize how unhealthy and damaging your lifestyle has become until the mirror shows you your true colours. You’d been drifting with the flow and kept piling on weight, adding clutter to your mind and fat cells to your body. One fine day you wake up and you are 10 kg overweight and horribly out of shape. The reason you take so long to come to this realization is because you continue buying larger sized clothes to wear instead of trying to fit into the clothes already present in your wardrobe. The many excuses we give for new purchases range from logical to comical. They are the latest trends, seasonal colours, new designs by FabIndia or fresh arrivals at Marks & Spencer …etc.

Resolve the root cause and go from there. It could be medical or emotional. Introspection reveals what triggered your weight gain and when. Travel back in time to familiarize yourself with your inner self. I tend to blame my Hypothyroidism for all my health related issues. Next came the dreaded Menopause. I was set for life with me happily riding pillion on these two conditions. Going by my logic there shouldn’t be any slim fifty year olds with thyroid imbalance. How wrong was I?

We see only what we want to. It’s all in the mind. There could so many triggers for emotional eating – empty nesters, relocating to a new place, separation, disagreement with loved ones, passing away of a close family member/ friend, boredom, a hectic lifestyle, financial loss… etc. In my case, it was my son’s move to a college overseas for higher studies and the subsequent passing away of my baby Dalmatian, Sparky. This happened in the same year, 2015, within a span of few months. I felt miserable and abandoned. I gorged on chocolate and chips to make myself feel better but the good feeling lasted only for a little while. My emotions were like a pendulum.

While overseas, my son met a lovely girl in College, fell in love and got married to her. We were overjoyed when we got the news of their nuptials but I was a bit hurt too. I missed witnessing their wedding and it ate away at my insides. The birth of my grandson, Roy, appeased me. I was at the hospital with my son and daughter in law on the auspicious day of my grandson’s birth. His first cry jolted me out of my stupor and when I held him in my arms I resolved to get my life and health in order. I wanted to get physically fit to be able to enjoy spending time with him, take him to the park, and play with him. That’s when I decided to add the #fiftyplusfit to my posts on Instagram. I was fifty plus and planning to become fit 🙂

The first thing I did after landing in India, in August 2018, was to join a gym. I am glad I took this step towards fitness. It was long overdue. I want to be fit, not slim. More stamina, strength and energy to live a better and healthier life is my ultimate goal. I am thankful to Roy for motivating his old granny to work out and regain her youth.

Sulekha Rawat