September 22, 2014
Simon’s Blog
One of my favorite things to do has always involved
exercise. I have been overweight my
whole life, but it has rarely gotten in the way of trying to do something
active, almost every day. For many years it was tennis and then squash and now
once again I am playing tennis at least once every week. It is such a fun game and challenging,
especially as an older person. I used to
play squash or tennis three or four times a week, but today that wouldn’t be
possible. After my current Saturday game,
it takes me an afternoon with a short nap to recover and right now while I am
awaiting my new hip, it hurts.
I always thought that if I took up golf, it would be some
sort of easy game. That couldn’t be
further from the truth of what happened when I started playing in my early 60s. It is a hard game, a mind game, a pain game,
and I find myself very frustrated with the whole endeavor. I have now limited myself to a nine-hole game
and even at that half level, my concentration stinks. Still I think that if I had the right
attitude, I could enjoy a walk around instead of getting irritated by my own
lack of concentration. For the present,
I will ride in a cart, but in general, it is better to walk; it improves the
game and makes you more relaxed.
For many years I tried to do something aerobic
everyday. I would either ride the
exercise bike or a hybrid bike on the street or an elliptical machine that
works in any kind of weather because it’s inside. I force myself to do this by watching a
sporting event while at the same time playing music at its highest volume,
usually Motown. Nothing is more boring than trying to complete 30 to 40 minutes,
but the rush when I finish strong sets up a wonderful rush of endorphins and
then comes the reward of a good Scotchola.
Finally, over the years, perhaps the last 30, I have had a
trainer either once or twice a week. I
have had good trainers and some not so good but lucky me for the ability to
hire someone to motivate me. Now I have
the best trainer I’ve ever experienced, Elias Casolla . He is relentless and keeps my heart rate up
for the entire 50 plus minutes that we work out. He has improved my mobility, balance, flexibility
and I am even pushing more weight than I pushed ten years ago. In other words, it is not just weight lifting
but a whole well rounded program. I go
twice a week and try not to think about it too much for I fear I won’t go. My
other great trainer was Achim Albrecht in SF, truly a fine guy and a super
trainer; I miss him.
So the downside of all this good physical activity is my
appetite. No matter how much I work out,
no matter how good my exercise path, it doesn’t matter. I can always out eat my exercise. It really hacks me off. My lovely brother, Bob, has always been thin,
never worried about weight, eats whatever he wants while I have suffered with a
thousand diets. I bet I have lost my
entire weight several times on diets that work for a while and then don’t. Somehow you think that when you get older
perhaps you won’t like food as much - that is baloney or steak or something.
No comments:
Post a Comment