Taylor

At 63 I’ve spent most of my life not exercising much. I did a bit of Jane Fonda style aerobics in the 80’s but until I was in my late 40’s I didn’t really exercise.  I have attended Weight Watchers in my 30’s and that demanded a 20 – 30 minute walk 5 times a week but as soon as I reached my goal I stopped the walking.

In my early 50s I realised I was heading towards osteoporosis and that I was getting stiff joints, particularly in the hips, knees and ankles, from lack of movement. I decided I would join a gym and try and get to it 3 times a week along with my Saturday morning yoga class. It’s still a struggle and I never ‘want’ to exercise but I want to try and remain mobile and active as long as I possibly can and the only way, it seems, is to ‘keep moving’!

I always remind myself of how I feel after I’ve done a long walk or been to the gym or a yoga class and store up that feeling so that in the very next day or so when I must exercise again, I can draw on the memory that I will feel better afterwards and that my weight will remain stable and of all the good things that exercise brings to mind and body.

My advice to others: do any kind of activity that gets you moving even if you don’t feel like it. Fifteen minutes of brisk walking will extend to 20 minutes and then 30 minutes as time goes by. It’s the getting going that’s the hardest.