Tag: Mid-Life

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Gym Jitters

On By samanthaIn HEALTHLeave a comment

It is my birthday month, another year older, and time to begin taking my health a little less for granted. I take very little exercise, a couple of walks a week of maybe a couple of miles and running up and down the many stairs in my house, that is about it. I spend about twenty five hours a week sitting at my desk working. I hardly take a break and my husband commented that my posture isn’t as good as it used to be. I have noticed a couple of my friends are losing muscle mass and looking a little frailer as well. I desperately need to do some exercise. There are numerous work out videos available on YouTube but I don’t have a clue about what I am doing and feel I am quite likely to injure myself without some proper instruction. I am going to have to join a gym and actually turn up. The thought fills me with dread.

Where I live there are several gyms to choose from. There is the fancy one ten minutes down the road but I am not prepared to pay £150 a month for membership. Then there is the other swanky gym in the country club where lots of my friends go. Membership here is £119 per month, this is still far more than I want to pay and the place is a twenty five minute drive from my home, I just know I won’t be bothered to go, especially in the winter. In the end I decide to go for the easy option, the local leisure centre. The place where I have taken my children for endless swimming lessons and birthday parties. Membership here starts at £39.50 a month, it is a eight minute drive from my house and parking is easy and free.

I have a drawer full of nice gym outfits that I never actually wear so I put on a T shirt and some Marks and Spencer leggings, trying to ignore the fact that they feel a bit snug, that’s just the compression panel right? I then drive to the leisure centre to sign up. The young woman greeting me sells me the slightly more expensive membership which includes a personal training session every quarter and the ability to book classes a fortnight in advance. She then takes me on a tour. The gym equipment looks both mystifying and terrifying. I don’t really see myself swimming but I would like to take some exercise classes. The last time I took my daughter swimming at the leisure centre someone tried to break into my locker and, on another occasion many years ago, a very respectable looking woman tried to make off with my Mulberry handbag while I was helping my son who was having an asthma attack. “Mummy” my boy wheezed and I grabbed it back. The women scarpered. Anyway, I digress, the staff member asks me if I would like to take a class right then and there. Now??? I pretend there is somewhere else I urgently have to be but arrange an induction session at the gym for the following week. I also sign up for a Core Fitness class but not for a fortnight.

Before I even get home the leisure centre email me cancelling my induction session which is not a promising start. They ask if I can come the same evening instead. I have a stonking migraine, I really just want to take some co-codamol and crawl into bed. Nevertheless I pull on my leggings and drive back to the gym, I am surprised at how nervous I feel. Am I going to look a complete, uncoordinated idiot? When I arrive I am met by Kyle, who is going to carry out my induction A muscular, tattooed chap of about thirty who has such a professional and unpatronising manner that I begin to wonder what I was apprehensive about. He asks what my goals are and I say I want to get stronger and fitter. I do not want to lose weight but that is probably obvious from looking at me. Kyle shows me around, demonstrating how the various pieces of equipment work and then I have a try with him supervising, he explains how my legs shouldn’t be too straight as I don’t want my knees to lock and that the downward movement is more important than the upward movement when using the weight machines. He adds a 5kg weight and I just about manage. I am pleased to see the other gym-users are just minding their own business and not in the least bit interested in what I am doing. After about forty five minutes I am ready to go home. Kyle suggests I book a complementary personal training session. He says it won’t take much time for me to get fitter and suggests an exercise class that he thinks will suit me . He said that, once I have gained a little confidence, it will be beneficial for me to learn how to use the free weights. I leave the gym feeling pleased that I made the effort to go. I can do this! I go home and lie down with an ice-pack pressed to my temple.

Thank you for reading

Samantha

Cover Image by Nhi Nguyễn Tường from Pixabay

Wide-Leg Woes

On By samanthaIn SHOPPINGLeave a comment

I am in my mid-fifties. When should I start dressing like an older woman? What does that even mean? Beige polyester slacks and an anorak, those shoes that do up with velcro? I have been dressing the same way for the past decade at least. Most days it is skinny jeans, sweater and boots in the winter and skinny jeans with a linen top in the spring/summer. I rarely wear dresses or skirts during the day, I buy them but it has to be really hot for me to abandon my usual uniform. Am I too old to wear jeans? I hope not but I would like to smarten up a little bit.

I have several pairs of jeans, mostly from Mint Velvet, but they all look identical. I desperately need a style refresh. My daughter tells me no-one wears skinny jeans anymore. So, I take the plunge and order some wide leg navy blue trousers from Boden, a company which I used to shop with all the time but I can’t remember when I last placed an order. The style is called Westbourne. They are £80 but Boden always have a discount code and I pay £60. The trousers arrive and are such good quality, the fabric drapes beautifully. It feels very strange to have so much fabric swirling around my legs. I go downstairs to show my husband who makes the helpful remark “why are you wearing Lionel Blairs?” Of course Lionel Blairs is Cockney rhyming slang for flares. I immediately package up the trousers, ready for return.

Boden “Westbourne” Trousers

Back to the drawing board, I order a cream denim oversized jacket from Mango for £35 and some flowy but straight leg jersey trousers. I also order two pairs of tailored chinos from Zara, one full length and one three-quarter length. Annoyingly the Zara trousers aren’t properly sized, so I have to guess at a size small. I also add a couple of their basic T shirts to my basket, £8.99 each. When the Mango trousers arrive I try them on and really like them. I show my oldest son and ask what he thinks. He looks concerned, as if it is a trick question. “Fine” he mutters but my husband has appeared and they share a little sideways glance. My son then says I shouldn’t wear trousers that are five times wider than my (skinny) legs. Great, thanks a lot. I suppose I did ask! I don’t ask anyone else’s opinion when I try on the chinos and decide to keep the navy pair even though I don’t love them, they will do. The cream jacket, which looked so good on the model, just looks scruffy on me so that goes in the returns pile too.

Mango “Flowy, Straight-Fit” trousers

So, after all that effort I have a couple of cheap T Shirts and a pair of OKish chinos. If I were wealthier perhaps I could go and see a personal shopper but I think that is rather beyond my budget and I would probably end up buying a lot of clothes I don’t actually like, just to be polite. I need to go through my wardrobe, donate about seventy five percent of the contents to the charity shop and see if I can start to wear the rest, especially the summer dresses.

Thank you for reading,

Samantha

Header Photo by Harper Sunday on Unsplash