Like so many of my women friends, I was very active as a child, teenager and young adult. I assumed that I would always weigh 124 pounds and wear a size six. Then I turned 30 and had children-three by the time I was 36. When they were young, I was still physically active although I had a sedentary job. We camped, hiked, went swimming and walked a lot.
Then I was 40 and 45 and my children got involved in sports of their own. This meant that I sat not only at my job but at an interminable amount of soccer, basketball, baseball and volleyball games. Finally, unbelievably, I was 50, had gained 30 pounds in 20 years and knew I needed to do something about the body I no longer recognized.
So, about four years ago, I found myself without a job, depressed and with nothing to occupy my time except job hunting. Although my family joined the Alexandria YMCA when it was renovated in 1996, I used the facility to take my children to swimming lessons and for birthday parties. I decided to get back into shape, which I saw as a form of both physical and psychological therapy…Good Choice!
I am blind so I need assistance getting started on FitLinxx, the computerized weight-lifting, toning system at the Y. Ellen Jones, who at the time was working on the fitness floor, is an occupational therapist by training. She not only got me oriented to FitLinxx but also served as my personal trainer for six months. I lost the 20 pounds, got a new job and gained most of the weight I had lost.
Fast forward to Oct. 1, 2009, and “Fall In To Fitness’, a collaboration between alexandrianews.org and the Y for which I can only blame myself. Anyway, back to the Y I went with two members of my staff, committed to getting into shape in ten weeks and staying in shape once this challenge is over in December.
Morgan, one of the wellness coaches at the Y, reactivated my FitLinxx account, set my beginning weights on the 13 torture machines and wished me luck. Sorajah, one of the personal trainers, measured my body fat, depressed me, asked me to complete a questionnaire and will begin working with me soon. (I wanted to get reacclimated to FitLinxx and aerobics every day before adding personal training.)
It’s been two weeks since I began exercising again. I spend about 90 minutes in the gym every day and have lost seven pounds. My eating habits are pretty good except for the wine and the half-and-half in my coffee. I have promised to limit those but know myself well enough to realize that I am not going to give them up. So, I am willing to bike, row or use the elliptical machine for longer, do more sit-ups or lunges and lift more weight.
Wish me luck. – Carla Branch
