What Choice is There?

 

On my 48^th birthday, I found myself in a very unusual position. The Neurotic Angel told me that I was “Not bad looking for 48.” I had reached the age where one simply does not expect compliments on ones looks and having being reminded that certain words are simply not used with men over 40, I accepted that silently.

This was a different state of affairs nearly a decade ago. We had been on a family holiday and my youngest brother ended up having to ware ear plugs because my snoring was bad and my own mother had described me as “Gross Looking” and pleaded with me to lose weight, saying that she had no intention of burying me.

So, how did I go from my own mother calling me “Gross Looking” to someone telling me that I looked decent enough for my age? The answer was pretty simple, Covid happened, the then wife decided it was time that exercise became a part of family life and before you new it, I became a little less bloated. It “helped” that the doctors informed me that my blood sugars were high and so regular exercise became non-negotiable.

You could say that having exercise and moments in my life was not something I volunteered for. I had fantasies of being a “fighter” in my late teens and early twenties. However, once I entered my thirties, life was about trying to make deals here and there to earn an income. Late night drinking and eating became part and parcel of life until I hit the road block of Covid and medical warnings.

I became interested in getting fit. I’m well aware that “looking jacked” is probably out of my reach but based on what I can gather from YouTube I still need to accumulate more skeletal muscle if I ever intend to enter my sixties in some shape or form.

Since I don’t have access to a gym, I try to use what the government has provided – namely parks with bars of sorts. I take the average boxer rather than bodybuilder as the goal to work towards (no point looking big if you can’t utilize it in self-defense). So my regular work outs involve a session or two of sprinting (four 30 second sprints) and a session of what I call the “Mini-Mike” routine, which involves trying 10 percent of what Mike Tyson used to do (500 push-ups, 500 bench dips, 2,500 sit ups and 2,000 squats – he did that every day, six days a week and that’s excluding neck bridges, sparing and running – I struggle with this once a week, - especially the sit up portion, hence I am officially very weak). I also try to make sure that I walk at least 10,000 steps a day.

 

 

 

Despite all my efforts, I cannot call myself muscular and the belly remains painfully prominent. However, I can report that my blood pressure (something which frightened an army medical office into helping end my military career) has ben fairly stable.

 

I often post about my struggle with physical fitness because it’s a case of something I only learnt to value late in life. With the exception of full-time national service, my twenties and thirties and even early forties were spent with booze and food at weird hours.

I guess you could say that things were imbalanced. When I started out, I was happy to work 24-7 because it was all about doing whatever you needed to do to earn as much as you can. This gets balanced out with “stress relief” which comes in the shape of booze and food. I remember a neighbour of mine in London who could spend the nights boozing away (since he was Swedish, parties involved lots of Vodka), but somehow looked fresh enough for work the next day.

Unfortunately, one’s ability to abuse the body can only go so far. I think of some members of the Plus 50 Party Girl tribe who are hopping to show their attractive enough to attract members of the Pretty Party Boy tribe by drinking regularly, sleeping late and minimizing exercise. This lifestyle doesn’t affect the Party Boy Tribe, they’re in their twenties and the body is still relatively functional. Unfortunately, the Plus 50 Party Girl Tribe is over 50 and this lifestyle makes them look obviously over 50.

So, why don’t people pivot their lifestyle? Part of it is the way modern life is structured. Stick with the “machismo” of sitting at your desk all day and don’t sleep if you can and you get rich or have enough to survive. The boss actually reminded me that I had to work in the office and not devote my time to fitness, after he told me that lots of people had fed back to him that I was getting fitter.

The other part is that we live in a culture where instant solutions are the way to go. Think of the very huge business called “fat-burner” pills, where people take pills in the hope of getting fit and healthy. Big Pharma thrives on telling people that there’s a solution to all their problems.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that. Being fit is multifaceted. You need to start with a mindset that easy is not good. The body is programed to look for what’s comfortable, which inevitably means doing what Mike Tyson used to say “Doing something you hate like you love it.” Who wants to drink plain water (which is tasteless) when you can drink Coke, which is sweet? Who wants to exercise till your limbs feel like falling off when you can lie in bed all day? Who wants to sleep early when you can watch Netflix?

Sad to say, overcoming one’s desire for comfort is what one needs to do if one wants to stay relatively useful in age. I think of the people who tell you “If I die – I die.” Well, the problem is that one tends not to die instantly as a result of an unhealthy lifestyle. I had an uncle who drank heavily until he aged 20 plus years (he was in his 60s when he died but the doctors mentioned his body was in its 80s). He was to all intents and purposes, a burden when he could have had a good life.

So, what’s the choice – continue indulging and face the risk of a painful old age or face discomfort, reduce that risk and continue doing things you take for granted in your twilight years?