Last year at this time I couldn’t walk. I’ve had problems with my knees since my early twenties and have been leaning on my right side for years now. The time has come for my right side to respond and say – it’s enough.
Last year I also realised I was turning forty. Here I was, limping, hips starting to act up, and that’s when it hit me – THINGS WEREN’T GOING TO GET BETTER. I’ve never thought about growing old and what I would do if my body couldn’t serve me anymore. This was truly a wake up call that made me start thinking about my future and “old age”. I had to be brutally honest with myself and kick my lazy ass in the butt. I needed to start treating my body with respect and do whatever it takes to be in shape.
Let’s face it – I wasn’t planning on getting married nor having a family. Even if I do eventually fall in love I don’t want to rely on someone to take care of me, so I decided to be a strong badass grandma. However, I had to start now while I was still young and in good health.
I remember seeing this 28-year-old influencer with 3 kids, waking up at 5AM so she could do her workouts before her kids woke up, in the middle of the night, during winter time in Canada. I was so impressed with her motivation to get back in shape after her third baby that I couldn’t help but feel a bit stupid for procrastinating. I had all the time in the world and a flexible schedule to do my workouts. I literally have no excuse not to do it. At that point I thought to myself I was such a wuss for procrastinating with my workouts without any valid reason.
So I started doing my research and pacing myself to prepare my body for regular workouts. I went to some gyms, which turned out to be boring and demotivating as hell. Finally I discovered a membership that would allow me to try different activities and various studios all over town, which was perfect for me as I hate routine. To be truly motivated I needed variety and activities that actually interest me.
I started going once or twice a week with beginner Yoga and simple exercises, and slowly kept adding harder workouts. I did Aerial (and “regular”) Yoga, Ballet, Spin Class, even gym from time to time and TRX workout. After a few months I could really feel the difference in how my body felt and I slowly got hooked!
I learned in my 30s that things take longer as I grow older, so I didn’t get the results I wanted as quickly as I had hoped, but I grew stronger and my body got more toned.
Most importantly – I could walk again! My knee healed, I built muscles to support it, and I was able to do many things I could do when I was younger. I found it fascinating how muscles remembered all that I did in my early days as a dancer.
The most fascinating thing I discovered was that my body was much more capable than I thought. I have so much more respect and gratitude for my body today, more than ever.
Secondly, my mental health and sleep patterns improved, too. I found that my overall well-being changed for the better and now I can’t imagine not working out for more than a few days.
I never thought that I would be this person, nor writing about working out, but here I am in my 40s feeling stronger than ever and a workout junkie!
My advice – don’t wait for your body to start shutting down.
Suck it up and do whatever feels most comfortable to you. You will feel the difference very soon and it’s totally worth it.