14 Jun
Okay so I have to share this because two weeks ago I was convinced I would never set foot in a gym again without wanting to evaporate into the floor. I'm 53, I have not done anything resembling structured exercise in probably four years. My knees hurt, I gained weight, and every time I thought about going back I just pictured myself surrounded by twenty-two-year-olds doing things with kettlebells while I tried to figure out how the locker worked. But I went. I went on a Tuesday at 10am because I figured it would be quiet and honestly? It was. I did maybe twenty minutes total. I used two machines I vaguely remembered, I did not try to be impressive, and I left before I had a chance to talk myself into doing more and wrecking my knees. That was it. That was the win. I went back Thursday. Same low-key approach. I've been doing a short walk most mornings anyway and I noticed I slept slightly better on the days I did both, though I'm not drawing conclusions yet, just noting it. The thing nobody told me is that you are allowed to just show up and do a little. You don't have to have a program. You don't have to know what you're doing. You can just be a middle-aged woman quietly using a leg press and then going home. If you're on the fence, this is not me telling you what to do. It's just me saying the dread was worse than the actual thing. By a lot. ETA: I did eat something with protein in it after both sessions because I read that somewhere and figured it couldn't hurt. Jury still out but I didn't crash at 3pm so. Maybe something.