The Silver Fox At The Gym

EasyGym has made me their gym hero for––well, it says September but in fact the video was made just a few days ago. No matter, here’s the link: 

http://www.easygym.co.uk/blog/meet-pat-our-september-gym-hero

I’ve talked about the importance of getting exercise in previous posts here and I don’t think the good effects can be overstated. Endorphins are real, and one of the best things about them is, they come from you and only you. There are no endorphin pills. It’s tremendously reassuring and validating to realise you have the power to make yourself feel that good. Trust me; I’ve been doing this all my life.

When I started on progesterone, my oncologist strongly urged me to get exercise to reduce my risk of heart attack, stroke, blood clots, high blood pressure, and other trouble it can cause. Of course I’m all in favour of reducing my risk of all of those things––I’ve got enough problems, I don’t need more. But knowing an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure isn’t always enough for motivation. The well-intentioned though flawed human animal responds more to things that pay off now. Instant gratification may not build character but even the noblest among us wouldn’t turn it down.

Exercise rewards you immediately with endorphins. Moving around makes you feel good; exerting yourself to move around more than usual feels even better. It may seem like Mission Impossible to get yourself to do it for the first time, or for the first time after a long period of inactivity. Once you do, however, endorphins can help you keep going.

And it’s never too late to start, no matter how old you are. My mother quit smoking and started walking when she was 65; she moved from the US to London with us when she was 76, and she lived to be 92. Everyone else in her family was gone before 70, usually after a long, painful illness. She was not in the best of health when she died––she developed breast cancer at 90 and there were other problems related to ageing. But she survived two cancer operations and a partial hip relacement after falling and breaking her femur, and she lived independently to the last. She had handicaps but she was never an invalid; it wasn’t breast cancer that killed her but a heart attack––she simply wore out.

As I said in the video and many times here and elsewhere, most cancers not directly related to a specific and/or environmental cause are pretty much bad luck. Exercise and a proper diet won’t absolutely prevent cancer or anything else. But you can make yourself as strong as possible to deal with it.

Life will give you lemons of one kind of another. Maybe you’ll make lemonade or maybe you’ll learn to juggle them. Maybe you’ll dye them like Easter eggs; maybe you’ll dress them up like Mr  Potato Head. Whatever you do, show ’em you’re the boss. When life gives you lemons, make those lemons your bitches.