Youngest: “Mom, your boob is almost touching your pants.”
Me: “Buddy, they’re high-waisted pants!”
Oldest: “Or low-waisted boobs. Right Mom?”
**
Ah yes. A sure sign of aging – gravity, loose skin, and of course, comments from the kids. Normally, they roll their eyes at my memory loss (“Where’s my phone?!…Oh, it’s in my back pocket.”)
But today, my friend Yvonne made my day while cursing me a little.
She thought I was one of my daughters. And followed it with a half-joking half-serious, “Damn you.” I graciously accepted the compliment while silently sending my mom, my grandmas, my great-grandmas, etc. gratitude for the genetics.
I honestly don’t “feel the forties.” Maybe because I don’t own a mirror and only get reminded occasionally by my children.
Maybe it’s because I feel really good. We have been cooking at home, eating fresh fruits and pita (coconut water), getting enough sleep (going to bed with the sun and waking up with the howlers), drinking tons of water, and being consistent with the thing that I have the least will power for generally: exercise.
My kids have been rock stars with their strength programs and the small ones doing their climbing, hiking, jumping on the neighbor’s trampoline out in our jungle community.
But I have resisted. It always takes me 3 weeks to actually feel the energetic benefits of strength training and to see myself get stronger.
I have started to snatch again with the 12kg kettlebell. I was nervous to try again. I couldn’t remember the last time I did it. I had to check my training journal to remember. I haven’t snatched since 2015. It’s quite a technical skill and I was afraid I would hurt myself trying again five years later.
Amazingly, my body remembered from just a few cues from Chris. It reflexively knew where to brace and how to breathe. (Thanks babe, I get it now.)
If you look at the journal, you will notice gaps in dates. Those are the times when I stopped listening to my husband or developed an inclination for dance or soccer or lying in child’s pose while I called it “mama’s yoga time.”
I don’t like Strength training without goals or a purpose. I can walk without one or write without one but when it comes to strength training in particular, I need to be efficient with time and energy since it is my second least favourite thing. (See yesterday for my least favourite thing. Although I can outsource that job, strength training has to be done my me.).
“Tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus. Our bodies are our gardens to the which our wills are gardeners.”
― William Shakespeare, Othello
Strength of body plays such a key role in how I function but it takes a large degree of will power. What motivates me is the energetic kick I receive to do what I do. At 41, I am looking ahead to quality of life. I want to be able to get off the toilet and reach up to the grab my favourite book.
This time at home has reminded me of how important basic movements are and to take my time perfecting the little things that in the end will improve the whole.
I may have low-waisted boobs but at least I am strong enough to snatch a 12kg Kettlebell.
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