I chose weight loss, embarking on Dr Moselys excellent Fast 800 regime, which had the pounds dropping off pretty quickly.

The thing that pushed me to also make exercise part of the programme which no diet ever has before was a friend telling me how important resistance exercise is to protect yourself from dementia. It stops the plaque forming in the brain.

As the mother of an only child, who I had when I was 42, this was a very compelling reason to give weight training a go. Even loving those brain-training word puzzles as I do, I knew it wasnt enough.

And so, I went to a gym and to my great surprise, found almost immediately that I liked it. Part of the reason for this different reaction was the specific gym I went to.

It wasnt a swishy place with a spa attached, but the basic facilities in my local further education college.

Also, the PT (personal trainer) who I had three sessions with, to give me three routines to work with, was the loveliest, most inclusive person you could ever meet. A perfect physical specimen himself, he never made me feel like a fat old bat. And he played the Whos Baba ORiley as well as disco and house music.

I was also amazed and delighted to find there were a lot of people older than me at this gym, fatter than me, less fit, neurodiverse, the lot. There was no strutting and not that much Lycra.

Another early revelation was that I actually enjoyed using the rowing machine. Its less boring than the walking and cycling equivalents to me, because you use your whole body, so its more like dancing somehow.

Also, youre practically lying down.

At the outset, my trainer gave me a goal to row 1km in under eight minutes. I found it impossible at first, but having such a simple quantifiable measure to aim for spurred me on.

Two years later, its easy for me to row 1k in six minutes and I never do less than two, every time I go to the gym which is at least twice a week, although three is better and four is amazing.

Originally posted here:
How I went from couch potato to gym bunny in my early 60s and stayed fit - The Telegraph