What Are We Training For?

For fifty years, I have been training to fit in. That’s long enough.

By the time I was eight years old, my peers were letting me know that I was too short and round to be an asset to any social group.

My intelligence, friendliness, and sense of humor weren’t going to be enough to make up for my appearance when it came to making friends, and being included.

For decades, I have been doing whatever I can with nutrition and training to achieve and then maintain an acceptable shape and size. Just today, I got my yearly survey from the National Weight Control Registry, which records how I continue to maintain a 65 pound weight loss.

I was accepted into the registry in 2014, and I’ve maintained my weight ever since. The key has been to keep sugar and carbs low enough to manage my sugar addiction, and maintaining enough muscle to to manage my insulin resistance.

Now that I’m 58, I care less about how my eating and training affect my appearance, and more about how they affect my energy and enthusiasm. At my age, I simply won’t risk under-nutrition and over training. If I under-eat, I experience cravings and poor mood. If I over train, I get injured.

No more. I’ve been focusing on dancing and singing more, and I realize that the training I do to stay agile and limber brings more joy to my life.

I still lift and do intervals, but my training sessions are just 30 minutes long. This gives me more time to dance, sing, and write.

As I get my Christmas show, and my tribute to Irish Soprano Catherine Hayes ready I am going to shift my focus to what makes me a better performer.

I look forward to sharing the journey with you, and I hope that you will think about what you are eating and trying for. May you seek and find what truly makes you happy!