Up to the Challenge

   Up to the Challenge

Suzanne Marsh

January 2, 2023

I am ready to take on the challenge of losing twenty pounds in four weeks. I have the drive and determination to accept this challenge. I have registered at the local gym, made the necessary purchases at the health food store. I hate vegetables but I am going to learn to eat them, it will aid losing the weight easier. The local gym told me there are classes there that will assist me in my quest to shed the pounds.

January 3, 2023

I went to the gym this morning after having grapefruit for breakfast. I discovered I hate grapefruit. I discovered I hate exercising; I don’t think there is a muscle that is not sore and refusing to cooperate with the apparatus at the gym. I got on the treadmill, that was dandy, I almost broke my neck the thing took off, lucky there was an attendant who came to my aid along about the time I stumbled off the treadmill. I tried the stationary bike, that was not to horrible all things being equal. My calves ache but at least I can peddle without falling off.

January 4, 2023

I ran on the enclosed track at the gym this morning, all one hundred a fifty pounds of me. I felt as if I were the daughter of blubber. I have no doubt the others at the gym had a good laugh as my butt juggled while I jogged around the track once, before sat down exhausted. That was it for today for me, I felt like Tubby Tuba!

January 5, 2023

Today I started the exercise program, I discovered that my muscle tone is terrible. The younger girls work out in shorts and tops, I wear sweats. I sat on one of those huge balls that you are supposed to able to sit and bounce. The sit part of the equation was great, I sat on the ball with my feet on the

floor. Then the specialist (I think of disaster) told me to bounce sitting on the ball. Twenty years ago, maybe...I bounced sliding right off the ball, if that wasn’t bad enough, I fell face first on the gym mat.

January 7, 2023

I don’t think there is a muscle is my body that is not rebelling. My tush is sore, I feel as if I have been through the ringer. I hope this improves soon; the specialist says I am doing fine. I don’t believe that, not for a moment, especially since I am still hauling around an extra twenty pounds, and I am terribly sore. I did not write yesterday since I decided to take the day off and recuperate. Today was another story, as are most of my adventures at the gym. Today I tried the ropes, the specialist showed me how to use the ropes, one arm then the other. That is not for me, the one rope by itself is easy, especially since I am right-handed. My left was laughable at best. I was the told by the specialist to use both arms. “Both arms?” I questioned. She nodded: “Two arms, watch, it’s easy.” Easy my foot, I picked them up and tried, one looked like a cobra doing a wiggle dance the other one just budged. So much for that adventure!

January 10, 2023

Today I thought I would write about my diet. The veggies are simple most I can put peanut butter on, and they taste okay. However, I have a dedicated sweet tooth, that causes me to love anything sweet. Okay I confess I am a sugar addict; the question is what or how do I give up sweets. It is a great question with no answer. I found two pieces of fudge that were left over from Christmas, they couldn’t hurt right? Wrong, after the two pieces of fudge, I went in search of chocolate, I found four pieces of M & M’s in the couch. So much for the diet.”

January 12, 2023

Exorcise is the bane of my existence, end of discussion. Today’s torture was more like knowing my left from my right, the torture part I can explain. There is an area of the gym set aside with steps and railings for the older generation, like me. There are also all forms of tortuous machines for calf muscles, abs, and biceps, that I had no idea I even had! The first torture of the day I had to hold onto the railing and raise my left knee. Left from right is simply not my forte when someone is watching me like a hawk. I lifted the right one then the left, the specialist sort of snickered.

January 13, 2023

The torture begins on a yellow machine, the specialist informed me that it was for biceps. I supposed if I could have figured out what exactly a bicep was, I would have avoided the machine. The weight had been adjusted for someone built along the lines of King Kong, not the forty-pound weakling attempting to bring the sides together in the middle. The specialist came over, smiled and adjusted the weight. I hope there are no more of these devices, my arms felt like they were going to fall off!

January 15, 2023

It is halfway through the month, I got on the bathroom scale, I have lost exactly three pounds. Guess I should stay away from the sweets, oh what I would not give for a hot fudge Sunday! I better quite dreaming. The specialist smiled as I entered the gym, this was not a good omen. When she smiles it means torture and pain for me. We began immediately...the first feat of the day was simply not designed for little old ladies, step up, step over, step down, twenty five of those and I was ready to go home and soak!

January 20, 2023

I would be lying if I said I was making great progress, I got on the bathroom scale, I have lost seven pounds, at this rate I am never going to make the challenge of twenty pounds off in four weeks, months would be easier. That however did not deter me from trying harder than I had the first part of this ordeal. The machine I was introduced to today is not for the weak of heart. You sit down, put your heels at angles and push. I pushed with all my might, nothing happened. This was not looking good, the specialist sauntered over, she adjusted the weight for the forty-pound weakling.

January 22, 2023

It is now time for the new edition of Beat The Clock, in other words I better get my act together, buckle down and hope I can lose the remaining ten pounds. No more sweets, peanut butter veggie, simply veggies-yech! I began my day today at the gym with wall pushups, these are easy. Never trust the specialist, after the wall pushups, I did twenty-five of those, she told me to do twenty-five regular pushups...oh Lord. I managed to get down on the floor, it is not easy at my age to get down let alone get up again. I got myself into position, my arms in the proper position, my feet pointed down, she began to count, I began to pray. I pushed up, nothing happened, I remained face down on the floor. I tried again, I raised myself a eighth of an inch off the floor, my arms decided there was no way they could hold the weight and down I went. The specialist must have been chocking from trying not to laugh.

January 30, 2023

The challenge is over, I lost the bet with my friend. I lost fifteen pounds, that is the good part...the bad part I decided I am not cut out for the gym, instead I walk alone with my thoughts.