My Best Plank. Practicing on the not-very-clean-floor of the tech office at work.

Everyone should exercise. Everyone. But especially people who are old(er). Exercise will keep our mind, muscles, bones strong. Keep us going. Keep us out of The Home.

I go to a wonderful gym. Pres Healthplex. For years. With several of the same people—really nice funny friendly people whom I like a lot. They’re all a little younger than me but not by that much and I pretty much keep up. In fact I may be a bit ahead of a couple. Unless I have not gone for a long time—which is often

It is just that I am so bored with the idea of going to the gym. My life is gym-consumed in this way—I am either going regularly and feeling self-righteous but rushed because I must get to work very early to justify taking off early to go to the gym—which means I cannot spend that morning hour drinking coffee and planning my whole (rest of) life—and one pretty much needs to plan one’s whole life every morning or it can get away from you—like this sentence just did….

Or. Because most of the time I am not going regularly I am constantly  thinking about how I should and putting the times I intend to go in my calendar—only to cross them out when I don’t go. The guilt. The lost muscle tone. The mornings I put on my stretchy clothes for work because then I can go straight to the gym but I don’t so then I just feel silly being in my gym clothes (as opposed to my jeans) all day. My kids saying, ‘we’re really proud of you mom, because you exercise a lot….’ Which makes it even worse. Oh, the guilt.

One of my nice gym friends called this weekend to invite me to a potluck next Sunday. She had to call because I have not been to the gym for awhile…quite awhile. When I heard her voice on the phone I felt exactly like in the 6^th grade when I skipped school for the first time and the principal called me in for a talk. Guilty! I was so grateful to be forgiven for cutting gym with a party invitation, I mentally gave her a Verizon-borne thank you hug. Never  mind how I feel about parties in general.

I’ve made a new plan. River walks every holiday and weekend I am off work. That  is what I did over this four-day holiday and it made my body feel healthy and my soul feel sanctimonious. The walk is only about 2 ½ miles but that still counts as more than walking from the couch to the refrigerator to the laundry room. Then every other month I will go to the gym five days a week. That way I will have something to look forward to—not going to the gym—during the month I’m going regularly. Also that way my body won’t get used to the same old exercises and stop responding which is apparently what happens if one is too consistent.

Seems like a win-win to me.

How come our abs instructor doesn’t look all crooked and elbowy when he/she does this.