Hell freezes over - AKA my mom is getting in shape - in her SEVENTIES!
Well, it happened. I finally got my seventy seven year old mom to work out. First time in her life, two weeks ago. She goes to the physio and has him train her - she trusts him not to hurt her. And if he does, well, he can fix her!
Let me back up a bit though. I got mom dieting in November and she’s lost 15 pounds. I’m keeping it REALLY simple with her - basically Atkins without the induction. Meat, fats, green veggies and a few berries are all fine. Nuts, natural peanut butter, coffee and tea, also fine. The only restriction: nothing starchy, nothing sweet. Initially, no fruit. We’re easing into a few berries, or an apple over the course of a day.
Now, I could NOT motivate her to try this up until now, and it’s been hard watching her health fail. But she’s got a virus in her eye, and medicine she HATES taking. When the eye surgeon told her that high blood sugar could very well be interfering with the healing process (she’s been fighting this thing for about three years) I marched her out and said, “That’s it. Mom, you’re doing Atkins. Let’s HEAL this thing, let the medicine do its job”.
See, fitness, her appearance, hear health… none of this motivated her. But she hate hate HATES taking the antiviral. Finally, I had leverage!
Well, she’s down 15 lbs since mid-November. Now it’s like a FIRE is lit under her. She’s not bitching all the time about her body hurting her, she’s got her blood sugar and cholesterol are down, her inflammation in her leg is down (phlebitis, it settles down when insulin is low), she’s taking her fish oil… it’s very encouraging.
I’m so proud of her.
I get these cute little phone calls “I’m down another pound! *squeal*” and I just giggle. I’ll be so glad to watch her age better now that she’s finally doing this.
It’s hard for her generation. She was raised to KNOW that physical activity was simply NOT appropriate for a lady. For that matter, I was too. I was threatened with a beating in grade five for trying to - get this - play FOOTBALL. I was so upset when the principal dragged the three of us girls into his office and took out the strap:
WHAM! Down it went on the desk.
“You are NOT to play with the foot ball, it is OFF limits. That’s for the BOYS.” WHAM! “Do you understand???”
I just cried. We all did. We were TERRIFIED of this HUGE man who was threatening to hurt us, BADLY, if we EVER dared to touch this toy again.
I NEVER told my parents. I didn’t want THEM mad at me too.
Horrifying isn’t it?
So you can imagine, for my mom, that exercise must have been discouraged more strongly than it was in MY time. For mom to deliberately let her heart rate go up, something she knows in her BONES is flat-out WRONG - goes against everything she has incorporated into how she sees the world. But she knows in her head she MUST do it.
So she’s doing it.
I am in awe. She is my hero.
Now, the thing is, outside of this, mom won’t even WALK. She can’t get past the thought of being seen doing exercise, I think.
I’m not directing her training - the physiotherapist has a little gym setup in his office for showing his clients how to rehab their injuries. He’s doing the workouts with my mom. He had her do 5 minutes on the exercise bicycle the first time. Hah. Here’s how that conversation went:
Mom: “I’m here, but I’m not going to do the exercise bicycle today”
Physio: “You’re doing the bicycle.”
Mom: “Okay, but I’ll only do a minute”
Physio: “You’re doing FIVE.”
ME, she can push around - Mom gets to pull “rank” and there’s nothing I can do about it. The physio, on the other hand, bullies her.
It’s awesome!
Comment by MariAnne — January 21, 2008 @ 7:59 am
I just got off the phone with my mom. I told her she could eat half a banana before she works out (I’ve had her doing Atkins and she LOVES bananas!). She said she thought it helped the workout! I wanted to give her something to look forward to on training days, like we do.
She’s so excited! It’s really inspiring to see her all stoked about this. 12 minutes on the bicycle today; this time on the flat. He had her going down the hill before, and only for 5 minutes, then 8, then 11… she’s having a little trouble with crunches, but that’s coming up too. She only managed 2 the first time. This time she did FOUR.
I really want to see how the physio has her training. He’s defininately getting somewhere - he had her pulling today, and she was amazed that it worked her back!
*beams*
Comment by MariAnne — January 21, 2008 @ 10:32 pm
Awww.. I think that is just awesome, MariAnne- that you are helping your Mom achieve good health. I bet you’re adding years to her life.
How exciting!
Comment by Ecala — January 24, 2008 @ 11:51 am
Thanks babe - I’m really stoked for her. It’s great to see.
Comment by MariAnne — January 24, 2008 @ 11:17 pm
Mum is down another pound - 151 lbs as of yesterday morning!
It was actually really cute yesterday. She always calls me after her workout, right? To debrief me while she’s all excited, totally adorable. Well, remember how I said I told her she could have half a small banana on training days? She totally digs that; LOVES bananas. Well, she forgot yesterday and pouted when she got to the physiotherapy study where she’s training. “My daughter told me I could have half a banana before I work out and I forgot it!”
So the physio says to her: “Do you WANT a banana?”
Heh. He had one. Awesome. So she shared it with him and then did her workout.
Her workouts are going really well too - she’s up to 18 minutes on the exercise bike.
Now, you HAVE to understand the significance of this. My mother has never so much as gone for a WALK with me.
Ever.
She used to pay me the (oh, now I’m dating myself) DOLLAR to walk the mile to the grocery store to buy her cigarettes. I’d get to … wait for it … keep the change.
I always spent it on candy.
Anyway, for my mom to get on an exercise bicycle and pedal for that long is seriously a miracle.
I phoned her today to see how she’s feeling. She’s fine everywhere else, but she’s really feeling her core work! Mummy’s got sore abs! She’s in bed with her beloved hot-water bottle on her tummy, for comfort.
So damned cute.
Comment by MariAnne — January 26, 2008 @ 8:49 pm
This is great news, MA!
My daddy passed away at ge 90 in July. Mom has slowly started getting more active to the point that she has now joined a gym! She, too, comments on how great she feels, etc., and says she wishes she had done this so much earlier!
You give me encouragement on perhaps suggesting Atkins to my mom, too… She is really frustrated with her weight and is just like me: a sugar addict.
Comment by karen L — February 17, 2008 @ 2:14 pm
Looks like I’m on the right track with your group Marianne, I’m 68, starting Atkins and ready to get back in shape!
Comment by profbjc — July 24, 2008 @ 9:07 pm