“YOU hit all three goals! Netnet, you’ve closed all three rings! Stay in the groove.”
Ay, how sweet naman the watch. Which has daily goals for Move, Exercise, and Stand. Once all three are achieve na achieve, it congratulates me. Cute, eh?
Move and Exercise are easier to achieve, thanks to the gym. It’s the Stand that may take time, prompting the watch “To remind you/Of the mess you left when you went away.” Er, to remind me to please stand pa more so the Stand goal can be reached, too.
And all along I thought Stand would be the easiest.
So, coaches for the low-carb diet, coaches at the gym. Athlete yarn? Ah, feeling athlete lang.
I remember when I had meniscus and ACL tears in 2016, no thanks to circuit training. The orthopedic surgeon asked if I play basketball. Because if I were a professional basketball player, he would repair the ACL tear. If not, only the meniscus tear would undergo arthroscopy.
The arthroscopy made me stay home for three months, from July to September 2016. I used a wheelchair while inside the house, and crutches for the post-surgery visits to the orthopedic surgeon for the monthly platelet-rich plasma injections.
After recovering from that, I was afraid to exercise again. Thus, the weight gain that worsened during the pandemic lockdowns due to the eating and drinking while staying home.
The weight gain and high-carb intake worsened the hypertension, requiring an increase in the dosage of my anti-hypertensive meds. And that could have continued had I not decided to go on a diet in January 2021.
This journey has had its highs and lows, trials and errors, hits and misses, but if there’s one thing I learned, it’s this: it needs a community that I can always ask for guidance. Thus, the coaches for the low-carb diet and coaches at the gym. Plus a go signal from the orthopedic surgeon for the exercises that are allowed for me.
Deciding on what activities to join at the gym is much like choosing the day’s menu for the most nutrient-dense among the food groups.
Since I’m still adjusting to the workouts, I need a close in security, er, absolute guidance in using the machines. I still don’t know which is which—is this the chest press machine? Or the pec fly? The bicep curls/tricep machine? So help me God. Which is how I now see our coaches—gods. And they do look like gods. All those muscles. Wow. Hulk Hogan yarn?
I’ve been exercising on and off since 1990, and returning to the gym after my 2016 knee injury and arthroscopy is kind of, I missed this, I really really missed this. It’s great to be back but this time the 2016 gym experience and my current senior moments have made me extra careful.
The proper human diet is the best way to lose weight. Start exercising once you’ve adjusted to the new menu. But if the diet is still making you feel like you’re going through the eye of a needle, better focus on it first before starting an exercise program.
