Luckily, I remind myself, I have someone to motivate me to exercise.
Let’s rewind a bit. (Who wouldn’t want to rewind time a few years, especially those of us who are starting to reach the upper end of the life course? But that’s another, more morbid (if you will,) story.)
For the sake of today (it’s almost spring, Sunday, and the weather is nice), let’s keep this light and easy:
So, let’s rewind. Many, many years. Forty and some. At the age of 13, I was overweight and relatively inactive. And as you all know, at that age, it is more crucial than ever to be slim, active, and – let’s be honest – attractive to the opposite sex. With my excess weight, I wasn’t. (Being slightly overweight is unfortunately a major deterrent to being noticed by the opposite sex at that age.
In today’s terms, I should probably say attractive, period. We are attracted to each other, etc… Additionally, I must add a disclaimer that bullying due to weight issues is unacceptable, as that is not how we should behave, but we all know that this is the reality.)
Let’s steer back to the point of those flashbacks:
I was overweight, yearning to be noticed by the opposite sex, and fortunately, I had an older brother and sister who were both active in sports. They, (mostly my brother), dragged me along to training, day after day.
I struggled, but eventually adapted to the routine. I found my niche in shot put (because I was “strong” and could throw the iron shot farther than the slender runners). But what I also achieved, and here I take some pride: I shed pounds. As a 13-year-old weighing 98 kg, I lost 25 kg.
… I spent this money mostly on my favorite, cream buns with chocolate coating. …
I stopped the weight loss there and perhaps it took a few years to stabilize, but I never regained the weight. I never looked back, so to speak. Before we fast forward again, one final detour. I know everyone is curious: During this time, I worked as a newspaper deliveryboy and earned my own money.
I spent this money mostly on my favorite, cream buns with chocolate coating.
Preferably, four or five pieces every day. So, as you can see, it wasn’t too surprising that an otherwise healthy and normal(?) boy gained weight.
But what I carried with me was the habit of exercise. I never stopped working out. And here we are today. Alongside my daughter, who is a passionate fitness enthusiast, we train almost daily.
We run, lift weights, swim, and I’ll delve more into this later. But for now, let’s conclude today’s blog post with a beautiful picture of my daughter after a day of running in the freezing cold of Trondheim