FitnessDiaryofASixtyYearOldWoman

Getting old is peculiar. It's of no real interest to anyone except the old. Only some older writers - Muriel Spark, Jane Gardam - write specifically about old people. There is the odd good film e.g. the Great Beauty - with an ageing or old protagonist who is not a joke. Even in a society that is obsessed with the rights of the individual, age discrimination is of little interest compared with race or gender. I suppose this is partly because many older people don't actually 'self-identify' as old.  My husband says if he is in a room with a lot of people of our age, he thinks of himself as much younger than everyone else, like a teenager among grown ups. Although she makes slightly bitter jokey remarks about being 'ancient,' I don't think even my 90 year old mother thinks she is 'old.' I have also noticed that even when people know that statistically they know they only have 10 years left, max, it doesn't really alter the way they think or plan f...

So, I'm starting this diary with a bit of reflection on how I got here. Nearly 60 - that's at least 3/4 of the way through my life, and I still haven't cracked managing my own mind and body. Why not? My fitness history has been up and down like the proverbial tart's knickers. This is partly because I have a fitness split personality. Personality A gets up early, goes to art exhibitions and juices, while Personality B slobs on the sofa watching Poirot and saying 'yes' to the question 'Another Prosecco?'. They're two extremes - and I alternate between the two throughout the year, with Christmas being the major tipping point at which I normally start turning from A to B. During spring and autumn, I cycle between A and B, in summer, A gets the upper hand, sometimes keeping it until the Quality Street assortments are back in the shops. I suspect a lot of women are like this. After all, these are the two types of women portrayed in the media - the Ma...

I'm turning sixty this year, and I've decided to keep a fitness diary. The last time I kept a diary, I was about ten, and it was a five year diary, with a tiny little space to write in every day. I still ran out of things to say some days, so there were a lot of entries like: "Games today. I hate Miss Webster.' It's good for me to do something every day. Well, two things - writing in a diary, and doing something to improve my fitness. I am using the word fitness in a loose sense. I like to keep it loose. By fitness, I don't just mean bodily fitness, but what is now known as 'wellness" (ugh, ugh), or 'well being.' I want to be mentally, psychologically, and spiritually fit for the rest of my life. Which, let's face it, might be around another 30 years. These years will be different. By halfway through that 30 years, at 75,  I am highly unlikely to be doing the Haute Route, even though one of my life mottos is,  'Anything Pippa Midd...