I wasn’t good at sport at school. I hated every moment of every games lesson.
I was the fat, shy clumsy kid who wore glasses: the one who was last to be picked. Teachers would laugh and mock and despair, and encourage my classmates to do the same.
My Dad loved sport and hated the fact that I didn’t. He bullied me into taking part and then criticised my sorry efforts. He called me useless and pushed me about.
Picked on at home and school, hating my body, I turned to food, drink and cigarettes for comfort. My old job in the Council’s Parks Department had kept me sort of fit, but when I got a new job six years ago I spent all my time driving or sat in front of a computer, and the weight really started to pile on. By 37 I was an 18-stone couch potato!
I’d never wear shorts or even T-shirts I was that shy, but I didn’t care. I felt tired, my back ached and I had a permanent cough, but I still didn’t care!
Then, about 18 months ago, two things happened. I injured my shoulder and had a test for diabetes. Surgery put the shoulder right, but it was stiff and sore, and my test showed that I was well on the way to being in serious trouble.
I knew I had to change or feel like this, and worse, forever. On a whim, I bought a cheap swimming costume and nervously went to the baths in my dinner break. That way nobody would know what I was up to! Despite all those terrible experiences at school, I had learned to swim, but was very rusty. The water felt good though, and without my glasses on I couldn’t see if anyone was staring at me so I just got on with it. I managed a couple of splashy lengths, had a breather, and then did a couple more before making a dash for the changing rooms, hurriedly shrugging on my work clothes and shuffling back to my van.
Having done this a few more times, I noticed I had more energy. Instead of going around on “auto-pilot” I felt more alert and less stressed in the afternoons.
For the first time in my life I thought “I can do this!” and soon I was swimming twice a week. I noticed bigger people and slower swimmers than me were in there, and decided that if they could, then so could I. I also noticed that my back felt better, my breath came easier and my shoulder had more movement than ever.
It was then that I really bit the bullet!
One day, a banner outside my local baths was offering a 25% discount on season tickets. I’d already been going for a few months so I felt confident I would stick at it, and I worked out that even at twice a week it would mean quite a saving over the year. Once I had that pass, though, I started going three times a week, then four, then every dinner. I was soon doing 20 lengths, 25, and finally half a mile a day. I was really getting my money’s worth and began to feel my jeans and shirts getting baggy!
All that exercise made me hungry though, and I still ate plenty, but started to eat a bit healthier.
By the time my pass was up for renewal a couple of months ago I had lost nearly three stones. I bought a new one without question and last week I swam a mile without stopping! There will always be faster and slimmer blokes than me in the pool, and I’ll never be athlete, but I’m happy with what I’ve achieved and that’s all that counts. Because of the way I’ve worked it, my swimming costs very little and takes up time I would only be wasting anyway. When I’m off work or too busy to swim, I feel all stiff and tired, and really miss it. Looking back I realize that I must have felt like that all the time, but just never noticed as it was “normal”!
I enjoy feeling fitter and more confident. I’m not perfect, but so what! I’ve got more energy too, and I sleep better that I have in years. Best of all, though, I’m getting married next June! Since my divorce I’ve had other relationships, but feeling fitter and looking better has given me the confidence to tell an old friend how I’d always felt about her. Oddly enough, she’d always felt the same, but the old me would never have even dared to dream!
And my goals for the future: keep on keeping on! (But I might give the “Channel” a miss!)
