Climbing, Middle-age Spread, and Aging Gracefully

The bicycle tour I just finished was in the foothills of the White Mountains.  It was very hilly.  Now, I climb better than many and it is my strength for the most part. However, the fifteen pounds I gained this winter aren’t helping my identity as a climber.  In fact, a friend and I joke that we are hippos on bikes.  Now winter is often a time I gain a bit, but this past year, as I approach fifty, my metabolism came to a screeching halt.  I feel like it slowed to a snail’s pace, leaving me reeling and heavier than I have been in many years. 

I need to lose at least some of this weight; but that is easier said than done.  Mostly, I want to lose it because I will feel better on the bike and be healthier.  I expect that I will be heavier when all is said and done than I was a few years ago; this is to be expected.  What I have to do, is figure out how to eat for this new stage of life.

The good news is: I am in by far better physical shape, despite the weight gain, than I was before I started cycling.  I am hoping that cycling and keeping active will help me age more gracefully.  I can feel myself transitioning from the mother stage of life into crone.  It is a process.

In our American culture, aging is almost always a negative thing.  There are a million products and procedures that supposedly promote youth – mostly youthful looks.  If I had lots of money and the desire I could get my skin peeled or tummy tucked or I could buy fancy wrinkle dissolving creams and potions.  Now, I am as vain as anyone really.  I dye my hair and use make-up when I am not riding.  (I figure with sunglasses and a helmet on who cares?)  But I think spending your life’s savings on plastic surgery or products with no real evidence of efficacy is a sad commentary on our values.  What does it mean to me to age gracefully?

For me, I think accepting myself and the aging process is part of it.  I am no longer twenty, and if the truth be told, I would not want to relive those years anyway.   I want to be able to be active and vital as I get older.  I know this is possible.  I also know that this may manifest in different ways as I get older.  Perhaps, I won’t go as fast or long on the bike; I will have to be vigilant about what I eat so I don’t continue to gain weight; I will have to be aware of my limitations and honor them. 

The question of how to age gracefully is one that requires some more thought as my fiftieth birthday approaches next month.   What I do know is that aging is part of life and that life is a journey and a process – one where change is always possible and often inevitable.