A Lifesaver

When I wake up in the morning, I am not a pretty sight. Disheveled, baggy-eyed, still half-asleep, I drag myself into the kitchen area and stumble toward the hot water pot to make my first cup of tea. Phil—who has been up for four or five hours and is brimming with things to tell me—knows better than to strike up a conversation until I’ve finished that first cup of steaming, milky, slightly sweet green tea.

I’m not a morning person. To get blood flowing to my brain, I need vigorous exercise. Otherwise I sit stupefied on the couch, trying to think of any reason why I shouldn’t crawl back into bed. 

In Minnesota I can pull on jogging clothes and head out for an early morning run through the fields and on the trails behind our house. But here…well, the air is heavily polluted, and I really don’t want carcinogens pumping into my lungs as I run. Plus, it’s too hot and humid to go far, even at sunrise.

Thank you, God, for the gym. Fitness First!

After my cup of tea, Phil and I walk 11.5 minutes down Ladprao Road, take the elevator up to the top of Mall Bangkapi, and head into the air-conditioned, filtered air of Fitness First. We are greeted with bows and smiles, then enter the gleaming dressing rooms to deposit our gym bags. 

I do a 15-minute run and 10-minute bike ride, watching Sunday night football (here it’s Monday morning football) or basketball or soccer or whatever happens to be playing that doesn’t require subtitles. There are rarely more than two or three others on the machines.

I stop to rehydrate at the refreshment bar, which always includes fruit-infused water, black and green tea, and coffee. 

Then on to the weights, which rarely have more than one or two others in the area. No waiting here.

And here is one of Phil’s and my favorites: the Boditrax machine, which calibrates the percentage of body fat, muscle, and intracellular water. It also calculates our metabolic age. I’m not thrilled with its report on my body fat, but Phil and I were pleased to learn that our metabolic ages are 55 and 56, respectively. This generates a little frisson of pride, which we need at our age.

I will say, this gym membership (cheap by American standards) has been worth every bhat. It allows me to walk home with a spring in my step, a feeling of relaxed energy, and a mind wide awake to the beauty and challenges of the day. Thank you, God, for Fitness First!