January 26, 2024 "Stop Blaming Your Age"
Recently I was administering a new client an IV therapy. When I pulled out my blood pressure machine prior to the infusion she smacked her teeth. I said are you okay, she replied, yes, I knew you would probably do my blood pressure. I said do you have high blood pressure? She replied yes but not really, it just comes with aging. Her blood pressure read 197/102 (I had to infuse her IV slowly). I asked if she takes her blood pressure medication, she replied no not all the time. Me: Blank stare.
As I started asking her more questions about her health and looking at her lab results, she continued to blame them on aging. I observed her skin and puffiness under eyes, and I stated I believe you have a lot of inflammation in your body, she said yes that what my doctor said. I stated the inflammation is coming from what you’re eating and/or drinking. She said I drink a lot of sweet tea so that’s not it because I’ve been drinking it all my life and I haven’t had any issues until I reached 50 years old. See, I told you it’s because I’m aging, this is what happens when you get to my age, you will see. Me: Another blank stare.
At this point I had to ask her age. She said I’ll be 52 in a few months. I then said your blood pressure, high cholesterol and inflammation is not because you’re aging it’s your eating habits, lack of exercise and lifestyle. She was again adamant that it was her age. She then asked me my age, I said I’ll be 53 in March. Now she had a blank stare. She bout jumped out of the chair. She didn’t believe me…stop it, there’s no way you’re going to be 53.
I asked if she would be interested in joining our bootcamp where I pride myself on helping people get off medication and prevent them from getting on. She says, oh I’m going to join Planet Fitness with my daughter because she needs to lose some weight. I asked if they were going to get a trainer. She says no, we can do it ourselves. I said, sounds like it will be the blind leading the blind. She said what do you mean?
I looked at her elaborate nails. They were beautiful, you could tell she spent at least 3 hours or more getting them done. They were long with meticulous design work and all blinged out.
I said, “Who does your nails. She sat up so proudly to share who and where this person was located. I asked her if her nail tech was licensed, she was like of course, like I had three heads. She said I only have the best work on my nails.
Well…wouldn’t you want the best working on your body and health? You have high blood pressure/high cholesterol/inflammation. How are you going to help your daughter and how is she going to help you? She said you’re right I never looked at it like that.
We seek professionals for our hair, nails, teeth, eyes, if we had an emergency, we would run to a doctor, but we won’t seek a health/fitness professional to get us right or for preventive care.
Don’t you want to age gracefully, don’t you want to have quality of life? Don’t you want to travel without a bunch of medications, CPAP machine, walkers etc? Don't you want to stop blaming your health issues on your age?
As a personal trainer I can help you set and ACHIEVE realistic fitness and health goals. Through the bootcamp I will provide you with the correct form for the exercise, and offer you support, guidance and feedback. I will also provide motivation to continue exercising. And as a plus, being a nurse, I can work with you and your healthcare professionals to help you get off medication and create a healthier and happier you. Just like you will be proud to show off those nails and hair you will be proud to show off that healthy body, free of inflammation, puffiness, high blood pressure and cholesterol. No Mess
