Confessions of a Baby Boomer Mermaid

Hi, I’m Marsha. I am a baby boomer, and I am an avid swimmer, hence baby boomer mermaid. I am an average person. I am not an expert at anything or on anything. What I do have is life experience, and a penchant for learning and growing.

You could call me your average late bloomer. Without going into a lot of boring details, I came into my own just within the past 10 years. I am 64 now, so you can do the math.

When I was in my early 50s I was diagnosed with tendonosis in my ankle. I was told by my Dr that all I could do for exercise was ride a stationary bike, the upright kind only, or swim. “Swim?!” I said, “OMG, my hair!” Well suffice it to say, the bike was boring. Previous to the diagnosis, I walked for exercise.  I was also carrying an extra 50lbs that I needed to get rid of.

I spoke of my conundrum to my neighbor at the time, who was really just a nice acquaintance then. Jenny. She said “I’ll swim with you! I have been looking for an excuse to get in the water again.”  And there began my journey as well as one of the most meaningful friendships of my life. Jenny, sadly, has since passed. Beaten by a very aggressive form of breast cancer.  But not without a gallant fight. She was a very special person, and this was a tragic loss to this world.

From the moment I got in the water,  my journey to fitness, weight loss, and overall good health began. That was in the summer of 2011. I started to become strong. Really strong for the first time in my life. In May of 2012 I joined Weight Watchers, now known as WW, and with the help of my brilliant meeting leader, I began to lose the weight. I then became a sponge, a beast for knowledge on everything healthy living.

What I want to offer here, is a conversation involving positive lifestyle changes into health and fitness. Again, I am no expert, as I said, but I have learned a lot, and have a lot to share with you. As this is my first post, I am going to leave it as this introduction. Please write and share your experiences. We can help each other grow. I look forward to hearing from you.