[abaucom21]

Jan, do not get depressed regarding your gym experience. Your gym sucks. In my 30s & 40s had gym memberships in different cities. First visit to each new gym in a new city staff met with me to do discuss an exercise program and how to correctly use equipment for best results. Did I say your gym sucks big time as they did not introduce you the equipment and instructed you how to use the equipment safely and for the best results!

If you really want to dedicate your time and effort going to a gym 3-4 times a week min. (for best results), you need an exercise buddy. Try finding someone at the same gym in your area (approx. same age give or take ten years) and help each other exercise together. Reason weight lost programs are successful when people have a support system and encourage each other.

Did gyms in my 30s and 40s. I find workouts tedious and boring. Helps if you have a workout buddy so you share the experience and encourage each other.

From what you told me about the gym you joined suggest you notify gym ASAP in writing, services not as promised, no introduction to equipment can be dangerous at your age. Of course they will say you signed a contact. Then you notify them without proper equipment instructions from the gym staff their facilities and equipment can cause you injuries due to your physical and age issues. Be forceful, it might take numerous emails (copy & print & document all emails and ALL interactions & experiences with the gym). From my experience they will release you from the gym contract because they do not want their company investigated by your state authorities.

Jan, reading your posts you appear to me to be an energetic, young at heart attractive woman. Does not matter if you are in your 40s, 50s, 60s, one day we all hit a wall and feel old and helpless because our bodies and abilities change.

Make the most of who you can be now and not dwell on who you were in past stages of your life. My Mom in her day was a beautiful fashion model in print ads and runways. I can look back now and see she started to loose self esteem when she was in her mid 30s. She was still attractive when she died her late 50s. But that was another era and time when people thought when you hit your 40s it was all down hill.

I admit I have had personal physical image issues for 40 years because I work in an industry where physical appearance matters more than intelligence or creative ability. Did not matter that in my 20s and early 30s I also modeled for fashion print ads and walked the runway a few times. Sad but true in our society nice looking people have an edge. Sad but true but in my past, my appearance when I was younger, my look opened career doors I would never have experienced if I looked average. Sad but true sometimes having sex with people to bump up your career was a fact both in the past and today.

Sad but true I recently had the experience of reviewing my past (expired) passports. Looking at my passport photos when I was in my 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, in retrospect damn I looked good. Now looking at my current passport photo in my 60s think I look like crap. Perhaps in the future when I am in my 70s and have to renew my passport photo, I might think I looked not so bad when I was in my 60s. I have been so insecure about my personal appearance for most of my life I have not let not anyone photo me since the late 1990s when I had to have photos taken when I became a speaker at international conferences.

Now that I am in my 60s, just want to stay healthy. Of course I look in the mirror and think to myself who is that person. Mentally still in my 30s with a 30-inch waistline but the mirror indicates I am in my 60s, expanding waste line, and why do my eyes look so tired.

Aging not so bad. Today, would not trade that 30 year old body for my 63 year old brain that is full of wonderful life experiences.