Tom
Hi Tom: I am 53, used to play ping pong as a kid, we always had a table in the basement. My mission in life was to beat my dad. Never have as yet, he has a table at home, always covered with stuff, but I think he knows i could beat him now. Anyway, my story. A few years ago, I was taking a medication, and it made me gain weight, which i have never had a problem with. I went from 128 to 159, yikes, that just killed me, I decided to go off the medication, or I would have been over 200 lbs now. I stopped gaining, but I couldn't lose it. I went around to the fitness clubs in the area, and hated them, so then I went to my local YMCA. I loved the ambiance there, the family feeling. So I talked to a fitness person there and they put me on a regime, which didn't last too long, I was so bored, and hated it, realizing I could never lose my weight. Then one day when I was going in, I saw them playing ping pong, and right away, that is for me. They have 4 tables there, and I started to get back into it. I would play sometimes 5 hours at a time. Yikes, and as time went on, i started losing the weight, I just played Saturday and Sunday's, and that is all I did when I went to the Y. More and more people started coming to play, when they would see us there, people who had in the past played it, and were drawn back into it. The YMCA there has recognized that we are a big group, and are catering to us more and more. There is a very big oriental population in my area, which has helped, and now we have all become really good friends, and even have parties together, especially at my home. I have two tables here in my garage, and we put them out on the driveway to play, their kids come, they usually play too. I have to say now, that I have lost all of the weight that I gained. It feels great, and I would never stop playing it now. Mentioned in the articles I read here, that microsoft and boeing encourage ping pong, well a company that I worked for years ago, almost 20 years ago, they had 2 tables in the warehouse, I actually donated one of them, and we used to play at lunch and after work. Got into some pretty heated games there, was a great motivator, and great exercise too. I hope it is true, the ping pong is making a comeback, cause it really deserves it. It is not an expensive sport, and heaven knows the kids today need to get more exercise, with the obesity problem these days. If I can lose 30 lbs at 53, I am sure these young kids can lose their weight too, and the fun that they will have, and the close friends too. It never creates an argument, like other sports do, as in hockey, with the fights, it is always friendly fun, sometimes my mouth aches from laughing, and I always leave, tired and refreshed. I play about 7-8 hours every weekend. That is my story, Thanks for listening Beverly Wills