Dumbbells and Drama

 

It’s been a year since I started working out. One whole year of blood, sweat and tears. Looking back on the last 25 years of my life, the last year makes me particularly proud of myself. And I owe most of it to exercise.

 

I have always believed in staying fit. Of course I did let myself loose for quite a good amount of time back in college- blame it on those difficult teenage years when you feel love and friends and parties are more important than your own body. But this time last year I stopped for a little while to think about myself, about what I expected from myself in the future…and here I am. Seeing photographs from back then still make me squirm, I can’t believe I had let myself get that way. But it’s all good now. It’s been a challenging year, but I have no regrets.

 

Being physically fit is important to me for many reasons. Not only does it keep me healthy, it also makes the world a better place- positive thinking, high energy levels, self-awareness and inner strength ,no qualms walking a kilometer or two to get somewhere (which means I get to save money too) plus a level of confidence that is extremely hard to put into words. Exercising gives me a high.

 

What’s my routine like? What am I sacrificing for the sake of my health? Do I follow a special diet? Will you believe me if I said I live a completely normal life? I wake up at 6:30am, hit the gym for an hour or two, if the weather permits I make it a point to swim too, sometimes when I am too lazy to go to the gym I climb 35-50 floors….I eat whatever I want to, I don’t think about calories, I don’t resort to eating boiled vegetables and salads….I eat fruits whenever I feel hungry. I gave up drinking a year ago (yes there are times when I have the cool kids making fun of me cos I choose mocktails over whiskey) I party when I feel like it, I attend food reviews and eat everything without creating a fuss…in a nutshell, I love my life just the way it is and do not feel I am missing out on anything by giving up alcohol and taking up exercising.

 

I don’t want to be ripped, shredded, a mean machine, nope none of that. I just want to feel good about myself- eat well, sleep well, move well, stay strong and happy. I don’t want the need to exercise overwhelm me. I am lucky enough to have found the middle ground- I can eat that extra slice of cake, I can have chocolates cos I want to, I can pick up the fork and take a bite of that pie without a care in the world, I can go a day without working out if needed.

 

I have had people coming up to me, asking me to stop working out so much cos I don’t need it. Why? “Cos you’re skinny already!” No ma’am, I am not skinny, nor do I wish to be skinny. I wish to be healthy 50 years down the line too. And because I know I won’t be running 5km when I’m 75, let me do it now. Because it’s BLOODY BRILLIANT!

 

 As I continue on this fitness journey, my ideas regarding lifestyle have changed drastically- I believe it’s all up to you at the end. It’s your call, no one can decide whether you want to be healthy or not. You have to do what you feel is right for you. I personally suggest you find a lifestyle that will work for you in the long term. Diets and exercising don’t work overnight…but have some patience, you’ll see the results soon enough. I made healthy changes …it required a lot of patience to get the results, but it was worth it.

 


 

We make mistakes, we fail. We make plans to adopt a healthy lifestyle, we fail. It’s okay to fail. As long as you learn something from your mistakes (extremely sorry to sound this clichéd.) Locate the root cause of your problems, and do your best to correct them. Stop complaining about being overweight, do something about it. From what I’ve learnt, getting exercise is the quickest way to lose weight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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