We are born in this world with several attributes in our physical body, giving a certain kind of appearance. How we are born is not in our hands. How we take care of the temple of our very own, our body, is very much our responsibility. Food for the body and food intake for the mind, both hold importance for our existence on the planet, building our self-worth and meaningful state.
I have been on the planet earth for over three and half decades and there have been junctures in my life which made me appreciate this life a little more. I am penning down the journey I have lived from being fit naturally to being unfit to becoming over-weighted to a choice I made to stay fit.
Isn’t it true that we become what we consume (and specially what we eat) ? Right from that very indigenous seed to the hybrid one, such seeds in every form makes a difference in our lives and bring change.
It has been a privilege for me to be born with absolute metabolism and to be born in the part of the world where I was provided the nutritional diet since birth. If you are wondering how, it makes a difference, I would like to just share that every bit of consumption which we do has a long-lasting impact and specially as a child, the development of the body matters. The air, the water, the food, the exposure to limited and important information and not unnecessary information, each plays an important role in our nourishment and fitness at large.
The luxury of having resources to have an optimum health was realized when about a decade ago 2014, I experienced deterioration of the body which I took for granted. That was the first time when I got to consume steroids and have had some side effects on the body and mind. Two years of weakness and low capacity to do anything you may think of. Slowly I worked towards gaining strength and stay consistent towards fitness. After 2 years, I got back not only in shape but also stronger in terms of stamina and mental strength. And that experience taught me to not take anything for granted.
However, the sweet reminder of maintaining the lifestyle choices came to me when I started gaining weight in 2021-2022. Reasons for gain of weight –
- Imbalance in professional life
- Dissatisfaction in personal relationship
- Prominent Health issues in the family where in hospitals and doctors were being visited frequently
- Sweets consumption to get overanxious situations specially during lockdown due to COVID 19
- Irregular sleep pattern
- Untimed food consumption
- Less Movement
- Wrong Sitting posture
- Loneliness
- Plethora of uncertain situations
- Covid Vaccination – Side effects
- Passing away of the loved one
Your reason could be any of above and any other.
Alarming moment – when one day while driving I felt my body would have exploded. It was scary. I got all my tests done, blood, hormones – all reports were normal, STILL I had gained weight like never before.
What’s surprising to me is that a conscious person like me, had not paid attention to herself. Our body talks to us if we listen to it. Everything we consume has a small to large impact.
So, firstly avoidance of short alarms coming from the body was avoided as I was busy in other things which I gave priority to, over health. Secondly, the lifestyle change brought during lockdown affected. Fortunately, I never had covid, so there was no side effect of medicines, however I had vaccination and post taking second dose of vaccination I could experience the changes but unfortunately unless the changes were large enough, I hardly did anything about them.
One fine day, I decided to focus on health and try to have schedule for it in the morning, but here is a catch to take care of health and follow a pattern I was never a morning person earlier. A friend from college days motivated me to join her for Yoga practice and which was online. She used to call me at 5 am to attend 6 am class. I believe in my journey of getting fitter, becoming a morning person has played a crucial role. Her consistency to wake me up in the morning made me push my limits and I got to be out of my comfort zone. 7 days of push from my friend and 8th day I was up on my own. Waking up early made me experience the freshness in the air and the efficiency that morning time brought to sip water slowly, to cook at ease, to listen to music, to meditate and have enough time to get ready for the day. The yoga sessions lasted for some weeks, and I had to keep the continuity. The continuity came with the choice to go for walking. Walking helped me to feel lighter and loosen up. Stretching was followed by walking. After 4-5 months of this routine, I enrolled myself at a fitness center and I stayed consistent with one hour of workout every day. That routine-built discipline in me, made me have connections with people who think about fitness, are conscious about eating, have a fitness routine and who are inspiring in their own ways, having their own journey to making a choice of fitness.
The way happiness is, fitness is a choice.
One day, in conversation with my cardio exercise (dance fitness) trainer, I got to understand that weight gain or its maintenance doesn’t happen suddenly. It’s an accumulation of consistent consumption of food pattern which makes us gain or lose weight. When we think that we would have suddenly gained weight, that’s not sudden. It’s a matter of days, months of a pattern we follow, the choice we make with each meal. He told me this in a very simple way and it stayed in my mind.
So, did joining the fitness center and being consistent with workout made me get fitter totally? NO.
After one year of regular workout and modifying the food intake by myself, all I gained was stamina, endurance, muscle strength, got in a habit to wake up early and all I lost was 1 kg, out of 8 kg from the time I realized I gained weight and 13 kg to my average weight. Was losing weight the only motive? NO
I wanted to gain confidence, feel light, have smooth skin, energetic, have efficiency with time, creative edge and become happier.
I struggled to gain various aspects. My confidence was all time low as I was carrying a body shape which was uncomfortable to me and most of my clothes were smaller for my size. I did conscious buying for myself, limited number of clothes with a goal to get back in the body type I had lived mostly in this life till then.
Then I got to be in touch with a Nutritionist and not a dietician, who understood my challenges and made me consume nutritional food as per my body requirement. I made a conscious choice to eat right and follow each instruction by her diligently. It wasn’t easy yet. I believe determination is a key to achieve anything. We had kept a goal and slowly week on week, my body started getting in a better shape and in 4 months, I was nearly to what I was 2 years ago.
I have tried and maintain balance in various ways over last one year and am happier and more confident a person.
The journey of fitness is about what you feel fit and confident about. We all make choice for our own self and we must consciously choose the right one for us. Its not about body shape, fat or being thin. Its about feeling energetic, healthy and strong, within.
What have I gained post choosing my journey of fitness?
- Quick choice of what to eat
- Ease at cooking
- Less cooking time as our body needs easy food to digest
- Confidence
- Strength to trek on mountains
- Endurance of mind and body
- Never give up attitude as working out with my peers give me strength to go on, even when I feel weak or less motivated
- Less to no bloating
- Good gut health
- Am learning art of making simple and essential choices
I want to tell you that whenever in life, we choose a healthy way of living in anyway, food, people, clothes and so on, we ought to face a lot of criticism as most of the people by default have got in a habit of choosing convenience over what’s right for their body and mind and this must not demotivate us to choose the path of betterment. It might be uncomfortable at the start and people telling you that you are not living the life properly might demotivate you, but you have to make your choice consciously. You have to choose how you celebrate and what you choose to affect you. Your health is in your hands. Instead of spending money on medicines and lavish restaurants, if you would like to make conscious choice to fulfil nutritional needs of your body, do it now. What might suit your body type might not suit mine and vice versa. This is coming only out of experience that convenient food coming in packets and bottles are slow poison with preservatives and sugar. A little effort and seasonal and easy food can lift your mood for long term benefit and instantaneously if we decorate and serve, he he. Spoil yourself sometimes. Choose the best dessert, and poison of yours, but in limits and read and understand what’s really beneficial for you. Connecting with people who have professional knowledge is a choice we make. Instead of watching reels and random articles, talk to professional and embrace your temple, your body. Each body is different, and each one has its own way of keeping it fit, to the extent we can.
Cheers to the healthy choices in all spheres of life,
Shruti
