How leading a fit lifestyle changed my life

 ‘The clock is ticking. Are you becoming the person you want to be?’

– Greg Plitt

Day 16/30

Like every other person in their 20s, I was oblivious about fitness and it’s immense benefits. I used to think being fit is for celebrities and models. I genuinely believed that I would NEVER be able to achieve the level of fitness demonstrated by them. By the age of 28, I had tried and failed at all attempts made to lose weight. I obviously didn’t start with workouts first as that seemed like the difficult option. I started with skipping meals, eating lesser portions, trying healthier options, dieting etc. Nothing worked as I wasn’t consistent.

In the year 2017, I was fed up of not being able to plan a trip to South Korea even after trying multiple times. I wanted to visit South Korea (I still do) since 2012 ever since I was introduced to K-Pop and K-Drama. I didn’t have the finances back in 2012 and tried to save small amounts every year to fulfil this wish. But it wasn’t just me, my sister was in college back then and it was practically impossible to save the travel cost for 2 people with all the other responsibilities I had. I gave up and left it to the Universe to decide. As childish as it may sound, I decided to quit the thing I loved the most in life, SUGAR, till I visited South Korea. While it seemed like an absolutely impossible task back then, I did not touch sugar for 1.5 years and finally quit it in the mid of 2018 when I found a new job. Though I couldn’t manage to travel to Korea yet, I realized that my mind was stronger than I thought as I was able to keep my promise of not eating sugar for 1.5 years!

In the year 2018 itself, I was fed up of being overweight and unfit and decided to embark on my fitness journey. I started by eating healthier (quit sugar, junk and processed food) and added running during the weekends to my routine a week later. The week that followed this weekend, I added HIIT workouts too. And I can safely say that this has been the BEST DECISION of my life. I’ve listed down few changes in me ever since I chose this fit lifestyle.

• I feel mentally stronger : The last rep of any workout or the last km in a run always seemed the hardest to me. Day after day, rep after rep, km after km, as I pushed through it, I trained my mind to let go of the resistance and learned that I was stronger than I thought.
• I’m open to new challenges : My run training has helped me develop a positive attitude towards life. When I run and almost feel like giving up before completing my target, I trick my mind diving right into the last run and not letting my feet stop. Our body is always stronger than we think. In a similar manner, we are always stronger than the challenges we face in life. Just dive right into it and face it.
• I feel focused : During the first three months of my fitness journey, I was the most productive I’ve been in my entire life. I managed to read over 20 books and watch countless movies/web series during those 3 months. That has been the most effective utilization of my time ever. I know I could have done better than watching movies but I’ve always had problems with being attentive while performing a single task. My mind tends to wander in 100 different directions when I’m doing any task. Being able to focus my attention on completing my to-do list for each day felt like a big achievement.
• I felt confident : I have always been insecure, had low self esteem and low confidence all my life due to my weight. Once I started shedding of my excess weight, the excess baggage of negative thoughts also disappeared along with it. I felt productive every single day as I started my day with my workouts. I felt accomplished and positive. My life changed for the better.

If you still need a reason to start working out, you can check out the transformation stories of countless people on the internet who have completely changed their lives. Fitness is forever. Let’s strive to lead a healthy lifestyle and become the best version of ourselves.

Quest to be best

“Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.”

-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Day 14/30

I have been following the journey of a fitness influencer on Instagram and it makes me wonder if such people do exist in real life. She seems to be living a perfect life especially when it comes to leading a productive lifestyle. She was quiet overweight when she decided to take things into her own hands by starting her fitness journey. It’s been 4 years that she has been following it diligently and I’m in awe of her. She strives hard everyday to be the best version of herself. It has only been 2.5 years for me yet I’ve fumbled way too many times.

I don’t feel productive whenever I have issues with my mental health. I feel lethargic, lazy and end up whiling away my time doing nothing. This wonder woman works on her goals, ever day with the same determination she had when she started. This gives me hope that we can be consistent in our life. We just need to fight and win against the demons in our mind.

Working on things that don’t provide instant gratification can drain all of our energy. That’s the reason we fall off the wagon more often than we can imagine. We seek immediate reward always. Training the mind to delay gratification is the first and biggest step towards success. Finding a strong purpose will help you stick by your goals.

All things set aside, this wonder woman has inspired me work on myself, truly and faithfully. No excuses, no escapes, sheer hard work to become the best version of myself.

If any of you are intrigued by her story, please read her article below, it’s beyond inspirational.

https://iwillgetlean.medium.com/my-beginner-mindset-a77b02bcf4af

I have a strong desire to know myself in my best version. On a scale of 1-10 where 10 is my best version, I feel like I’m on 2 right now. The journey from 2 to 10 won’t be easy at all but the extremely fulfilling. I want to give it a shot. I did embark on this journey 2.5 years back but I’ve not been supremely focused and consistent about it. It’s high time I do that.

My ‘quest to be best’ begins right now!

Be Fit : Milestone 3

The third milestone is here and I feel pretty happy with my efforts made for fitness in October. I managed to stick to a daily meditation and gratitude journaling routine which is something I had been struggling with a long time. I’m not focusing on the results from this routine at the moment. I am focusing on doing it consistently to make it a habit so that I can reap it’s benefits in the long term. My running schedule took a hit this month, I was pretty lazy. I have slept through the alarms each week and was pretty disappointed with myself. I tried to make up for it last weekend and was extremely happy to push my limits for a 7.7 km run on Saturday followed up by a 10 km run on Sunday. My goal is to be consistent with my running schedule in November.

Here are my achievements for this month :-

Weight :-

Starting weight (10th August) : 62.9 kgs

Milestone 1 (31st August) : 62.5 kgs (Lost 0.4 kgs)

Milestone 2 (1st October) : 61.4 kgs (Lost 1.1 kgs)

Milestone 3 (2nd November) : 60.5 kgs (Lost 0.9 kgs)

Workouts :-

I have been regular with my HIIT workouts/skipping routine during the weekdays however slacked off during the weekends.

Meditation :-

I tweaked up my meditation routine to do it first thing after I wake up in the morning. This has worked wonders for me as I haven’t skipped it even once for the past 25 days. I currently have a 25 day streak on Headspace and that makes me very happy.

Food :-

Although I ordered takeaways on many occasions, I am pretty satisfied with my food habits this month. Ever since I started meditation, I’ve noticed a slight decline in my food cravings and mindless eating habits which is great! My water intake has been up to the mark as well.

Key achievements :

• Ran twice outdoors, 7.68 kms in 52.38 mins on 31st October and 10.14 kms in 1.11.46 hrs on 1st November.

Goals for Milestone 4 (30th November):-

• Workout everyday
• No refined sugar
• Limited cheat meals (Fried, processed food)
• Rope skip every evening at least 200 times
• Attempt 10 push ups
• Run 5 kms on Saturday, 10 kms on Sunday every week
• Improve my running pace, 5 kms under 30 mins and 10 kms under 65 mins

See you until the next milestone!!

Sugar please!

#85/100

I’m not really addicted to anything in life except of course overthinking, procrastination, laziness at times, staying inside my comfort zone and the list goes on. But we aren’t discussing these superficial addictions today. I’ve grown with a massive sweet tooth. There was a time when I could gulp down multiple bars of chocolate in one sitting (won’t state a number here, it still freaks me out!). It wasn’t because I had an appetite for it or I was hungry, my mind craved it in large quantities whenever it had to deal with any kind of negative emotions in life.

So what really is sugar?

Sugar in any form (natural or refined) is a source of carbohydrate. When consumed, our body converts it into glucose and uses it for energy. Natural sugar is found in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and dairy. Refined sugar or table sugar is extracted from sugar cane plants or sugar beets. The sugar cane plants or sugar beets are washed, sliced and soaked in hot water to extract the sugary juice. The juice is filtered into syrup, further processed into sugar crystals by extracting molasses and undergoing a chemical refining process to give it the super white color.

What happens to the body when we consume sugar?

Natural sources of sugar contain other nutrients such a fiber in fruits or protein in dairy which slows down the digestion process and gives our body time to convert sugar into glucose. Refined sugar on the other hand is empty calorie devoid of any nutrients. When consumed, our body digests it in no time without making the stomach feel full. By the time we are full, the damage is already done as we end up consuming huge quantities of sugar. Once sugar passes through the blood stream, our pancreas secrete a hormone called insulin which is responsible for allowing the body to use glucose from blood for energy. When we consume large quantities of food containing refined sugar, our body metabolizes sugar quickly and causes a sudden spike of insulin and glucose. Depending on the amount of sugar already in the bloodstream, excess sugar is stored in body as fat (future source of energy).

Why does the mind crave sugar when we are stressed?

The reason behind this goes back to evolution. Food was a scarce commodity in the primitive times. Food, especially the sweet ones, owing to it’s high energy content triggers the pleasure point in our brain. When we eat sweet food, our brain neurons release a chemical called “dopamine” which activates the “reward system” in our mind signaling a positive event. As we eat sugar, our body also secretes the hormones called serotonin and endorphins which are associated with happiness.

So why should I stop eating sugar?

Below major ill effects are associated with excess consumption of artificial or refined sugar/ based products

• Weight gain leading to obesity
• Increased risk of heart ailments, Type 2 diabetes, fatty liver
• Speeds up skin and cellular aging process

How much is too much?

According to the World Health Organization, adults and children should limit their daily intake of added sugar (anything that isn’t naturally occurring such as fruits or vegetables) to 10% of the total energy intake. They also say that a further reduction to 5% or roughly 25 grams / 6 teaspoons per day will greatly benefit our health.

Sugar does give a huge surge of dopamine as opposed to fruits or vegetables leading to after lunch/dinner cravings. As the blood cells absorbs sugar, there’s a sudden drop in energy as well as the feel good element causing us to continue eating sugar to continue activating the reward system in our brain.

That was a lot of information! I’m not sharing this to scare you off from sweet food. I still prefer sweet over any savory food, hands down. We need to be aware of what we put inside our body before it starts controlling us and it’s too late to correct our mistakes. I’m trying everyday to switch to healthier options, eat more natural sources of sugar like fruits and vegetables. Jaggery is my savior, there’s also honey and coconut.

The body is our true life companion, let’s treat it well when we can so that it treats us well when we can’t! Knowing what the food we consume does to our body can be a good start to a healthier, fitter life!