I've lived most of my life in a state of inactivity. Having been blessed with a skinny gene (both my parents are skinny), I've never been interested in working out. Sweat? Work out? What's wrong with you? I can fit in my clothes thank you very much. My best friend used to come to my house to drag me out to exercise - I never once went. Hehe. I remember once trying out a gym and getting told by the woman in the next treadmill, why are you here honey? Go home and eat some cakes!! I've always controlled my size with my eating. When I want to lose some weight, I simply eat less. I was one of those annoying pregnant women who do not look very pregnant, just a neat bump in front.
Enter parenthood.
Yeah yeah, pregnancy was fair enough, with my gynae telling me to keep the weight gain to 4 pounds per month. He would actually tell me off it I put on any more than 4. He explained that my body frame isn't large, so it would not be a good idea to have a large baby to deliver. I thought it was logical enough, so I did as he told me.
I lost all my pregnancy weight when my son was 6 months old. I remember having to buy size 6 jeans, which I could never fit into before, and never again since. I went on happily inactive until I had to play and dance alongside my baby in kindermusik classes. I actually put my back out leaping like a frog. That was my realisation that I had to do something if I wanted to remain healthy and around for my son.
I joined a gym soon after. I did mainly weight training with a personal trainer 3 times a week, but was still neither here nor there because the trainer allowed me to get away with a lot of nonsense.
Fast forward to this year, after moving down to KL I had to find some support pillars. More on that in another post, but fitness is one of them.
I am now heading to the gym 5 times a week for various classes and it serves my purpose. TRX is my new best friend. It sculpts your body like you wouldn't believe! I believe I'm the fittest I've ever been in my life.. it's good to be able to feel this way, isn't it? I got a little crazy at the start but I think now I've mellowed down and am taking it easy, enjoying the process rather than the result. I think of it as preparing for a marathon instead of a sprint. If you do too much too soon and push yourself to the edge, you are going to burn out. Chances of you stopping and never continuing is too great because of the all or nothing mentality. Sidebar - another benefit of this support pillar is that I've met a like minded group of people that I can hang out with. That's great, considering I didn't have that big a network when I decided to move to this place.
Contrast that with enjoying whatever number of times you have allocated to work out a week, resting or skipping a day when you feel like it and knowing you can get back with a fresh body. That somehow makes you stronger after a couple of days of rest, you know?
Buddha preached the middle way, and that's what I'm doing with my fitness. What about you? What is your story with fitness?
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