How Fitness Helped me Keep my Sanity and Waist in Check?
Growing up, fitness was never a topic of discussion in my household. The closest thing to fitness I did was hanging on monkey bars every morning between age 12–14. Yes. You read it right. Monkey bars. My mom dreamt of a tall daughter, so by her logic if I would hang on monkey bars long enough, I’d grow taller. I vividly remember to this day that I would wake up every morning and hang on monkey bars for at least 10 minutes empty stomach.
Unfortunately, the tallest I grew is 5 ft 3 inches. So I don’t think it worked. But if you ask my mom, she would tell you that the reason I am this tall is because of all the work she had put into me.
I became a stress eater.
Fast forward to ten years later, I had gained 30 lbs after two kids. I started my studies after a 6-years gap and stress of managing home and school built up. To top it all off, I found comfort in stress eating. Eating a full tub of ice cream brought me a lot of comfort. Eating 3/4 of entire pizza brought me happiness. Alas, the happiness was short-lived and temporary.
The thing about stress eating is that once you start doing it, it’s hard to stop.
The thing about stress eating is that once you start doing it, it’s hard to stop. Your brain and body gets so used to it that the brain will send signals to your body that it is in stress and it needs food NOW to feel better.
Eating a full tub of ice-cream didn’t solve my problems or reduce stress. If anything, it caused me more stress as I was overthinking everything and becoming less healthier than before. After starting a full-time, demanding job, things didn’t look any better. I was sitting at my desk all day, which meant I was less active than I was in school. Because in school, I at least would walk from class to class, building to building. At work, I was eating and sitting.
I discovered fitness.
Then one day, on my way home from work I saw this new boutique fitness studio opening up a mile away from my house, offering 2 weeks of free classes. If you know me, you’d know I love freebies, food, t-shirts, pen, notebooks, swags, did I say food? This was TWO weeks of free classes after all so I thought why the hell not?!
I was miserable after two workouts. I was sore. It was hard to walk up the stairs, walk down the stairs, walk in general, change clothes, brush teeth, literally every physical movement reminded me I was sore and it hurts.
I realized that it was the only hour of the day when I didn’t stress out.
Things started getting better. I wasn’t sore after a week. And then something amazing happened. I soon realized that it was the only hour of the day when I didn’t stress out. It was the only hour of the day when the only thing I stressed out about was pushing myself harder — lifting heavier, walking faster, paddling the bike faster, rowing for 30 more seconds. It was a transformation for my brain. It was almost like as if I had discovered a reset button.
After every workout, I felt as if I hit a reset on my brain and stress level. I enjoyed that that there was one person (coach) “yelling” at me to run faster and there are two people on my either side giving me competition to go harder.
I slowly started observing a change in my mood. I was happier, funnier, more energetic, and productive than before.
I didn’t think about work, home, life, or anything during those one hour classes other than going harder and faster. It felt as if all my other problems disappeared and I only had one thing to worry about. Running 0.1 mile faster or lifting 5 lbs heavier. I slowly started observing a change in my mood. I was happier, energetic, funnier (still only one-liner jokes), productive than before. The days I would work out, my mood and energy level were different compared to other days. It was a self-discovery: working out made me happy.
I became a morning person.
Several months in, I was still excited about working out. I would go to the gym every other evening (6ish) after work but my evening schedule led to some “mommy guilt”:
- 6:30pm is cooking/dinner time at my house.
- Evening is kids homework time.
- Evening is family time.
With evening workout schedule, none of the above was getting the time it deserved. The “mom guilt” pushed me to try a morning workout routine.
In the beginning, it was HARD waking up at 4am in the morning to be able to take 5am class. But soon I realized I am not the only “crazy” one. There would be 23 other people who also thought working out at 5am was a good idea. So I wasn’t that crazy after all. Few months into the morning routine, I fell in love with waking up early. My day would start earlier. I would have my workout done, taken shower, had my cup of coffee and gotten breakfast ready before the kids would wake up.
I don’t look like a fitness model but I look and feel great. That’s all that matters.
After 2 years of hard work, dedication and healthy lifestyle, I lost all the baby-weight that I kept on for more than a decade. No, I don’t look like a fineness model or plan to but I look and feel great. And that’s all that matters. Sometimes I look back and wonder if I would have lost my sanity if I hadn’t started working out. I am, now, happier and more productive than I was before I started my fitness journey. My brain hits a reset after every work out and I am ready to give my fullest to work and home. I have been vocal about my fitness journey over the last year and I love that I am able to inspire others along the way.
Thanks for Reading!
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