To be honest exercising
is not my favorite thing in the world but it is important. You know… health
wise. A younger me hardly exercise and
it took a toll on me when I clocked 30. Though I did some dancing in school and
sports activities that involved competition –though, that was in primary
school, lol. The thing is I only exercise when it’s fun or because i feel like it,
which involved mostly dancing. And I do this like maybe twice amount, which was
not enough.
It was after school,
I started paying attention to my body but exercise was still a challenge. I
would try to find the right exercise that I would enjoy and won’t feel like a
shore. There was no Shape or OK! Magazine I didn’t have, just looking for the
perfect type of exercise for me. And since I was obsessed (um, not crazy
obsessed) with celeb gossip, I began to appreciate how good they looked at 30,
40 even 50 that I wanted to look like that. Shakira’s La tortura music video did that
for me, I loved how she could move ,I admired J’lo ,Britney Spears, and Gwen
Stefani’s sic abs that I was motivated to exercise. At some point I wanted to be skinny especially
when I saw Megan Fox in transformers (yeah, she was not skinny ,rather very fit
but to me, if I would have to look that slim, I’ll be skinny –since I’m big
boned).
I realized how
important being active is. And since I
told myself jogging is not for me unless I’m on a treadmill, and since I really
don’t fancy going to the gym, I have to find what works for me. Luckily my
sister got a stationary bike, I started using that one –though waking up and
actually doing it was another challenge. Why this was a challenge was because I
was setting ridiculous goals, it’s not that they were not achievable –it just
wasn’t for a beginner. So when I do it for like two days, I’d tell myself I
need rest cause my muscles will be so sore, in the next week I’m not even ready
to climb the bike. In other words, I stop for another month or two and the
cycle begins. Also my job was part of my laziness to be honest…not placing
blame but it was difficult fixing time for a workout when I have to get up
early for work and get back late from Mondays to Saturdays. So in my defense,
it was a lot....
During my
university days, the only exercise I did was walking from one department to
another and back to my hostel – it wasn’t enough but it helped. Sometimes I
wished I did more but hey! I’m still here…I can only do my best right? In my
last post I talked about things I regret doing in my life,
well, not exercising earlier should have been one of them. As a young girl I wasn’t really cautious
about my body (what was good or bad for it),I ate whatever, never loved exercising,
use any beauty product I see around the house… In my year two, there was this senior,
Zoba, she would push me to join her and friends for a jog in the morning. I
didn’t like jogging (still don’t) – especially cause of the way I breathe when
I do it. So, each time she would look for me in the hostel, I‘d hide. I think I
did it once and just couldn’t keep up.
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Anyways, wanting
to look like this celebrities made me want to exercise and it didn’t last
because it wasn’t a long term goal. At
some point Britney lost the abs…We had new hot pop stars and actresses coming
out every week, besides they get paid for looking good. Who was paying me? –
That’s what I thought. So I became inconsistent and less motivated. The thing
is, I was doing these exercises but I didn’t change my diet and with this, i
wasn’t seeing results so I quit. In my twenties, I only exercised when I felt
motivated with one thing or the other. It was in my thirties, after I started
having one health issues or the other; I realized i had to start watching what
I put in my body.
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Exercise seemed
difficult for me because I was setting ridiculous goals each time I want to
begin; I want to lose 20kg in a month, look like Halle Berry ,fit into a dress
that is clearly not my size, in a very short while. That was the wrong
approach, because I realized I give up when I don’t meet up to my expectations.
Another thing is, I didn’t include my health as a source of motivation.
Health should be
your major source of motivation –people die of heart disease all the time and
most times it’s due to lack of activity and obesity. Even if it’s just 20mins
of exercise every day, you are good. When you set short time goals for
exercising (anything!), there won’t be consistency and result might be
temporary or there might be no results at all. Exercise should be a lifestyle –
like brushing your teeth in the morning, praying, eating, taking a
bath…whatever your morning ritual is. Just create time for it, do whatever
works for you – don’t work out for an hour because someone you know or admire
does it, especially when you are just starting out. Besides you might not even
have as much time as the other person does, so work with your time.
Exercise itself
does not seem difficult; we all have the time and energy for it. Most times it’s
our mental state that makes it seem like exercising is difficult. Sometimes our
mind tells us we are not capable of something or that if we do it we might not
succeed in it. Therefore we don’t even try but if you ignore that and just set
a goal or look for a source of motivation (the long term one) to get you started,
you’ll discover that it’s not so hard after all. So even if you don’t have abs
like J’lo (she has a personal trainer to wake her in the morning and chef to
prepare healthy meals) or Chris Hemsworth (for the men),it’s not the end of the
world. What’s important is that you are keeping your heart pumped and
preventing some sort of future sickness or diseases. Besides you would feel
great and look great
Do I still love
exercise, not there yet but I know I need it; I feel better when I do and it
keeps my heart healthy, so what’s not to love? So my people, exercise is not
that difficult (unless you are pumping iron, lol –even this is not difficult,
it depends on what you like or are comfortable with), you just have to set a
positive vibe around it, make it a lifestyle not a shore and as you begin
little by little, it’ll be part of you and you’d do more.