A guest post by Nirja Raju.
The story of how I lost weight and gained an attitude of loving life…
My journey to fitness is one of endurance – mental more than physical. It started out as a need to be healthy (a.k.a getting an enviable physique). Being the OCD organiser, I shopped for comfy yoga pants, joined an expensive gym for group classes, followed inspirational fitness quotes on Instagram and even bought a book on self-reflection that was certified by Oprah’s Book Club. Watch out calories, get ready to burn – or so I thought.
No matter what workouts I put myself through, it could not rival the creamy goodness of a red velvet cupcake or challenge the oozy satisfaction of mac ‘n’ cheese. I was at war with myself – no matter how much I read, the message was the same but seemed gibberish – self-love? Screw that, I needed self-control! The more I forced myself to resist, the cravings persisted and I would give in. My binges became robotic, tasting of shame, guilt and failure. For someone who thought I had planned everything for success, I was surely missing something.
Time rolled on, the workouts stopped and I bloated, to the point of needing to see a doctor. A false alarm and 6 weeks of medication jolted me back my senses. Now exercise was a matter of health and not losing weight. This was the humble beginning of what truly changed me. No fancy memberships – just my apartment cross fit machine and me for 30 minutes, 4 times a week following an interval training sequence. Work was no longer an excuse as those 30 minutes of sweating it out, was time set out for me. Dinners consisted of steamed veg with variations of lean meat. I stopped viewing desserts as the enemy and gave myself space to crave, and you know what I started craving less.
My body responded beautifully to my new exercise and dietary regimen– my skin started glowing rivalling any foundation I had ever used. I didn’t have frequent mood swings and I loved the fact that I had the energy to add creative touches to my work. I even made plans with friends who I had not been in touch with, and my weekends became a fun social calendar. Within 3 months, I lost 6 kilos and gained an attitude of loving life. I said good-bye to morning rituals of measuring every gram on the scale. A healthy mind-set is when you stop obsessing about the goal focus on the little victories. This gave me the discipline to carry on day to day and take on sizeable goals. My journey with wellness truly began when I decided to embrace the way my body was changing and transforming on a daily basis and celebrated every little milestone.
Nirja is the creator of The Stylish Dish, which looks at how culinary art inspires travel and culture.
