Basically we are animals, we are meant to stay
connected to nature, move and make physical effort in order to survive.
Therefore, being inactive for a long period of time will automatically result in
mental illness, dysfunction and weakness in our body. We keep hearing this undeniable
and obvious information over and over everywhere; on the radio, the television,
the internet… while feeling sick, powerless and helpless. We are the kind of
society that embraces everything that is happening to it, if it’s good we
flaunt it to impress and consider ourselves lucky, and if it’s bad, we endure
it and do absolutely nothing to make it better. We undergo things convinced
that there is no need to change and that it's meant to be that way.
I was the kind of girl who thought that she was in the
perfect shape and health. Although I was bullied for being too skinny and flat,
I took it as being fit and active. Also I was permanently suffering from lower
back pain, but I took painkillers to cope with it.
When I was a child I was very energetic; playing all
the time, jumping and doing acrobatics, I could do 10 pushups easily and I
thought I was born strong and lively. By the time I was 23, I overheard my
father saying: “if a person climbs up the stairs to the second floor, then feels
tired and out of breath, it means that his heart is weak!”. The truth is, I got
super exhausted when I go upstairs, but my first thought was: “this can’t be
possible, I’m not weak!” So I tried to do the old famous 10 pushups that I was
so proud of to prove my father wrong. On my first one I fell, I was unable to complete
even a single pushup. I realized at that moment how feeble and vulnerable I was,
and I hated it.
Thus I started thinking seriously about working out,
but since running in the park wasn’t a convenience for me due to security and
harassment matters, I wanted to do something indoors, still didn’t know from
where to start and what to do exactly. My sister was a YouTube addict at the
time and she was watching a bunch of videos of American girls showing their
day’s routine. One word was repeated constantly in these videos and frankly
struck me was “the workout routine”. These pretty hot girls were not fit
trainers, just normal women having a totally different lifestyle; one that I’ve
never known of before. So I asked my sister “Wait! So these girls are working out
every single day to have that body? They are not naturally sexy?” This really
puzzled me because I thought there was nothing we can do to change the way we
look. And there I was sitting on my lazy ass wondering how foreign people are
genetically designed ripped and well defined, while they were actually working really
hard toward that dream body of theirs. What a surprise!
I shook off the passivity and began following these daily
routines. Soon after however, I felt like those workouts weren’t resonating
right with my body. So I switched to cardio routines with lot of jumping.
Though I felt stronger, I didn’t really see the results I was hoping for. I had
more stamina sure, but I was getting skinnier than I already was. Hence I
started doing some research and crossed on the way another new word that
changed everything: “Metabolism: how much time your body takes to burn fat”.
Not everyone should do the same exercises at the same
frequency, because we simply don’t have the same body type. I had a fast
metabolism therefore I shouldn’t work out more than 30 min at a time and do way
less cardio. It is crucial to fully understand the specificities of our body so
we can adjust our workout routine accordingly:
·
Fast metabolism: slim, picky eaters, don’t easily gain
weight and have hard time building muscles. These people should eat foods high
in carbs and protein and do strength training with a low intensity.
·
Medium metabolism: athlete figure, perfect muscles and
fat balance, flat stomach, and have weight fluctuation. They should eat and
workout with moderation.
·
Slow metabolism: heavy and round body, struggle to
lose weight, wide hips… this category should considerably reduce the calories
intake and do intense interval training.
Training the right way and following a proper
nutrition is important. It’s the key to see result quickly and be effective,
otherwise you’ll just be wasting time and energy on an inappropriate workout.
After trying many types of exercises, I eventually found the one that suited me
the best: Pilates instructed by an amazing trainer Cassey Ho. With consistency,
I saw great results and kept working hard toward the best version of myself.
I avoided my whole life looking at my body in the
mirror; I never thought that it would come a day when I will see my reflection
and say: Girl, you look damn good! Working out made me feel confident, strong
and happy. Additionally, by straightening my core and back muscles, my lower
back pain gradually vanished. Training became thus as vital as breathing and
eating, therefore if I skip it just for a couple of weeks, I feel dull and weary.
Guess I was always feeling that way before, I was just persuaded that it was
completely natural and inevitable to feel sick and disgusted all the time.
The mindset that says we are helpless to create the
life we strongly desire is irritating. According to this culture, everything happens
because it meant to happen and if under any circumstances you feel bad and
unhappy, just be patient and pray hard, soon you’ll get over it and eventually
get used to it. If you are depressed, well this is life and it’s harsh, what can
you possibly do about it! you will have to endure it. If you are unwell, take medicines,
everybody is sick nowadays. Our physical and mental health is utterly neither related
to our life’s decisions nor to our lifestyle. We are not ready to change the
slightest thing about ourselves, yet hoping for some miracle to happen and make
the world a better place.
If we are feeling lousy and depressed, or if things
are going terribly wrong at every level, then maybe it’s time to take control
over our life and do something to change this unwanted situation. Our body is
like a processing machine, if we enter junk food, junk values, poison, false
believes… the system will process these data and give you the result. Your life
is the result of your own decisions, it’s not meant to be that way. It’s up to
you to make it right.
Salma Ri
No comments:
Post a Comment