Fitness goals redefined 2022 by Exercise-anathema Moi 💁🏻‍♀️👊🏻😁

March 2022

If someone had asked me this question “What do you do to stay fit?” a decade ago, my nonchalant answer would've been “cornflakes, coffee and potatoes 😉” .. Having fortunately been blessed with good metabolism, I always believed that eating good food in moderation would hold me in good stead for a healthy life (glorious twenties eh 😋😜).. I would still continue to dabble in sports activities during office events, especially throwball and Table Tennis , more for fun rather than with a lofty end goal of fitness in mind 😁😅💁🏻‍♀️.

Fun times - beach throwball and late night table tennis practice 💁🏻‍♀️💃🏻👊🏻

While past couple of years have been extremely busy, going to office including taking local train ensured that there was a semblance of an active lifestyle. For someone like me who prefers curling up with Kindle 📖 during spare time, spending time on exercise was anathema 🙄🙄. All that changed during last two years with working from home and longer working hours. As much as it pains me to say this, in mid 30s, I could feel my physical health taking a toll owing to higher workload and no time for exercise scenario. And hence it featured as one of the goals during my sabbatical to ensure a sustainable active lifestyle. 

As much as good intentions and drive in life are important 🤗, the predicament that one faces in such a scenario is how do you simply wake up one day and continue with the zeal to sustain an active lifestyle 😬😐.  I decided to take advantage of the fact that I stay in a huge active gated community wherein events are organized on a monthly basis. On a side note, its a different matter that having lived in the same complex for the last 5 years, this was the first time I had the bandwidth and the inclination to participate 😂 🤣😜.

As a person who used to take the lift instead of stairs for even 1-2 floors , I won the inner argument with "Exercise-anathema" me and enrolled for 5 km run 🏃🏻‍♀️. The benefit with this approach was that there was a training routine for all participants, and it was good to know the tips for warm up, cool down et al. It was really fun meeting kids and adults alike, everyone supportive of each other and in a phased manner, all of us slowly increased the distance from 3 to 5 km. 

                                            

All of us enjoyed supporting each other and buying sportswear and accessories, and even calling ourselves the "Poster girls of Decathlon" 😂 🤣😜.  The event was well organised and it was a fun Sunday waking up in the morning, with Simba supporting me fully as well 🤗. 

    

This training and routine provided the much required impetus 👊🏻💁🏻‍♀️ for me to continue this exercise regimen for 3-4 days a week, and I mixed it up with other activities like Yoga 🧘‍♀️. While my “never-in-their-lifetime exercised muscles” were groaning and creaking, as cliched as it sounds, not only did I start feeling the difference physically with much better stamina levels, I felt positive and calm as well while balancing different priorities 🤗😁👍🏻.

 

Felt daring and physically able to take big boy Simba on a walk once in a while 🤣 🐶 

A couple of months later I participated in the Women's throwball event as well, and along with enjoying playing after so long, I was also pleasantly surprised with the easy camaraderie among my team as well as the participants, close to 100 of us participating in this Throwball tournament. This event was well organized, and my 2 minutes contribution in terms of service was captured for eternity 😆😉🥰💖.

One medal for 5K run and the other for Semi-finalists of Throwball - my fitness goals for 2022 are done ✅ 🤣💃🏻💝

I realised that like so many firsts in my ever extending sabbatical, I was enjoying these social interactions. This is not to say that I didn't have friends at previous workplaces - I did, but like so many other women, I was bogged down by time as well as perception of how a Woman Leader in my position should behave. As much as I loved having my own cabin in my early 30s, it was isolating as well - I was reminded of one of my mentors telling me "It's lonely at the top". While I liked climbing the hypothetical corporate ladder and would not change anything about my professional journey till date, upon reflection I also realise that sometimes we place more than the required emphasis on how we are perceived. It’s important to reflect on how we identify ourselves, and make time for pursuing our interests. 

(Source: King Fu Panda 🐼 movie quote from Google) 

We all wear different hats 👒 in our lives, but it’s important to take a step back and not be bogged down just by one role we play.. Like the quote from the movie Kung Fu Panda, I decided not to let the tag of GM or COO overshadow the other equally important aspects in life - I’m an avid reader, experiential living enthusiast, daughter & sister part of a loving family , wife to an unconventional man with whom I love taking the road less travelled and Dog Mum of a goofy affectionate puppy 🐶. Cheers to fitness, family and friends 🤗😊💁🏻‍♀️💝🥰.