Thursday, May 2, 2013

'E' For Exercise And Me.

Exercise in some form had always been a part of my life from a very young age.

Let me start from my school days. When I was in 7th standard, I had changed school, I had joined  Kendriya Vidyalaya or Central school (as it was known in those days). We were living in Guwahati, Assam. Being  in the Army, meant transfers every 3/4 years, and the Central school was said to be the same everywhere in India, so my dad changed my school. Since it had just started, there were no buses organised by the school, the school itself was in a temporary building, and from where we were staying at that time, there were no buses going towards the school too.
So it used be a long walk from our house, (opposite the cricket stadium) crossing the  bridge over the railway tracks, and walking a little further up to my old school St. Mary's Convent, and then from there catch a crowded local bus to my school. It used to be very hot during summer, and you can imagine carrying a heavy school bag, and also a lunch bag. it was like I was meant to weight train from a very young age itself.
 Sometimes, because of the unreliable, erratic buses those days, I would have to walk all the way from the school  to our house. Now when I look back I wonder how I did I have the strength to do that. After about 2 years of this routine, my dad got transferred to Agra.

 Now,  in Agra although there was a Central School,  it was located very far from our house ( it was still a new concept, not like today where there  is a Kendriya Vidayala at different places in the same city). So, back to Convent which was supposed to be much closer than the Central school. A rickshaw was arranged for me, but  again, the rickshaw fellows were so unreliable, for few days they would come on time, and slowly start coming late giving some excuses or other, putting me into trouble. So, it was back to walking  to school which was about 4 kilometers from our house. And the summer of Agra, less said the better.
However, I think I liked walking to school, for I had to cross a big beautiful park full of Guava  trees, and various other beautiful flowering trees, and also the Agra University was located there,  with lots of young college boys and girls roaming around eating "paruck ki ambrooth,"  garam channa choor, drinking Coco Cola, Fanta, Goldspot to beat the heat of Agra. Since, I always loved people watching,  I didn't really feel so bad about walking.

While returning in the afternoon, the fresh smell of hot samosas being fried at the Halwai shop, near our house, along with fresh jeelabi and garam malai dhoodh was too tempting to avoid, so the money which my mom gave me to catch a rickshaw and come home, I used to save it up to indulge in eating all these delicacies.  I was always very slim, because of all the walking/ weight training, (carrying heavy school and lunch bag) and also the weekly PT classes were  enough to keep me fit.
I was also the shortest person in our family, that kind of kept me worried,  till I heard people telling me, that if I included lots of protein, (Dhal) in my diet,  and did skipping everyday, I would grow tall.
 Also I made my parents buy a tonic called "Incremin", (with the picture of a Girraffe) which was a very popular tonic those days, to increase in height. I think even now it is sold in  all the chemist shops.
Well, the combination of all the things I did finally helped me reach a reasonable height of 5ft.3 inches.

We had to move again, and this time to Calcutta, where I joined college. Here again although the college was close by, yet  not close enough to walk, for my college was in Golpark, and we had our house in Prince Anwar Shah Road. My college timings were also pretty weird:  our classes would start at  6.15 am, there were no buses plying, so early from near our house to the college. My dad used to drop me in his Vespa scooter, but while coming back,  I would still have to walk a bit, from our college to the Dakhuria Bridge, walk over the bridge and reach the end of the Prince Anwar Shah Road, to catch a rickshaw to our house.
Thank God, I no longer had to carry heavy bags.

After two years, we moved to a house in Keyotala, which was just  8 minutes walk to my college.
However, being in college meant,  roaming around with friends, window shopping ( Gariyahat, Lake market), hanging near the beautiful Lake used to be  our favorite way of passing our time. Me and my friends always walked everywhere, and we were all very slim and fit.
Marriage, found me setting up family in Bombay, and there too walk, walk and walk, to the market, to the bus stop etc. And all these places were hot, 
 In Guwahati,  Agra,  Calcutta,  at least, there was some winter  too. However, Madras and Bombay were always, hot, hotter and hottest.
After two kids, I found my weight going up gradually, mere walking was not good enough, to lose the extra baggage I found myself carrying around.

In the meantime we had shifted to what was then a cool, cool Bangalore, I was still a great walker, literally walked everywhere in and around Indira Nagar, be it the whole of  100 ft. Road, Jeevan Bhima nagar, Domlur etc, but the weight wouldn't budge. I joined Yoga class, Gym, Swimming,  still no result. Then  I joined Aerobics class, and felt this was what I was meant to do.

Those days there were no  courses conducted  to become an  Aerobics Instructor and  aerobics was what I wanted to learn, and take up as a career.
So after attending  various aerobics classes, for a few months, I decided to stop all the classes and start my own self training in aerobics and fitness by recording all the fitness shows telecast from the US, and Australia beamed at odd times, on the TV,  at around 3 a.m/ 5 a.m,  then practicing after the children left for school. I was so focused on fitness, that within one year of constant practice, I could master all the moves shown by various Instructors in the TV shows,  that I was recording.  I  felt, I was capable to start my own Aerobics classes.

At the age of 34/ 35,  I was a full fledged fitness instructor with my very own set of classes.
From that day, I  have never looked back, I was always into fitness/ eating healthy, and literally enjoying my job, which was win win all the way, for here I was paid to keep others fit and in return get to be fit too. Which other profession, can boast of such benefits, and also by the time people left for their regular jobs my job for the day was already over. I could stay at home, earn money and be fit too.

People started telling how young I looked, they would be shocked when they came to know my age, and they would be equally shocked to see my grown up children. I was  having a good time enjoying all the compliments coming my way. Till I reached 50, I was flooded with compliments, then, I noticed that, I started to put on weight, slowly but steadily, the weight, that went up never really came down, and soon I became 8 kilos overweight. No amount of exercise had any effect,  in fact the harder I exercised and dieted the more the weight seemed to be determined to stay there.
I did a lot research and found that weight loss at my age was not going to be easy, as here no diet or exercise was going to help me much,  as I was at a stage where my hormones were getting confusing signals,  and till they became balanced ( which would take its own time), I would have to bear my weight gain with a smile.
The more I exercised the more it  would act against what I desired. So, although I felt fit and had the stamina to workout a lot, my metabolism will always be very low, and the weight will always be in places where I did not want it to be.
The solution for this is to cut down my exercise to normal, do a lot of yoga and meditation, and do lots of weight training, limit my cardio, keep it to normal: this will not only make me feel better, it would also help me get  closer to getting that toned body which I had. However, I must not try to hurry, I must be patient, give my body all the time it needs to balance itself, and soon I  would see the results. As we all know, water is very important to lose weight and it would also help in balancing the hormones, and keeping us healthy. I was always drinking lots of water, and now I have increased it to more, and the results are slowly showing.

At every step exercise has been a part and parcel of my life, telling me when to go for it, when not to over do,  and when to slow down.
I am grateful, that  I am not going through the various pains and problems,  that people generally go through during this phase of life, and I am learning to feel totally comfortable and at peace with myself and my body.

 Exercising is still like an addiction to me, I love trying all the different kinds of exercises shown in the Youtube, but I am smart, I know when to stop and take it easy. I don't want to be a hurdle in my own road to success.
 Cheers to exercise!!!

31 comments:

  1. Wow! You are an inspiration, Rama!! It is wonderful that you are so fitness and health conscious and spreading it to those around you too.
    Swimming for me is a passion and incidentally that happens for just 4-5 months. Somehow, I cant motivate myself to stick to an exercise pattern for more than 3-4 days!! :|

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    1. Well Shilpa, I know how much you love reading books, whereas, for the last few years, I have not been motivated to read more than 2- 3 pages of any novel unless it is very interesting.
      Just like how you feel, you could exercise more regularly, I envy your love for books. Thanks Shilpa.

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  2. Wow! You seem to be know all forms of exercise. Very inspiring to see a mom of two grown up children looking healthy and fit:) Keep going....yes, my yoga teacher too tells us stress aids weight gain.

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    1. Thanks Asha. Stress is the prime cause of weight gain, as when we get stressed we tend to eat more. However, my weight problem is not because of stress, because I don't have the tendency to indulge, maybe i am stressed because of not being able to lose weight. But, now I think I am on the right track.

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  3. Lovely post Rama and a useful one too. Most of us hitting near 50 - this is wonderful. Hope you will share more insights into your experiences. Well written.

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    1. Shanthi,I must thank you for the link for the Sassy drink. I am drinking it practically everyday, and it is really a very refreshing drink. You too should start drinking it. Thanks a lot.

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  5. You are great Rama..No wonder no one believes you are above 50!
    I am not a fitness freak, but I do have my daily dosage of burning my calories- zumba, yoga and dance. Over weekends, we go for trekking.

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    1. You are doing quite a lot to keep yourself fit,and you look fit too, so need to worry. Enjoy life!

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  6. Very interestingly brought to light the ' Requirements demanded by the fitness to stay with you.' I enjoyed the movie of your hay days which led me to my nostalgic carriage.

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  7. You are an inspiration Rama, I wish I stayed nearby so I could attend your classes.enjoyed every it of this post!

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  8. Interesting to read..why dont you tell us a 20 minute exercise routine....

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    1. Renu, the best place to choose the form of exercise according to your level is the youtube. You can get 20 minutes/ 30 minutes, beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels of exercise, and different types of exercises to suit you. Try the Youtube.

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  9. Very well written post, Rama! I too am a serious health freek. I learnt yoga when I was around 34-35. If I am lady for a couple of days, my son will start yelling at me to start doing my exercises.

    Your stamina must have improved because of so much walking in your younger days.

    Walking helps a lot for staying fit! Good to know you, Rama!

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    1. Thanks Sandhya. I am also happy to know you and you are a good friend.

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  10. What a refreshing post, rama! I am really ashamed that I can't stick with any exercise programme!

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    1. Thanks, TH.
      There is nothing to feel ashamed of, you are talented in so many other things.

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    2. Thanks, rama, you are so generous!

      The problem is that I need exercise for my health! I have to loose weight in order to walk better, and also for my diabetes. I am a very decided person in almost every other field but not this.

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    3. Well, times have changed, before we had to work inside the house, walk to places, I mean we were busy knowingly or unknowingly doing a lot of work, that kept us indirectly quite healthy. We may not have had many people living longer then, like the people who live a very long life now. We also were not aware of so many new diseases that are striking youngsters now. We never dieted, we never consciously exercised, but still we were leading a reasonably healthy life.
      Now we have less work, we indulge more in unhealthy/ junk food, all these so called modern gadgets have made us very lazy, even when are sick we are able to survive, because we have access to the latest treatments and medicines, and somehow live up to 90 and above.
      Now it has become all the more important to take charge of our lives, and decide to do minimum exercise everyday for ourselves, for our own well being.
      I am sure, you too would take time out and spend some time looking after your health,so that you can continue to do the things you enjoy doing without much pain.
      Wake up the love for yourself and your love for life and everything would automatically fall in place. You can do it.
      All the best TH!

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  11. Wow you inspire me Rama :) after all these years you still have the enthusiasm to stick to a regime and improve, take a bow lady!!. I do yoga daily and have recently become regular to the gym too just to keep myself fit for I believe we Indian women grossly neglect the fitness and health part of our lives.

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    1. I am glad, I inspire you, just as my Instructors inspired me to get into this field. We must inspire each other to do things which are so difficult, and which is good for everybody.
      Thanks.

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  12. This is so inspiring Rama. I know how you've been a fitness instructor. And you do look so young. Who'd say that you are in your 50s. Your persona adds to your youthful looks. Like you I am a fitness person but I was not so athletic in my teens. I was thin and unfit. But today in my 30s and with two kids, I feel fitter with more stamina. And my brisk walking is something I do very regularly. It doesn't feel like exercise. I do keep doing yoga or strength training sometimes too.

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    1. Thanks Rachna. Yes, sticking to something on a regular basis is enough to keep fit. Try to include weight training for at least 3 days in a week. You don't need to go to any gym just buy a pair of ankle weights and a pair of dumbbells, that is enough. To do the exercises correctly, I would suggest you to go to Youtube to the site called Fitness blender, it is very good and anybody can easily follow them, for they have exercises for all levels, and you can do it with them.
      When you reach the 30s it is time to include more of weight training, to build strong muscles and yoga too would help you get the right amount of stretch, but to be overall healthy, along with your walking incorporate yoga and weight training too into your routine on a regular basis, and not just sometimes, as you have mentioned. A good example would be, walk for 30 mins., weight train for 10 mins., and finish it off with yoga stretches/ asanas for 10 mins., and you are done for the day. While working out with weights do upper body one day and lower body, on another day, this way you are able to rest each part of your body. Keep any 1/2 days of the week for just relaxation doing nothing.

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  13. Could relate to many things in this lovely post including studying in Kendriya Vidayalaya, saving money to eat savories, and life time addiction to fitness:) Hope your fitness keeps you going forever, Rama:)

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    1. Thanks Rahul. I am glad you could relate to this post.

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  14. Rama ji..If I have not told you earlier (I've told my husband, told my mom), let me not delay anymore and convey it now: You look so gorgeous, happy and healthy ..Touch wood..You look too young for your age and such an inspiration for many who are younger than you to keep both the mind and body fit and age gracefully.

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  15. Thank you very much SM for those lovely complements. I am glad I can inspire people,for I too found inspiration from so many people who are responsible for what I am today.

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  16. It's really amazing thing get fitness any age.We really inspire from you about this.
    Best Zumba classes in Delhi

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  17. It was nice to read this post again, Rama!

    I remember 'Incremin'! I did try it but it never worked for me. I stopped growing up at 5'!

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