بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamualaikum wbt.
Fitness.
The topic that almost all of us dread & try not to talk about. But all of us girls are not happy with our own weight. Be it overweight or underweight. We would find or create something to blame for our weight. Genetics, hormones, work or lack of time. I too, dread everytime the word Fitness occurred People would turn to me for help, advices or ways to be healthy it's uncountable. Given that my bachelor is in Clinical Nutrition, people would thought I am fit or at least eating healthy by a manual. Guess what, I am not. Not even close. Until 7 months ago.
All 24 years of living this life blessed by Allah SWT. I was never really happy with body shape. Too thin at the top but thick at the bottom. Unbalance. I would try to hide behind layers and layers of clothes. Not that I am implying that a muslimah shouldn't hide behind layers, but my case was low self esteem. Whenever I gained weight, I would buy bigger clothes to fit. One day, it hit me. Why couldn't I take care of my own body ? It is the utmost, precious gift from Allah SWT. It is the most complex and unique life mechanism created by The Almighty. I couldn't let this precious gift wasted. I wouldn't.
In February 2014, slowly I tried to insert at least 20 minutes of jogging every alternate days. I looked up more cardio session videos on Youtube. By the beginning of March, I have already on 8 minutes mark for every kilometre of running. It was a huge success for me. When I first started running, my pace was 12 minutes per kilometre. It is as fast as walking could be. My internship then was literally busy all day and weekends. However, I do not give up. I force myself up early every morning on day offs & work out. I force myself everyday after working hours until I'm out of breath. By April, I lost 3 kgs. The weight was 58kgs before my fitness journey. In two months, my weight was 55kgs.
Throughout April & beginning of May, I focus more on watching what I ate. Literally cutting all the sugary drinks & eat as much greens and coloured plants as many as I could. During those months, my running pace was already at 5 minutes per kilometre mark. It was the best achievement I have ever felt in a long time. In just one and half months, I lost another 2 kgs and that made my weight 53kgs at the time. It was normal for my height. Finally my BMI is normal. After years of neglecting exercise, avoiding the term fitness, I finally caved in.
In middle of May, I flew to Egypt. The proudest man alive on the planet was my husband. At the time he was so proud of what I have achieved. I am proud. To make my husband utterly happy & speechless with my transformation, I couldn't describe.
However, my two and half months in Egypt has caused me to relapse. I gained another 3 kgs with bunch of cellulite at lower half of my body.
I cried.
Yes, I literally cried when I weighed myself. All those hard work, sweats, time, energy, money spent seemed wasted.
Then, it's Eid time. Boy, I was so determined to gain what I have once achieved, I even refused my mom's legendary chicken rendang with the awesome-possum ketupat daun palas. Not. I ate but in moderation. Unlike those days where I used to stuff myself with good food in previous Eids, this Eid was different. Shawwal has not ended but I already started training.
This was three weeks ago. I started running again. Phew, felt like my body was tied to several barrels & my breath was escaping me faster than light escaping dusk. But I was determined. Strict diets, strict work out regimes, no cheats & no off days. Everyday it would be either a 4km run or 400 sit ups. Ok, 400 sit ups are exaggerating. But running is a must. After running session, I would force myself to perform body-weight training such as jumping rope, squats, chair dips, sit ups & push ups. Crunches, Russian twists and other several exercises were among the training I did. No excuses.
Sometime, weather beats me. I would retract to doing cardio. But I pushed myself further this time. I did 20-30 minutes cardio while holding weights. Dumbbells to be precise. When my arm has started to kill me, I would switch to resistance band. Again, no excuses. Come what may, I would work out even it was already 12 am.
After three weeks of crazy workouts, I am proud to say, I shed 2 kgs. And my battle is still ongoing.
Perseverance & effort. If you are willing to change, nothing should stop you. Our body are the most beautiful creation of Allah SWT. Why ruin it ? To get started is so hard, believe me. Nevertheless, once you are on the track, it'll be part of your life that you couldn't leave.
Remember one rule above all,
Fitness is not a goal, fitness is a way of life.
Jazakallahu khayr.
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