6 Fitness Resolutions for Thin Women and Mothers Like Me
Now this is my resolution, not exactly a New Year resolution, but a resolution that I would like to see myself keep in the coming months and years ahead –
I want to be fit, I want to be healthy, I want to be in shape.
Here’s the thing about me. I have a naturally lean body and it is one of the main reasons fitness is a challenge for me. I am not kidding, just hear me out.
I eat and I stay lean. When I look in the mirror, I see a “thin” woman and so I feel that I am alright. I feel that I don’t need to watch what I eat and I don’t need no exercise. When I talk to people around me, I am given compliments on my slender appearance and how I shouldn’t have to exercise even a day because I am “in shape.” And I feel maybe they are right – I am thin and so I must be fit.
But then if I am fit, why is it that I often feel tired and all out. Why is it that I often strain my muscles when I workout? Why is it that my back keeps acting up every now and then? I have often fooled myself with silly excuses like it is just because I am getting older or maybe because I am a mother. Excuses like these mean that my languid days and lack of stamina is because of inevitable factors and thus there is nothing that I can do about them. But deep down I know, my body is not the way it is because of my age or my maternal status, it is only and only because of the way I have been treating it.
Like Everyone Else, Thin People Need Exercise Too
The conclusion – even though I am thin, I need to exercise. Fitness is not about being skinny. It is about being healthy.
Now that I am in my 30s, I can feel the limitations that age is putting on my body. I don’t have that spring in my step and that feeling of invincibility that I had a decade back. I also know that as I keep ageing, I might get more susceptible to conditions such as high blood pressure or heart diseases or diabetes or high cholesterol. A couple of these conditions run in my family and so I am all the more prone to get them. I am not trying to be gloomy, I am trying to be realistic.
And to all this malice, the antidote is exercise.
Exercising Regularly Lowers the Risk for Diseases
And not just big diseases like the ones I have written above. Exercise boosts the immune system and so it can help you fight with even common diseases like cold and infections with much ease.
Exercising is an Effective Way to Build Stronger Bones
And being a female I desperately need that. It is a myth that stronger bones can be only be achieved by consuming milk or milk products. Another false assumption is that bones can only be made stronger till the time we are in teens or much younger; and after that there is nothing much that you can do about them. The fact is that I can keep working on my bones and keep making them better as long as I exercise.
Exercising is Good for Dealing with Stress
And it gives more energy and helps us sleep better.
Fitness Resolutions for Thin Women and Mothers Like Me
With so many benefits on the plate, I would be a fool not to take it. I have well understood that I need to exercise and take better care of my body. These are the steps that I intend to take in order to pursue my resolution –
#1
I want to avoid looking at the mirror with the intention of finding out how “thin” I am.
My “thin” appearance is only giving me an illusion of being fit and hence it is keeping me away from trying to be really fit. I would rather measure my fitness in terms of how many laps I can run or for how long can I stay in plank.
#2
I want to make fitness part of my everyday routine.
Yes, every day. For me fitness has often been like a fad, sometimes I am all in and then most of the time I am all out. I pursued karate for a few months and then left it altogether. I pursued running and yoga and left it in a similar way. I still run, but every once in a month or so can’t really call it a fitness thing.
I want to make sure that I pursue fitness every day. It can be just plank or anulom-vilom pranayama (alternate nostril breathing) or simple stretching. Or it can be jumping jacks or abdominal crunches or light weights. If I have time, I will do it for an hour; if I don’t have time, I’ll do it for mere 5 minutes.
The idea is trying to do it every single day.
#3
I also want to stop weighing myself on the scale.
I don’t want the number on the weighing scale to mess up my mind into assuming if my body is getting better or worse.
#4
I want to eat balanced diet.
I don’t want to focus on eating a certain kind of food or avoiding a certain kind of food. I want to go back to what I learned in the school that above everything else my body needs balanced diet. I’m going to try to make sure that my every meal has something from each food group. I’m not going to worry about the number of chapatis I eat. I’ll only worry about if I am eating enough lentils, salads and curd with that chapati. I will not worry about sweets because I’ll try that each time I consume them, I am also consuming a serving of fresh fruit.
#5
I want to pursue an active sport.
May be karate or may be kickboxing which is all the rage now, or may be the good old badminton. Playing every day won’t be possible, but I will try my best to play it at least once in a fortnight. Playing a sport also mean spending quality time with family and bonding in a way unlike any other. Last year MrB and I participated in TCS World 10K. Running and then crossing the finish line together has become one of the highlights of our married life.
#6
And above everything else, I Want to be a Better Role Model for my Daughter
Remember this Cadbury Bournvita ad –
That’s the kind of mother I want to be. I want my daughter to look up to me as a healthy strong person. I don’t want to tell her to go to her father every time she is pursuing a sport or a game. If I want her to be a strong healthy woman, I have to show her to be a strong healthy woman. And that is why this resolution, new year or not, is all the more closer to my heart.
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