Take Care of Your Body

“Take care of your body; it is the only place you have to live” –Jim Rohn, such a simple quote, yet holds such a more profound meaning…for me at least.

I had become the average mom, in my mid-thirties, working long hours, eating whatever I wanted in whatever quantities I felt like, as well as eating all my young children’s leftovers because “food is not to be wasted”. I grew up in the “clean your plate” era, where parents ensured that you ate all that was put on your plate, stopping when you are full…unheard of! So, for me, based on my social upbringing, I could not bear to throw away leftovers, not with all those starving children in Africa! I had let myself go. I remembered looking at a picture of myself standing in a river and thinking, “My God, I look like a hippopotamus!” However, my wake-up call came from my then eight-year-old daughter. I was severely overweight and constantly tired. I had come home from work one evening and, as usual, fell asleep in the settee when in bounced my eight-year-old gleefully with her ball in hand.

Just as I was dosing off, I heard her say in the most disappointed tone, “Mommy falling asleep… again”. I literally panicked. My mind screamed, your daughter is growing up, and you are missing all of it! You are sleeping through the best years of your life! I got up instantly, and we went outside to play ball. That day I made a silent vow never to miss a moment of my children’s growthters.

A trainer came to my office building and had exercise sessions outside, and the very next day, I joined his session. Shortly after he issued a challenge, we had a work trip coming up, and we all wanted to look good. Someone asked if we could lose ten pounds in a week, and we were issued a carb cycling challenge. That week, following strict instructions (and at times thinking the end is near), I lost eight pounds, and I hired him as my personal trainer.

Take Care Of Your Body

The exercise sessions were painful. I cursed, I cried, but I started seeing the results I wanted. If you think exercise is hard, then the clean eating, you do not even want to hear about. I had stopped eating refined sugar, white flour, and white rice and, over time, had lost over 50lbs. My exercise routines included weight training, and I was at a point when I told my trainer that I wanted to train to lift competitively. My energy was high, and my children loved that their mom would play and skip with them.

In March 2016, the quote I mentioned earlier struck home. I was driving a Rav4 that met in a serious accident on Highway 2000. While the car was spinning out of control, I held on to the steering wheel with my right hand, trying to stabilize it. It eventually came to a stop when the back connected with the median. The car was written off, and I walked out, seemingly unharmed. By the time I got to Medical Associates Hospital, I could not move my arm or turn my head to the side. After reviewing me, the doctor looked me squarely in the eyes and told me that she could see that I worked out. She then said that whatever I was doing, I should not stop because my muscle mass had saved the bones in my arm and shoulder from fracturing. So, the pain I was now feeling was from the muscles in my shoulder, arm and side being torn.

Fast forward to now, I found out about two years after that I have degenerative disc disease. Probably a gift from my motor vehicle accident. So, I have to have a trainer that is trained to understand these issues because I still like weightlifting, and it is the form of exercise that my body responds best to. I have also become a certified Spinning® Instructor and was teaching until recently, but that is a whole other story for another time.

My birthday is approaching, so I have now entered “beast mode” to get rid of the weight I gained during the pandemic. Yes, the bad eating habits crept back, coupled with the long hours of sitting in meetings with zero exercise. I have had to take myself up in hand. I go to the gym at least four days a week and spinning at least once a week. I have also come up with a few tips to keep yourself on track

1. Get a personal trainer, invest in yourself. That way you also will not have any money to waste on snacks

2.Learn portion sizes and do not reward yourself with food; you are not a dog

3.Whenever possible, prepare your own meals. You can control the ingredients . 4.Whenever you are offered something, you know you should not eat, just say out loud, “I do not eat that!

5.Do not diet; eat mindfully. Ask yourself, how is what I am putting in my mouth serving me?

6.Find the exercise you love; then it will not feel like exercise. It will feel like fun

7.Listen to your body. Pause when you are tired. If your brain associates exercise with pain, you will never get moving

8.You do not have to go to a gym to exercise. Take a hike with a few friends in the countryside, cool off in a river! Enjoy our beautiful island.

9.Do not ever trust a scale; use a tape measure instead…inches, baby!

10.Do not be too hard on yourself; it took you years to get to where you are now. Be patient and take the time to get to where you need to be. Pat yourself on the back every step of the way and celebrate even small victories.