Time to introspect your Fitness

The world is passing through a very difficult period.  We are globally fighting a pandemic, trying various ways to overcome it. COVID has brought our lives to a standstill. Our world is moving in slow motion, a contrast to what it was PRE-COVID.

Pre COVID our life was ruled by the clock, the home was merely a sleeping destination. Life was on speed track yet sedentary. Sitting in a car, bus, train to reach office, sitting in an office chair to finish the task, again repeating the same to get back home. The exercise was part of life for 3 or 4 times a week for one hour a day and we considered ourselves fit. Surviving on food that can be cooked fast or eaten outside. Our watch didn’t allow us to spend too much time thinking and cooking food. We mostly ate food out of a packet, drank cola or soda. Eating out at the restaurant or having lunch/dinner meetings was normal.

We need Fitbit or some app to let us know how many steps we took. Walking became an exercise wherein it’s a necessity (this is why the treadmill was invented ). Consuming 3 litres of water a day is a task and some rely on an app to remind them to drink water. Do you see where we are heading too?.   From High sugar food to crash diet is an easy solution in a short period to attend some social event. Purpose of going on a diet is to look good in an outfit on that day and not to be healthy. 4-5 hours of sleep is something we’ve been bragging about.  Work pressure and social pressure has made our life so stressful that popping pill is normal – pill to sleep, pill to be awake, coffee to get us through the day, pill to remain sane. Mental health, what are we talking about. No one can see that so why bother?

Exercise = social media vanity. Purpose of going to the gym is to upload some training videos, wear the latest fashion and post It on social media to get validity ( I could have said “likes but I prefer validity) and followers.  People are taking drastic or rather dangerous methods to get the result in a very short period. Even in 2020 more emphasis is given on how slim, strong or muscular he/she looks rather than how good, fit and happy he/she is feeling. Seldom anyone would think of building a healthy body. Not to mention the kind of illness we are facing because of this lifestyle. From physical health to mental health everything is in jeopardy.

Post-COVID our perspective towards our life has to change. If we want our earth and us to survive, we have to take responsible for our actions. And how do we do that?
We have to look at health in a completely different dimension. In future, If any pandemic breaks out we should be prepared rather than preparing.  Our body is meant to move, that’s why we all have a different energy system in our body to help us. We should exercise in any form for at least 5-6 days a week for 60-90 min, move our body throughout the day. Change our eating habits, focus on nutrition and thrive on eating fresh food, focus on building a strong immune system, sleep more, listen to our body and understand the importance of mental health. Let’s not succumb to the societal norms of maintaining or building our fitness as good as it was or try to ‘get better’ than your friend who posts some workout video on the gram. Just do one thing instead – do whatever you can – in your given space, and DO IT every day. For example, if you are a fitness-oriented person since before, then manage your fitness routine in the best way possible, given YOUR circumstances RIGHT NOW. Of course, you might not be able to find heavyweights that you used to lift, but that doesn’t and shouldn’t not account to your frustration, rather, just make do with whatever you have. It’s okay to lose your progress, it’s okay to lose all those muscles you’ve built, don’t judge yourself right now. You can build all the muscle back again once you start lifting weights again, right now just do what you can.

In case, you have never led a fitness-oriented lifestyle before, don’t get overwhelmed by all those fitness videos of people telling you the shoulds and musts, rather, do one thing, follow a simple fitness routine and do it every day. Make sure you take into account your body type and any past injuries or discomfort, definitely consult a fitness expert (by that I don’t mean a pseudo expert who keeps posting body pics and exercise, who seems to know it all). An expert will give you a regimen within your purview and capacity. Stay away from junk/packaged food and practise your fitness routine followed by a 10-minute meditation, wherein you focus on your breathing patterns (trust me, it helps in calming down and easing the anxiety). Oh and yes, don’t beat yourself up for not being better than the rest.

Quoting the hindu bible the Bhagavad Gita here – Action is always better than inaction. So practise a lifestyle change, only today – for the rest of your life.

We will have to adopt a new perspective to our lifestyles, which will motivate our coming generation to live by.  Learn and teach why it is important to exercise, eat right, sleep and pay close attention to our mental health. Most important of all we need to spread awareness on mental health.

Mental Health includes emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

As per the WHO 2019 report in INDIA 7.5% of people are suffering from some kind of mental health and by 2020 it will reach 20%. Going through the current scenario I feel we have crossed 20%. That’s a huge number of people. It’s important to listen to our bodies and mind and do what we can – rather than sulking for what cannot be done.

You will never be healthy unless you are mentally healthy. Let us start looking at health on a broader spectrum.