Unlike friends and family around me, for many years not having the responsibility of juggling work and kids has allowed me the luxury of being able to make plans to a more healthful life. But somehow in my 20s it was much easier to follow my plans and perhaps I didn’t have anything better to do. In my mid 30s it seems like an uphill battle. It’s not like I am some super health conscious person – all I ever did back then to keep myself fit was avoid certain kinds of foods and 30-45 min of aerobics 4-5 times a week. Now even that seems challenging. When I moved to California in 2005, there was a long period of gap for many years when I just didn’t give a rap about my eating habits – both quality and quantity. Eating all my meals outside for two years in grad school really wrecked a havoc on my body. I had lower energy levels and got tired with slightest exertion and couldn’t digest half the stuff I ate.
Earlier this year I decided I was going to live more healthy – at least make some more conscious decisions in that direction. Firstly and most importantly, I was worried about putting myself at high risk of diseases for sedentary and overweight people, like diabetes, specially as there is a very solid family history of this killer disease. Secondly because I wanted to have increased energy levels to have a normal life. And thirdly, I am a person who does not know how to practice moderation in life, including eating – I often eat well beyond my satiety to please my tongue and sometimes I feel I live to eat, so I needed at least some consciousness/awareness that will guide me into making better eating habits. I remember my dad always recommended eating just enough to satisfy hunger or even incorporating more servings of fruits or getting myself out and exercising regularly, but that good advice was always brushed away as soon as I hung up the phone.
I had to take a break for a few months due to my fractured foot, but since then I am trying to get back on my goals. But this time my approach has been a little different. It’s about focusing on fitness than amount of pounds knocked off. Also, I am taking it more easy i.e. making fewer plans and taking baby steps. For example, earlier this year when I decided to go healthy, I went all the way to the point of trying to eat fruits or grilled stuff at night for dinner everyday. Now that was quite impractical and ridiculous, really! After two weeks of sticking to the plan I just let it go. 
Now it is really about making small plans and sticking to it. For example, last few months I resolved to stick to a healthy breakfast alternative like an old-fashioned oatmeal that didn’t need me to go out of my way to prepare it, and make it more edible with cut fruits like apples/bananas. That wasn’t too hard and so far it hasn’t been hard to keep up with it. For some people this may sound trivial or no-brainer, but for me after a diet rich with fat every morning, this is a big step. Or for that matter I stopped bringing junk groceries to home, as I finish them within a couple of days of arrival. But I certainly give myself a break from time to time, as long as its not too frequently. There are certainly two schools of thought when it comes to eating. The first school promotes restraint. The second believes that people get sick anyways so why bother.. and in fact go to great lengths to give examples of many people who were perfectly healthy and how something went wrong.. in other words “Do din ki Zindagi hai, so jo mun me ayee khao khao…” which in Hindi means life is short so eat and be merry (I stole this line from a shopkeeper who would prompt his somewhat hesitant customers to buy Samosas from his shop).
On the aerobics front, I have been able to keep up with an outing most mornings. On a recent trip to the doc’s office, my doc advised to include 2 miles of brisk walk in 30 min in my schedule. After first few weeks of somewhat easy walking, I switched to a faster more brisk pace, but I guess it is harder to walk really fast than jog (you have to try it sometime to know what I am talking about). Slowly I have been incorporating small trots or jogs.. alternating with walks. I must admit that just when I wake up early morning and finish my cup of hot drink/tea/coffee and it is time to get ready and step out, I am like “God I am so tired today” or “I am so not into this exercise thing today” or “I want a rest day” and I am ready to give up.. as if my body is begging me to not punish it. But then I somehow convince myself that perhaps I will just go for an easy walk/stroll and not exert myself, and push myself to step outside home. Once out, after a brief 5 min warm-up and stretches, once again I somehow push myself into a 5 min jog and then manage to extend that till I am out of breath, breaking into a brisk walk thereafter. Sometimes I alternate between the two and sometimes I simply give into an easy walking pace. Panting and cursing through this laborious exercise all the way, it is finally time for the last quarter mile…. and I am so relieved that yet another day of self inflicted punishment is over. All of this – warmup, stretches, walk/job, cool-down and stretches again – in a total of 40/45 min around in less than 2 mile block. It’s not fun and it’s not easy and I hate it everyday. I am not sure how much my energy levels have changed – not a whole lot as I only recently have been able to add jogging slowly and steadily. But hopefully my body is working its way to a bank balance for future.
Many people take it personally when I tell them I don’t want to eat certain things or refuse an extra serving, as if by rejecting their offer I have insulted them or judging their choices, which is just not the case really. I think I am just trying to practice some constraint whenever I can. There are enough temptations on a daily basis – whether its a party or an eat out or what not – almost every week there are occasions, and I feel week in front of them. But as if something inside is urgently nagging me that I am overweight and unfit and better do something before it is late. Every baby step I take towards it is a step in the right direction for me. I just hope I just don’t end up simply talking about it (like in this blog) but not doing much.
