In today’s day and age, with the power of the internet in the palm of our hands, the millennials most especially are so engrossed with making sure one’s physical attributes are perfect — at least compared with that of someone else. There are too many “social influencers” on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram who post photos of the workout he just did or the greens she just ate, with the ulterior motive of just wanting to display the supposedly “ideal” body image. Then you see teenagers scrambling out of their way to achieve that “standard”.
In a way, it imposes an unrealistic standard, and puts unnecessary pressure on teenagers and making them believe that they are never good enough.
But at the end of the day, how you feel about yourself is what truly matters.
Fitness is not just about achieving six-pack abs or showing off your super cut biceps. Fitness for me is being able to have the discipline to take care of one’s well-being. For me, being fit means one is capable of having self-control when it comes to the food that he simply loves to indulge in, and is also able to balance it with the right exercises for that person to achieve his ultimate goal.
The journey to fitness is not an easy one, and it requires a lot of sacrifices. One may be a person who enjoys a lot of sweets like muffins and cakes, and a lot of fatty food like humba and bacon; or one may be someone who just prefers to sit on the couch, munch on chips while watching TV rather than doing 10 push-ups. Either way, when a person decides to want to live a healthy and active lifestyle, the most critical part is to know one’s limits: in terms of food intake or the type of exercise or workout that you would have to enjoy doing.
If I were to look back around five years ago, I would still remember how the old me wouldn’t even have the words “exercise” and “fitness” run across my mind. Spending time on a seemingly-boring workout, and being “fit” were just not my cup of tea. I was your usual ordinary teenager who was lazy to get up from bed and move, and would rather just curl up and sleep in.
Then came a time when I felt odd and light-headed and weak being sluggish. The idea of working out and being active seemed impossible for me due to a knee condition; I thought I had good reason not to be active, else I would dislocate my “loose ligaments”. A doctor had advised me before not to engage in any sports or exercises that would put weight on my knees. Looking back now, I’m glad I went on ahead despite such medical advice, I went out of my comfort zone and tried something new — of course, with the blessings of my very supportive parents.
Using the wealth of information on the Internet, I did some online research about my knee condition which revealed that I actually needed to strengthen my leg muscles so that they can support my problematic knees.
I started to work out at FitBox Dumaguete every night at least an hour or two after school. I would do various sets of combination and patterns of major lifts like deadlift, clean, squat, presses, clean and jerk, and snatch; gymnastics like pull-ups, dips, rope climbs, push ups, sit ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, holds; running, etc. etc.
From what I observed of the effect of strength and conditioning exercises on my body (which others may find too strenuous), it has given me many positive benefits, especially on my knees. Investing my time doing such exercises has so far made me feel comfortable with my knees, with the other physical things that I need to do as a busy student, with my general sense of well-being. I just felt getting healthier and stronger as the days passed by.
I trained hard and when I’m on training, I would eat three times a day. For breakfast, I would drink my protein shake. For lunch, I’d eat a small portion of meat with rice. For dinner, I would again take my protein shake. It’s very hard to limit your food intake especially when you’re in training because you need the energy to get to do the exercises. Because I’m on a diet and since I’m tired from school, I would take a pre-workout drink to get me energized and hyped up for my workout.
Then one day, I looked at myself in the mirror: I didn’t like what I saw; I was too muscular I looked like a boy with long hair. I had big muscles alright but they were on top of my body fat that still hadn’t completely burned. So I stopped the strengthening exercises and moved on to cardio.
You see, it’s important for us to know our respective types of body, and what we really want to achieve. For me, my goal was to burn my “baby” fat and lose weight. To do that, I had to lift lesser weights, and do more cardio because ultimately, it is cardio that would help me burn all that fat. So I would jog for about 30 to 40 minutes every afternoon after school, and every other day, I would spice up my routine by adding burpees, air squats, and jumping jacks. Then I would finish my workout with core exercises such as sit ups, crunches, and planks to add more focus on my core.
Through those exercises, I am able to see great progress in my sense of fitness. The trick that I now use so that I will only eat smaller portions of food is to drink a glass of water before a meal; that way, I don’t feel as hungry as my mind or my eyes seem to tell me.
I still do eat sweets from time to time, and of course, I have “cheat days” once a week just to satisfy my cravings; after all, I believe there’s nothing wrong with once in a while spoiling yourself and giving yourself a treat.
Being healthy is a choice in terms of eating right and feeling good about your body. It’s important to realize that what may work for one may not work for another, so do not neglect yourself just because you look and feel heavy. We have to be in this journey one step at a time as success doesn’t come in a blink of an eye. If you see progress, then keep on! If you do not yet see progress, continue to plod on! The key is to enjoy what good you are doing.
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When she’s not working out at the gym, Shania Diago, 18, expresses herself through writing. She also loves to listen to music and sway to it, as an “escape route from sadness”. She swears by her only sister and parents who stand by her “every single day”. She hopes to become a registered nurse someday soon.