Today in Fitness Friday, meet Gayatri. Over the last few months she has been a GREAT source of inspiration for me. Inspired by her, Dr. Fab and I have started running at 5:00 a.m. every day for the last 2 weeks. I hope we are able to continue that, but it is nothing in front of what Gayatri has been doing. In just 4 months, she has ran a Marathon and completed a Triathlon and lost 10 pounds in the process. She has another marathon coming up in December. Inspired, yet? Read on ...
For the first 24 years of my life, I was fit. My weight was low, my fat percentage lower and I wore a size 2. Then, just before my 25th birthday, I got married and moved to Chicago, a city that was experiencing its most brutal winter in a decade.
What followed was a 26 lb (12 kg) weight gain over the next year. It was slow but steady. Because I couldn’t see the pounds pile up on a day-to-day basis, I continued to live what can best be described as a toxic, unhealthy lifestyle. I drank wine because it was too cold. I ate cheese because I didn’t want to drink wine by itself. I ate samosas as midnight snacks because I missed India. You get my point.
By my first wedding anniversary, I was in over my head. On a trip to India, everyone made it a point to say how marriage was “so good for my health”. That’s the advantage of being Indian. Your extended family doesn’t mince words and is sometimes just the reality check you need.
And so my quest to get fit began.
For over a year, I was doing it all wrong. I wanted instant results. I starved, gave up carbs and smiled when I saw a 5 lb loss in one week. So I rewarded myself with cocktails and unhealthy snacks and gained it all back. I joined Bikram Yoga and did it diligently; but left large gaps between meals and experienced terrible sugar highs and lows. Such yo-yoing continued for 18 months.
In July, my husband and I moved to Dallas. We joined a running group because we’d made a pact long ago to run a marathon one day. Plus our social life was boring compared to Chicago so we wanted to do something constructive with our weekends. He registered for the full marathon and I for the half.
Best decision ever!
This structured, goal-oriented, group activity was just what I needed. I began to enjoy training. I started with a run-walk group and soon got faster. I started running short distances and a month later, any run under 10 miles (16 km) felt like a warm up.
I had weekly goals and was accountable more to my pace group than to myself. I ate every two hours but fit into clothes I’d bought in 2008. I felt great.
Two weeks back I finished my first Sprint Triathlon. I did an 800m swim, 20km bike and 5km run without any stops except in the transition area. I have two half marathons coming up before the end of the year.
I’ve lost 10 lbs since July. Back in the day I would’ve wanted to lose all 26 in three months. But I’ve learned that when you try to lose weight the right way, weight loss will come last.
It will come right after increased energy, better skin, inch loss, muscle strength, a regulated appetite and a general sense of euphoria!
