Fitness Friday: Where We Started!

By Tanvi Rastogi @tanviidotcom
This is my 1000th post. Yup! That's quite a number considering I never thought I would continue blogging for THIS long ... and since we started this journey with a fitness post (2009), I thought I would be kind-of symbolic to make the 1000th post about fitness too.  You already know how I got here, and how I continue to stay here. So, today I will tell you what happens in between. 
  • I go through self doubt
  • I stress about my weight
  • I have body image issues
  • I struggle to make healthy food choices
  • And sometimes, I simply give up! 
Yup, even after all these years it hasn't gotten one-bit-easy. And after digging deep I have made peace with the fact that it NEVER will. Sometimes life comes in the way, sometimes work and other time I am just plain lazy or tried. I had to accept that unless I become a multi-millionaire who has a personal 'health' chef and a trainer on her payroll, I will continue to struggle with making the right choices.  The pressure of making these choices often gets the best of me. It is not easy. I like chocolate ... I like pizza ... I like food, DAMMIT! And with the whole world going gluten-free and paleo I often feel I am not doing enough. I should be doing more.  I manage to take out about 45 minutes everyday to workout. To do that I have to wake up at 5:00am. Make it to the gym by 5:30am and be back by 6:30am so that I can leave for work by 7:15am. Usually the workout goes something like this - 15 mins cardio, 15 mins strength, and 5-10 mins abs. And even then I am not content because I am not doing Pilates and yoga and swimming and all the other activities that I want to do. Also, because I never think I am doing enough. I should be doing more.  I prepare most of my meals. Once in a while I do get salads for lunch from Whole Foods (Health Grocery Store). I eat minimum of three fruits and almonds, walnuts and cranberries daily. I have Greek yogurt as dessert on weekdays. I also try and consume all my meals before 7pm. I follow this successfully 9/10 times. And yet I think it is not good enough. I should be doing more.  While I know this feeling of "needing to do more" will never go away because that is who I am, I have learnt to direct it in the right direction. It helps me to push myself and never give up. It helps me to stay motivated. "Not doing enough" doesn't have to translate into disappointment, it can also be translated into "not giving up".  When I started working out (2005) my life was at a different stage. When I started this blog (2009) it was a different stage. And today (2013) it is at a different stage. With every stage the challenges change. And as long as I keep doing "my best" and continue to focus on getting better, I think I am doing enough.