Dogumentary – Part 3

Part 3 – Health

I was ready to post this a while ago, but coronavirus hit and I didn’t feel like posting it at the time. Nevertheless, we’re finally here and guys! It’s about Homer! Okay no I lie. I honestly do not think this topic is specific to Dogumentary. But see this blog series as something that my sister and I (and Homer) bonded over during our road trip.

It goes without saying that we’ve discussed health in our family for over 2 decades. My mother always made it a point to ensure that as a family, we are eating healthy and getting regular exercise. Now don’t ask me how I turned out to be this potato – we all know how university life can be and unfortunately I took my age for granted thinking my metabolic rate will help me maintain my weight even if I ate crap.

I am facing the wrath of that naive thought now. I am lucky to have my family explain these things to me logically as opposed to downright calling me fat or as Kana Gill says, “you’ve put on!”

There are a lot of factors that go into gaining weight

• constant sitting thanks to today’s age of technology (and now, quarantine)
• no natural form of active lifestyle thanks to online delivery
• everything is at the palm of your hand, literally
• sometimes genuine lack of awareness (raises hand)
• taking things for granted (raises second hand)

However, some things are not under your control like PCOS, diabetes, low metabolic rate, stress, and other factors that we have little to no control over. With that in mind, it is important to go see a specialist – a doctor, a nutritionist, or a physician – so that you can understand what is going on with your body.

My motivation to be healthy comes from my sister

I would be lying if I said I’ve been eating healthy and maintaining a healthy lifestyle my whole life. I reached a low point when I gained almost 10 kg in a year. It only hit me when I stood on the weighing machine and saw the needle land at a number I never thought I’d ever be. I couldn’t blame it on anything but the constant junk food I was eating. Granted I was working out everyday, but what’s the point if I’m going to eat unhealthy after?

This was right before I moved to Canada, so when I did move, my sister was on a weight loss journey of her own, which motivated me to start taking this seriously. I was 25 at the time, and believe me, I was a lazy ass. I had no intention of waking up early and working out when I was jet lagged, looking for jobs and most of all, living in Canadian winter. But that image of the number of my weight stuck to my mind. My sister pushed my lazy ass out of bed and it helped! I (rather she) forced myself/me to get up and workout for just 30 minutes. I ate healthy all week and let go a little on the weekends.

The first few kilos were super easy to shed. I lost 5 kg in 21 days. Then I started working and all the walking to take public transport, plus exercise, made me lose another 3 kg, but that took a month and a half. So see the difference, first 5 kg in 21 days, next 3 kg in almost 45 days (my thick brain did not get this back then). And during all this, I was very aware of what I was eating.

Then of course, I moved out and started living alone. I started going out more with my social circle. I had to do chores at home alone. I didn’t have that motivating factor – my sister. And I was taking things for granted because I had already lost 8 kg. It was very easy to find excuses not to work out. Mind you, this didn’t happen immediately. It took a while for me to reach that complacent stage.

We all know how easy it is to put on weight, and how difficult it is to lose it

Now to be clear, weight is a side effect. What bothers me and my family the most is the health factor. If you’re not exercising, and not being active in general, your heart will need more effort to pump oxygen. This becomes more difficult when you have less cardio in your workouts. This is also why sticking to one workout is not a good idea, unless it’s a circuit, or you have some form of cardio before i.e. running/walking on the treadmill. Additionally, stretching before and after a workout is also important. You don’t want to damage any muscles in the process of working out, so ensure you’re doing your stretches.

And guys, I learnt all this through FitBit. Like…why don’t they tell us these things is school? Ignore this side rant if they did because my lazy ass was probably not paying attention.

“Don’t undo what you do at the gym, in the kitchen” – Autumn Calebrese

Nutrition is also an important part of being healthy. I know some of us think we are waste, but we shouldn’t take that literally and treat ourselves like waste. Be aware of what’s going in your body. Don’t just workout and then eat burgers and fries. Eat more greens, fibre, roughage, and protein. (21 year old stares at me in shock and slight disappointment).

And let me tell you from experience – it is okay to eat a cheat meal once or twice a week. Just like eating a salad once won’t help you lose weight, eating a cheat meal once won’t help you gain weight. Just be careful to not go off the rails. Be accountable to someone or if you have good self-discipline – to yourself (27 year old me laughing at myself rn).

Health also means mental health

Between all this, it is also important to keep track of your mental health. The journey to fitness shouldn’t be one that mentally exhausts you or makes you unhappy. In fact, it is statistically proven that people who exercise are happier because of the endorphins produced during exercise. It’s always tough in the beginning. But with time, when you start to see, and more importantly, start to feel a difference, you will wonder why you haven’t been doing this all along.

Now, I need to put this as a disclaimer – I am no certified nutritionist or experienced trainer. In fact, I myself am on my fitness journey. But that’s what fitness is. “It’s a journey, not a destination” (also said by Autumn Caleberese). I have derailed twice so far where I stopped keeping track of what I ate or when I worked out. I thought it was okay to skip a day or two and then it became a week or two. Then when I got back into it, I didn’t keep track of what I ate and thought it didn’t matter because I was working out daily.

But what we so often don’t remember is when our bodies get used to a certain workout, we need to challenge it. That’s how you get stronger. Challenge yourself. It’s not easy, but if a lazy ass like me can do it, anyone can do it. And if you need someone to be accountable to, you let me now. I am more than happy to help.

How I see things is, I am approaching 30 (why God, why?!) and the closer I get to that age, the more conscious I am of my physical and mental health. Not that health deteriorates with age. In fact many people older than me have disproved that theory. It’s embarrassing actually. But inevitably some people may face some health issues due to genetics, or just dumb luck. And I want to be able to face those issues with as little complications as possible. If nothing happens to me, then I’ll just be a healthy 60 year old who will be embarrassing people my age then. A full circle, see?

I want to reiterate that I am not preaching that everyone should go on a fitness journey now. I’m not saying you’re leading a bad lifestyle (I still eat chocolate sometimes okay). I’m pretty sure coronavirus has done a better job at making people more health conscious than this blog post did. But all in all, stay safe and stay healthy.

If you have any fitness tips, healthy food tips/recipes, good workout music, or good home workouts for now, please comment below and let me know. As an FYI, I use BeachBody workouts, specifically 21 Day Fix (all variations of them). I also follow Chole Ting. The latter is more recent (and free); it’s been 4 days, but I like what I’ve experienced so far.

Note: I am not a professional trainer, health expert, nutritionist, fitness expert, or mental health expert.

Homer’s Health Tips

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Note: Homer is not a dogtor. This is just his list of fun things he likes to do to stay healthy. He would love if you shared yours too!

Part 4 coming soon.