My 30 Day Facebook Fitness Challenge -Losses and Gains

It is Day 31, The Day after and I am forcing myself to take a break, even though I don't really feel the need for it.

 As I sip my morning coffee, I am trying to tabulate what I gained and lost in 30 days. I guess most people reading the 'fitness diaries' (a term borrowed from a friend) want to know what I lost - how many kilos, how many inches, etc. I didn't check the data because I fear I already know the answer.  But my daughter's observation on this topic should give you some indication.

On day 29, as I was doing a 360 degree check in front of the mirror, checking my bum, my rather large tum, and other body parts rather critically, I asked my daughter 'Tikku, don't you think I look much thinner now ? ' My daughter asked me 'Mummy, how much is one millimeter?' I told her. She confirmed "Yes Mamma, you are thinner by one millimeter!!!!" So any illusions I had about having made any significant dent to that massive frame were washed away that instant. :)

Another friend told me on the phone "When you expect your body to change in 30 days, remember, it did not get that way in 30 days!" Yes, that is true- it has taken 15-18 years of persistent effort to collect this body mass- to expect it all to vanish in 30 days is foolhardy, at best. I need another year of working out at this intensity for my body to start seeing some results. Can I sustain that, I don't know. Ask me when you meet me next.

But to those reading, if you are wondering if your body will be as stubborn and if the effort is worth it- let me console you : each body is different. I have a super low metabolic rate-which makes it all very hard.

To me personally, what I gained is much more valuable:

a. A sure knowledge that one hour of exercise a day, every day is doable. Yes, it takes some jugglery to make it happen, but it is feasible. There are days, when the jugglery is probably not worth doing, but certainly, on most days, it is viable, and worth doing as well. The last time I exercised with regularity – was 11 years ago: I used to do cardio 4 days a week for one year. I never got beyond 4 days a week, ever again. This was 7 days a week- so much harder to do.

b. My greatest personal objective was to check if making a commitment public would motivate me to do something, that, for sure, I would not follow through otherwise.  This is my biggest gain –knowing that making a public commitment works wonderfully for me. Not to worry, not all my public commitments will be on FB, though knowing that 300 people are watching sure works!!.

c. The stated goal when I started this was ‘get off a sedentary lifestyle’ i.e. willingness to incorporate other movements in my daily life as well. Well, certainly, the resistance for that has reduced- I don’t think so much about walking around the vicinity to get small odd jobs done. (How lazy was I ?!!) For several people, this must be anyways an obvious part of life, but in my case, it was not.  I also am willing to do many more tasks around my house -instead of outsourcing it - with less mental resistance. So certainly, this was a goal achieved- something has been gained here.

d. My other major  objective was to make exercise a habit : well I am not sure yet if it is a habit – but certainly, I know for sure that all the excuses my mind makes are just that – excuses.  I hope to be able to keep up with this – so next time you meet me, be sure to ask if I have succeeded or not.  I sure as hell hope I do.  

e. I had a few unintended benefits as well- the most significant one being a general feeling of wellbeing that one feels when one exercises. Although I am, in general,  a happy person, this has been a period of stress – I have recently moved back to India, and am battling the mundane everyday to get life rolling smoothly again. I have been unusually Zen when the gas connection takes forever to happen, or, when the workers takes 3 days to fix one faulty switch. And maybe even see it all with a touch of humor –thanks to the exercise induced serotonin coursing through my nerves.

f. Literature tells me that there are a multitude of other benefits that exercise endows, and it feels very very good to know that I wont be getting Alzheimer’s any time soon, or that my fat producing genes are on their way to being made impotent, or that my HDL will soon be shooting through the roof, and that, even if I don’t really lose any weight,  I certainly won’t be gaining any.

g. The other unintended benefit is how I feel about my body –my self-image. The exterior may not have changed much, but  from the inside, I feel like Venus Williams (powerful, strong) and Kareena Kapoor (beautiful, slim) all rolled into one. So what if the exterior does not reflect that ? Scores of articles tell me, that what I ‘feel’ is what matters when it comes to self image. And on that front, thanks to exercise, I am all sorted.

h. The ripple effect on others was an unintended benefit as well : Many wrote to me saying my posts inspired them- if it did- awesome! And several others were obviously curious and intrigued by my very public personal experiment. If it provided a few with entertainment –  Maybe I have just created a brand new concept called the ‘FB Reality Shows’ ;). And I am sure there would have been the polite few (or majority ! – who knows!!) who would have been pretty bored and irritated to see my updates turn up on their newsfeed each day : To them I say ‘Heave a sigh of relief- it’s all over now!!’