‘Yes, I can’ Turn My Lifestyle Around!
For more than 10 years I battled with a lack of motivation to exercise. In that meantime, I also battled with lifestyle ailments and sore knee joints that affected my mobility.
Meanwhile, the 1st February 2022 (a few steps into my diet review session with the Dietician Annalien Turner) made me realize that my body is indeed what I consume and that the power to maintain good health of my body through a healthy diet and exercise plan lies within the belief that ‘yes, I can’.
The FODMAP diet plan prescribed me carved a new perspective in me – it enlightened me on the type of food I should consume or avoid in order to attain good health. While on this plan, I set myself specific primary targets: to increase my body fluid content and to tilt my body fat scale to more muscles, while coupling it with cardio exercises. I must say that, I am not a chubby guy and never was – I amassed a 81-79 kg and 1.65 m figure only. Further, when on my free time, I am quite a busy guy and I hardly have time to rest when at home (in town or at the village). This gave me a false sense of a safety net – that I do not need to exercise really and that my busy activities can help to regulate my metabolism sufficiently. To my surprise, my diet pre-assessment showed that I hovered on the obesity borderline.
Barely one month into the diet plan, I managed to: increase my body fluid content; shed off some 7 kg (which drew me below the obesity borderline); increase my muscles content & reduce the bodyfat content. I also gained a secondary spinoff – my mobility improved and my strides became brisker / more defined. Achieving these milestones gave me more zeal to believe that ‘yes, I can’ turn the table around. I managed to boost up my confidence to exercise on my own. Subsequently, I enrolled with a biokinetic in order to refine my exercise routines.
This roller-coaster may sound well and good, but it required my shear focus, dedication and commitment. I needed to drive myself out of the comfort zone: i.e. commit finance for the unusual diet menu; stick to the diet plan & eat some food that I despised somehow (in the past); exercise myself to the limits and never give up.
Now, I feel good about myself: I feel much lighter and I am able to bend my knees much more freely now.
Dedication, focus and commitment to the goal (never die spirit), will drive you also to achieve your goal.
There is hope in the belief that ‘yes-you-can’ turn your lifestyle around too.
– the FODMAP and exercise plans did that for me!