Nature: Going back to basics

On my way to work I switched on FM 94, Government of Pakistan’s radio channel. I must say it is an experience in itself; the RJs make some so much sense when they speak, and there is always sharing of useful information on a new development in science, technology and medicine. Sometimes it is pure sensible chat about life, our tradition and culture. It seems that moral values and culture of Pakistan is only restricted to Pakistan Radio because in our everyday lives we have forgotten most of our shared values.

I have come to realize that no matter how much technically savvy we have become, living close to nature is the best way to live life. With the advent of smartphones and social media all of us have really lost touch not only with our bodies and mind but also our near and dear ones. Everything is so easily accessible that it has become meaningless.

We now feed all of our contact numbers in the smartphone that we are unable to remember numbers of our brother, sister, friends or family. Resultantly our brains have slowed down and our memory also show signs of degeneration through off and on forgetfulness. Moreover, we make sure that our cars get parked right in front of shopping malls; consequently our knees and muscles are also degenerating.  

We use lifts not stairs, we order food or heat the packaged one instead of cooking meals ourselves. We are so addicted to our iPhones that we would spend hours up-dating, liking and commenting our acquaintances on Facebook that we forget who we are sitting or dining with. We get so engrossed in our work that we forget to move away from our computers and then one fine day we find ourselves siting at the Executive Clinic of Agha Khan Hospital (or any other hospital of your preference).

Immediately after receiving medical report we get excited about a “Healthy Lifestyle” which includes proper breaks at work, 45 minutes exercise, physical activity, eating breakfast and living a balanced life. The point I am trying to make is we only take care of ourselves when we reach a certain threshold.

With all these lifestyle and technology advancements, what we are told by experts, to go back to the nature. I am not saying that these inventions are bad and we should immediately abandon them. However, I suggest that we take a balanced and moderate approach to whatever we do.

The first time I lost my balance was after the final paper of class 9, my friend asked me to accompany her to a somewhat under-unconstructed place which was called ‘student biryani’ (a restaurant based in Karachi famous for its biryani). It was my first full throttle encounter with spicy biryani, and I haven’t looked back since then. Anyways I got so obsessed with biryani that I wanted to eat it day and night, I would beg my mom to get it for me almost every day. Of course the expected happened and my weight increased from 110 lbs to 145 lbs. After crash dieting and doing some exercise for months, I once again brought my weight to 115 lbs. 

Note: please don't ever do crash dieting, I was thirteen and plain stupid about the way it yellowed my complexion and its long term side-effects on my health.

The second time was with the arrival of KFC my weight progressed to 150 lbs. I struggled but managed to return to 120 lbs. Then came costa coffee with its iced mocha and I reached 160 lbs, with workout I lost 30-35 lbs. And finally with the advent of Gloria Jeans and Butler's Café I slowly started to repeat the old pattern but this time it was different, this time I started to give longer than usual gaps between my exercise days. Moreover, in order to complete my thesis, after work I would spend straight 5-8 hours on my desk in front of computer, thus making my lifestyle sedentary. This time, I had beaten my earlier records as I was neither chubby nor over-weight, now I was ‘obese’ with 182 lbs (80 kilos). Yet, I was continued to live in my bubble.

Gradually, my body stopped responding to once in a month exercise, my ankles were swollen due to severe edema, my knees suffered immense pain whenever I walk up the stairs. One day as I was trying to get to the third floor my heart just could not take any more pressure and I thought I would collapse. Still there was no panic from my side, and it was business as usual.

There was a recommendation by someone to join a physical/ exercise challenge for 42 days, my brother got excited and enrolled himself there. He begged me to join but I told him it was just wastage of time and money as one day I will start exercising again and return to my original 110 lbs. Yeh right!

However, God had other plans for me, just a day before the beginning of the challenge my brother received his internship call and he was unable to attend it. Since there wasn’t any refund policy, so having no option I filled his place. For the first three days, I hated all the challenge trainers and completely disregarded them as being amateurs. They made us do 50-100 push ups and emphasized on something called ‘burpees’.

Nevertheless, something happened on the fourth day, my body felt lighter, and the pain in my knees was losing its strength. After the completion of 42 days challenge I have lost major heaviness from my body, my feet were not swollen, pain in the knees almost vanished and my body began to respond positively to exercise.

As it was too much weight gain so I have not lost all of it or became Katrina Kaif, but you know what, I don’t even bother about it anymore because today my focus is on painless joints, agility, flexibility, and strength of muscles and bones. Once I get these aspects correct and concentrate on an energetic and healthy lifestyle then weight loss is merely a by-product.   

There are common excuses from both men and women that they have very exhausting lives so they don’t need exercise. These excuses include but are not limited to, women do uncountable household chores, run after the kids, there are deadlines to meet at work, meetings to attend and so on.

My friends, household or child management or crazy office work is only exhaustion and does not amount to exercise; because when you exercise your body responds very differently- your brain makes serotonin (the happiness enzyme), knees and muscles regenerate themselves, heart feels great and blood keeps running and gushing through plague-free arteries.

My dear ones, life is beautiful if you intentionally make it healthy. I say this because I have suffered tremendously due to my imbalanced and obsessive life-style. Don’t make the mistakes which I have made, find a gym near you and spend little money on your weight training, cardio and aerobics as it is definitely a better deal, as compared to the cost of open-heart surgery or buying medicines and going for medical check-ups for uncontrolled diabetes, hypertension and arthritis.

Please don’t give the excuse of your age because Amitabh Bachchan, Naem Bukhari, Anil Kapoor are past their 70 and 60 years of age and they still exercise regularly. Moreover, I met 60 plus ladies at the challenge so age or current weight or work commitment are not valid excuses.

If you really want to start then first get your vitamin D2 and B12 checked, take proper medication if your levels are below the recommended level. If you are into open air workout, or want to start exercising then you must check the Forty Two Days Challenge (42DC) page on Facebook or find a gym with personal trainer.

If you need food, exercise and lifestyle guidance then also follow Rujuta Diwekar and buy her books, they will give you great guidance.    

Have a great weekday ahead!

Sonya Syed (Day 573)