I have had a journey with my relationship with food. As a teenager, I initially struggled with Eczema, which led me to a guide that said it could “beat” eczema. This was through a raw vegan diet that allowed my body to heal itself. However, this led to an impaired relationship with food and eating, leading me to eat unusual foods in unusual ways/patterns which is far from the good health I wanted. This could’ve eventually led to an eating disorder associated with clean eating.
However, my health and fitness journey started when I was in my 20s. I became an avid tennis player, gym goer and a home cook. This in turn led to healthy habits but unfortunately, this was taken too far exercising almost every day and I suffered related injuries: such as a runner’s knee and Achilles tendonitis.
This meant I had to slow down a lot and this was around the time I had my mental breakdown. I escaped reality into computer games and that became my number 1 addiction for a few years. This led to issues with RSI.
Eventually, I realised that I have an addictive personality which may be due to my Autism or other factors, which I have yet to discover.
Since 2020 when I quit games and started to focus on myself holistically, I discovered that I could do fitness and health in moderation. I managed to get back into working out and cooking healthy meals and before long I could fit back into the jeans and trousers that hadn’t fit me for a while since the days of playing a lot of tennis!
So, I continued being consistent and turning up several times a week to work out and have healthy meals. I feel much better now; I also have found new hobbies which I am also passionate about such as language learning.
Now since the lockdown ended, I was able to go back to the gym and enjoy working out there. What I have found is that I can enjoy going outdoors to the gym rather than staying in all the time and this helps my mental health a lot which is good. Overall, it is great, and I recommend working out in your home as well as in the gym. I do both now for a good balance.
What helped me to stay consistent is to keep it as a habit; so that it becomes normal and even expected to work out or to cook a healthy meal. This way you don’t have to think about it – it becomes routine.
What have I learnt about health & fitness:
Health and fitness is a journey and a marathon, not a sprint. In a marathon, you start slow and steady which eventually will win the race. The same is true of your health and fitness journey. Often, I think that people start all guns blazing by going to the gym 5 times a week, cutting whole food groups out of their diet etc, forgetting this principle, and often burning out in the process.
Also, I have learnt that balance is key. Going to the gym for 8 hours a day is as unhealthy or unhealthier than not going to the gym at all. By doing this hopefully, common overuse injuries can be avoided.
Also, there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to health and fitness; I think that any movement is good and what each person enjoys needs to be considered. For example, if you hate cardio don’t do it! Find a different form of exercise.
Another thing to consider is do you prefer the gym or doing sports? I enjoyed playing sport such as tennis a lot, but I found that if you overdo it; or even if you keep at it there is always a risk of injury. I find the incidence of injury whilst going to the gym (if you do everything with the correct form) to be less than playing sports. However, it is the case that you can and may sustain injuries along with your health and fitness journey and this is ok.
My current health and fitness routine:
I will split this up into 2 parts. Fitness and nutrition.
Fitness:
Currently, I have 4 active workout days and 3 rest days. Here’s my weekly schedule as follows:
Monday – Pilates
Tuesday – Rest day
Wednesday – Full body strength workout
Thursday – Stretch
Friday – Rest day
Saturday – Cardio
Sunday – Rest day
I find this for me is the perfect weekly workout routine. There is enough in here to stay and keep active, yet not enough to aggravate my existing injuries of runner’s knee and Achilles tendonitis. I hope my injuries get even better in the future but my current injuries allow me to work out around 4 times a week in this way give or take.
Nutrition:
I don’t count calories, macros or anything and I am a big believer in intuitive eating. This is where you eat until you’re full and that is this. I am also a big believer in eating well and cooking well. Experimenting in the kitchen is key here I found over the years. I discovered the hobby of cooking when I was 18 and have stuck at it on and off for around or over 10 years.
To be a good cook and be able to make good dishes will mean your nutrition will be better. There are healthy and unhealthy dishes you can make but I think that overall, what you cook at home will be healthier than any takeout or microwavable ready meal because often you will be cooking with fresh ingredients and can control what you put into your food that you are making.
So, each week I plan out my meals and I try to eat most things fresh. This keeps my diet healthy, and I do enjoy eating the food I cook as well!
As well as this in the past I tried experimenting with batch cooking or meal prepping. This was good but only to a certain extent but nowadays I try to eat fresh when I can and only batch cook when I need to. This means I can enjoy more fresh meals than before.
Conclusion:
Overall, I feel that health and fitness are an important part of my life, have been an important part and will be for years to come due to the way it makes me feel and the many health benefits it brings. What about you? Let me know in the comments below.
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