Why I started paying attention to physical fitness
I love pizza. I live for pizza, yet I started limiting how often I eat pizza during a month.
It all started thanks to a friend. Even though I have been trying to go to the gym on-off for a few years, I was not consistent. I started going to the gym back in 2016 in Ankara. At that time, I was a graduate student at Bilkent University, and my university had this amazing state-of-the-art gym swimming pool. The best thing, it was all accessible to me for free. So naturally, I did take advantage of it by going to the gym and pool a few times a week. Hey, who doesn't like free stuff, huh??? I enrolled myself in a squash course.
But it all came crashing down when I graduated. In 2018, I went back to Pakistan, and suddenly I no longer had access to a gym or a swimming pool on a squash court. Initially, I tried to find a swimming pool since I love swimming, but access to any swimming pool is surprisingly expensive in Pakistan. Long story short, due to the family structure, women and men's segregation rules, social system, access to all these physical fitness activities is highly restricted for middle-class women. So I did not take care of my body for the one year that I spent in Pakistan.
Fast-forward to 2020, I moved to Canada for my PhD; I met my friend who will have a life-long impact on my life. His name is Medo, and he is a Saudi-Syrian post-doctoral researcher in my group. He is also my best friend. He runs 7 km a few times a week and calls it,
"oh, today it was just 7 km. So we did not run much."
He also just got me a pair of Adidas running shoes.
When it comes to physical fitness, I haven't seen anyone more committed than him. He wakes up at 4am and works out for over an hour every single day. I have seen him go for a run in - 25 Celsius, in snow, in the rain, in the scorching summer heat. In almost all possible weather conditions. I asked him what is the secret to his consistency a such a commitment to physical fitness. He told me,
"Get an accountability partner."
He runs with another runner named Sofia. He told me they keep each other motivated and hold each other accountable for missing workouts. He also runs with a group of runners with a weekly schedule.
I did not have Sofia on a group of runners, so I did the next best thing. I got myself an Apple watt that kicks me out of bed every morning and reminds me to go for a run...
I started paying attention to physical fitness because
1. I was always feeling lazy, lethargic, and had very low energy.
2. I was slowing down the groups on every hiking trip. As a result, my cardio fitness was low, and I was getting breathless very quickly.
3. My mental health was taking a downturn.
4. I was finally accepting that I have to live with hypothyroidism.
The way I keep myself motivated
Is by doing two things.
1. setting small achievable goals and pushing myself to maintain or beat my personal best
2. Sharing my workouts with friends, family, and Instagram followers to hold myself accountable to them.
Right now, my Apple Watch stats are shared with two friends. They hold me accountable, and I keep an eye on them and cheer them for all the work they are putting into their fitness. My cardio fitness is still below average, so my goal is to get it up. Let me know if you have any tips that can help.