What is your earliest memory of falling sick?

Today, I was in a meeting in my office where they were talking about a program to teach kids about this pandemic, mainly educating them on the importance of handwashing and how that can help them from falling ill.

It made me wonder about how strange it must be to teach a kid what falling ill is all about unless they understand the feeling first hand. Though, I suppose, every child might have some exposure to having fallen sick by the time they get to schools and we teach them the importance of handwashing. But the whirlwind of thoughts took me back in time and made me wonder, what is my first memory of falling sick?

I remember a specific day when I had gotten fever after a school picnic – a definite case of food poisoning. I also remember multiple episodes of me running high temperatures, the taste in my mouth all bland, the sheer tiredness and turning round and round in the bed. Nothing felt comfortable. I preferred to lie right next to the wall touching the bed so I could derive the coolness of the wall as temporary relief. It felt horrible! It always does.

I also remember the bout of toothache in the middle of the night. A pain that originated in one tooth but seemed to have spread throughout the mouth and then travelled all the way up to the head. Hours staying up and putting toothpaste or cloves in the tooth for relief.

But no, I am struggling to remember my first memory of sickness. I cannot remember when was the first time right out of my mother’s womb I learnt what it feels not to feel the best version of myself.

How about you, dear reader? Do you remember?

Health is wealth :)

Only when we fall sick do we realize what it means to be healthy really. When I feel feverish and too weak to get up from bed is when I realize how much I love to go out! But more often than not, we do not treat our bodies well. We do not exercise, we eat food which do not really help our bodies, and we spend a lot of time of phones or computers and do not get enough sleep hours. I am guilty of all these from time to time. But fortunately for me, health has become an important priority over the years, esp. since 2016, when I fell so sick that I fainted in the bathroom in the middle of the night. That was when I decided to take control of my eating habits.

The results that I have seen are wonderful! As a kid, I was quite sickly. Every time I used to get a fever, I would faint and fall in the bathroom (yes, it happened multiple times!). Now, I feel much more healthier on a daily basis. This has happened through series of small changes in my lifestyle: better breakfasts, better food habits, healthy dose of walking. I know that I still become indisciplined from time to time: ordering food multiple times over the weekend etc., but I also am quick to take measures to remedy it. For example, Saturday (yesterday) I ordered my meals, so I ensured that I cook both my meals today!

I also usually eat good breakfast, comprising of yogurt and fruits (I am still looking to increase my options) and they make me feel really good! In fact, today I ended up ordering a blender to make myself smoothies every morning! I feel this will increase my  morning options and I will be able to include more greens in my diet! 🙂 I will do a review of the blender after I have used it for a while.

Other than this, I have been sleeping well last couple of weeks, and that makes a world of difference to my productivity. Speaking of which, it’s approximately 11.30 PM now, and I need to head to the bed right now and dream some nice dreams!

What are the things do you do to take care of your health? Share with me the tiny tips that freshen you up! 🙂

The Happiness Project | Day 6

Yesterday, I went with my friend Pooja to Phoenix mall. I have been to Phoenix mall multiple times, but it never fails to mesmerize me with its crowd. People there usually are so well-dressed and good-looking that in the beginning I used to get inferiority complex! No kidding!

Having stayed in Bangalore for about 2.5 years now and having reached sort of a financial security in my own life, the inferiority complex is gone. In fact, yesterday, looking at so many good-looking people actually inspired me.

Back in 2017, I used to hit the gym almost five days a week. It had become a great habit. However, 2018 took a bit of toll on me and somehow, I ended up stopping going to the gym. The thing with life is, it is not always a forward-looking journey. It is filled with loops – sometimes the loops take you forward, sometimes backward. Not always you are moving linearly towards your final goal. I feel growing up is about accepting this and not beating ourselves up on missing a set goal. There is a reason why new year resolutions do not work for the most part. Life takes a dig at you almost everyday, and to stay put to a fixed set of goals is difficult. Sometimes, the changing goals are not bad either, it means you are responding to the lemons life is throwing at you.

Nonetheless, yesterday, I was so excited that I thought I’d definitely go to the gym. I had already walked a lot yesterday, since we were at the mall for close to four hours. Besides that, I had gone to buy groceries as well, which is another half an hour of walk to and fro. Unfortunately, when I went to the gym, there was no light, none of the switches was working! I don’t know when this happened, but last time I checked, people used to hit the gym in the evenings on weekends.

Then I thought I’d go in the morning, between 8 to 9 today. I went to bed on time, around 11.45 PM, much earlier than my usual 1-2 AM. And guess what? The mosquitoes were so annoying that I was up close an hour in the morning around 5 AM. And then I finally got up from the bed at 10 AM! Another missed goal, there!

Anyway, I am not going to let this affect me. I will figure out some other form of exercise (there is a TT court at office, probably will put that to use). The idea is to get back to the usual scheme of things (by which I mean a healthy, happier lifestyle) by this weekend. I’ll keep you guys updated! 🙂

 

My fitness routine

Hello everyone,

Today, I am going to talk to you about my fitness regime!

I am not sure exactly when I started going to the gym, but I formed a proper routine about 5 weeks back. The idea was to go to the gym for four days a week, followed by two days of exercising at home and one day of complete rest. I was able to follow this religiously for three weeks straight, but then, things got messed up and I stopped going. The cold weather and the warm blanket did not help matters much.

However, now that the new year is in, I have again started hitting the gym and this time, I hope to continue this stint for a month and not put a break.

So, what exactly do I do in the gym?

1. Twenty minutes of running+walking on the treadmill: I begin with walking and gradually start to run, occasionally slowing down to walk. I can do approx. 2.5 km within those 20 minutes, but I am still far from running for 20 minutes at a stretch
2. Ten minutes of cycling: This makes me cover about 3 km, depending on how fast I am going
3. About six pull-ups, need to increase this
4. About one lap of weight training with 2.5 kg dumb bells

I am overweight by approx. 10 kg, so I have a long way to go before I am at my ideal weight. Now that I have realized this, I have some objective goal to work towards this year. The strength training part is important for me because my shoulders are quite weak (I feel tired even if I carry a small backpack for a few hours – makes me totally unsuitable for day trips or treks).

How about you guys? What are your 2018 fitness goals? Share with me in the Comments!

Here’s to a healthy 2018.

❤

 

First swimming lesson!

Yesterday, one of my flatmates, asked me if I would join her in the swimming pool. I don’t swim (not until yesterday) and my first response was, No! However, she was fairly convincing. After a while, I was like, why not? It’s a skill that I have always wanted to learn. It’s a lifesaving skill and a great form of exercise, something which I have been trying to do more of these days.

So, I dressed in a full body costume that my ex-roommate had left behind and went to the pool. Other than us, there were two boys – one of them was teaching the other how to swim.

I have been in water before. As a kid, we used to visit my maternal uncle’s place, which is by the side  of a river. We used to go bathing in the river every time we went there. Thrashing in the water, throwing water balls at each other was a favorite pastime. However, I would start screaming the moment my father dragged me deeper into the river, trying to teach me how to dip underwater. Not a favorite!

But thanks to him, I did get over that fear of water. I mean I am still scared of huge waves thrashing on the shores, but I am okay with a decent depth of water in the swimming pool.

So, my first lesson was learning to float. I have tried swimming as a kid in the river, but of course, I never got around to being able to float. I didn’t trust that the water could push my body up. I mean I am heavier than the water, right? Solving numericals using Archimedes’ principle is one thing, and to trust the water to help you float is something else altogether.

So, I was fairly surprised when I actually started floating, all about five to ten minutes in the water. All I had to do was let go of my body (my flatmate’s tips helped, thanks Shilpa!). In the beginning, I tried to keep my foot in the water, because, well, history. But then, as I started to let go, started to trust the water, I saw I was propelled up and soon I was floating horizontally in the water! Yay!

The second surprise came when, just by being still in the water, I felt that I was moving forward. Water currents, huh?! Amazing! So why not try a bit of propelling my hands to see if I could voluntarily swim? And voila, there I was, swimming half-way through the pool!

One trick that I was yet to learn in the pool yesterday as how to breathe while swimming. Shilpa couldn’t help either, because she is yet to learn it herself. So, I swam half-way through the pool, multiple times, coming back up to breathe midway.

I think the fact that I have been exercising helped me so quickly pick up the basics of swimming. Shilpa mentioned multiple times that she hadn’t seen a faster learner and that I did great for the first day.

After I came back, I watched multiple videos on swimming and I am dying to try out the tricks I learnt next weekend – or better yet, day after tomorrow! We have a holiday on Wednesday on account of Kannada Rajyotsava. Whoo-hoo!

Let me know in the Comments below if you swim, and what are your best tips to get better at it.

Until later, live healthy, eat healthy! ❤