<div>Let's face it, going to the gym is not everyone’s cup of tea. It certainly isn’t mine, as I discovered thanks to a short-lived stint at a nearby sports facility, complete with an over-zealous personal trainer. I’m of the firm opinion that we know our own bodies best and the opinion got firmer in direct proportion to the enthusiasm of my trainer. Sure I was getting stronger and fitter, once I got over the aches of the latest bout of exercise, but it wasn’t happening at my pace — and it was certainly no fun. So I told a big white lie about going off on a vacation and did the disappearing act. Well, okay, maybe it wasn’t a white lie. <br /> </div><div>For a while I did precisely nothing. Then, deciding that it was enough of that, I began to craft my own fitness programme. Oddly, I started with Pinterest, which I rediscovered while doing nothing.<br /> </div><div>Dragging myself away from shoes, bags and trendy outfits, I tapped into the Health and Fitness category instead. And was I amazed to find the wealth of resources there! There are tons of workouts to choose from, both in written instructions supported with photos or infographics, or in videos. I went straight for the videos and selected a bunch to suit my needs. I picked a few 10-minute workouts for times when I’m lazy and just want to make sure I don’t have a zero-exercise day. And I selected much longer workouts in the styles that I’m used to and enjoy — based on ballet, light weights, cardio intervals and fitness or medicine ball. I pinned these for future repeated use.<br /> <br />The shorter workouts help me make a gradual start with 10 minutes the first day, 20 the next, etc., until I make sure I have an hour of exercise at least four times a week. In all the pinning, I totally fell for a 40-minute cardio workout made up of modern dance and ballet moves; very easy to do and needing neither space nor equipment of any kind. Of course, there are many other kinds of workouts to be found, including many for yoga, which is nice to build into a routine. I also saved the ones I liked in my YouTube account for good measure. The convenient thing with these workouts is that if you’ve got your phone, tablet or laptop, you can just whip it out and work out wherever you think is convenient; including when travelling. <br /> </div><div>Of course, no matter what, there’s always the danger of motivation taking a dip, specially if you’re exercising on your own and are not bound to the routine that going to the gym offers. There’s a price to pay for the freedom to work out whenever you like, at your own pace and skipping it altogether when you’re not up to it. So I figured I would set an alarm or two on my phone, leading up to workout time. Not ordinary alarms, but sound files of my own voice asking me if I’d like to lose weight and get fit or like, forget it? I have to say the threat of hearing my own exhortations generally gets me moving pretty fast! But to reinforce the motivation, I use an app called BrainWaves. When my alarm goes off, I switch to headphones and get into a spell of deep breathing and listen for a session of “pre-exercise energy” brainwave training. I don’t know whether this works but it certainly keeps me focused and as no one brings a box of pastries near me, I’m more likely to spring up and go into my workout corner. I like that there’s very little preparation to be done: a bottle of water, clothes I can stretch in, and that leaves just plugging in my phone or iPad into big speakers.<br /> <br />One only needs vocal cues once you watch the workout once or twice and know what’s being asked of you. I only ever stop to go over to look at the video when I find I’m confused about a move or have forgotten what it really was. Having sweated it out, I feel free to go back to lazing around, guilt-free. <br /> </div><div>The next step is to make some tasty changes to my diet, replacing fat-filled nonsense with alternatives. I intend to explore some great recipes, also found on the Pinterest Health and Fitness boards, and get to Snapguide, an iOS app that not only has recipes but guides on how to make unusual dishes. There’s also trusted YouTube for that. <br /> </div><div>Meanwhile, the one thing I make sure I do is consume a lime a day, either in my water (no salt or sugar) or squeezed on some salad or veggies. This is something I’ve been religiously doing ever since I heard a compelling article read out on Umano (the news reading-out app) extolling a huge bunch of benefits of a big squeeze of lime every day. <br /><br /><div>mala(dot)bhargava(at)gmail(dot)com</div><span style="line-height: 1.4;">Twitter: (at)malabhargava<br /></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;">(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 20-05-2013)</span> <br /><br /> </div>
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Mala Bhargava has been writing on technology well before the advent of internet in Indians and before CDs made their way into computers. Mala writes on technology, social media, startups and fitness. A trained psychologist, she claims that her understanding of psychology helps her understand the human side of technology.
