What's on my Mind

Tag: fitness

  • Remembering January

    Last month, I embarked on my journey to fitness. After my sports injury in 2020, in which I hurt my left hip, I was confined to bed rest for five months. It was hard.
    It was frustrating. I struggled to walk straight for almost eight months. I lost a lot of muscle in my injured leg and also gained some extra pounds. I wasn’t fit and I was recovering (in spite). I realized, how amazingly resilient our body is, how it endures our extravagant lifestyle but continues to heal naturally, each day. If only, we weren’t exploiting it with our daily habits, we would all be athletes.

    So, as January commenced , I had three resolutions in my mind, to aid my fitness journey. All I wanted, was to be fit again.

    1. Quit Coffee.     I have to admit that I was once, a Coffee addict. I drank four cups each day. (mostly black). I couldn’t open my eyes in the morning without coffee. I almost always carried a cup of coffee while I travelled to work. Lunch too, was followed by an espresso shot. It felt like I woke up each day to drink coffee.

    Fortunately, that changed ever since the offices were shut close. At home, I didn’t have a decent coffee machine so I switched to tea most times. That simple change put a break to my coffee routine. After few weeks, I realized I had consistent energy levels throughout the day. I did not crave for caffeine after lunch. I felt more awake and energetic than before.

    In January, I did not have a single cup of coffee.

    2. Go Alcohol free. This resolution came in easier to realize than I imagined.
    I was hooked onto medications for so long during my recovery that I’ve gotten used to zero alcohol intake. After getting back on my feet, I didn’t resume social drinking. I replaced beer with sparkling water instead. With no alcohol intake, I’ve been drifting to better eating habits too.

    For example, when I’m in a restaurant, I eat less coz there is no wine to accompany.
    I do not order pizza as often as I did before, coz there is no beer to accompany.
    It may be hard for some to imagine a social set up without alcohol.
    But I’ve come to reckon that this merely is a mental block (a deep rooted association).

    January was DRY (& social).

    3. Plan my meals ahead. This by far, has been my most important discovery. In January, I started using a meal planning app to plan my meals a day ahead. You must know that meal planning is not the same as dieting. It simply is, journaling your meal intake and nutrition. Using this has helped me largely rectify my eating patterns. I’ve noticed, I’ve been eating more home cooked food than before. Also, I do not have have to think what is in for dinner after a long tiring workday.
    In January alone. I’ve lost a few pounds just by sticking to a pre-planned meal.

    This is how it looks! (link here)


    Fitness apart, I’ve also been reading a lot. Last month I picked up the bestselling book by Mary L. Trump – Too much and never enough. Mary L. Trump is a niece of Donald Trump which is why this book was a surprise to me.


    The fact that she chose to write about her uncle in such debilitating details, ascertains trouble in Trump family. Mary uncovers in this book how her family & her grandfather (in particular) have shaped Donald’s personality. She reveals the past of her dysfunctional family & their business fortune, banishing any creditability that former US president may still have. It is an interesting read, that will take you closer to understanding the root of trump tweets (although he doesn’t tweet anymore 😉 ). I will write a full review of this book soon, in one of my upcoming posts.



    So, that is all I have for January. (& as it is probably evident, January was helluva satisfying.) Hopefully that is just the start and I will have more to share in coming months.

    Until then,
    Signing off from my monthly letter. 💙 Megha

    Remembering January – “The Only monthly letter that talks about my own living.”

    © Copyright 2020. Megha Gupta. All rights reserved.

  • A little (Over)weight

    I’d always been a chubby kid. I don’t reckon a skinny version of myself. (except for maybe a short span in my twenties, when I stayed in a dorm. Food was plenty but inedible). I don’t recollect ever being tensed about gaining a few pounds here or there. I was rather carefree, adjusting my wardrobe instead. 😛 That went perfectly fine as long as I stayed in India. ( they ain’t all perfectly carved out models there!). Moving to Netherlands however, changed my perspective. Suddenly, I was surrounded by fitness freaks! 😳

    Surprise.. Surprise!

    It all started with those evening walks outside my home. That’s when the first signs of frustration started brewing in. I walked like a sightseeing tourist, while men & women surpassed me, running ahead in shorts & sneakers.Then there were those on cycles, wearing suits and ties, commuting miles to and fro for work. To top this up, people played heavy duty sports after a long day at work, flaunting their “celebrity” like bodies, while I sat there, questioning my life time choices. 🙄

    I was an oddity. (The chubby one) and I didn’t even know how much of it was an “extra me”. So, I decided to tread on the path of self discovery. Mustering little courage I had, I jumped onto the weighting machine.

    Not all surprises are good. This was deeply disturbing. I had gained quite a few pounds here and there, surpassing my “acceptable” limit. 😥

    Time for new resolutions

    The problem solver in me was awake that night. I couldn’t dwell into getting depressed for long. So, I came up with a personal goal list and stuck it on the wall across my hall.
    It was concise and clear. (just like my conscience 😎 ).

    I saw it every morning before leaving the house. I saw it every evening before going to the bed. That constant reinforcement made me believe I was on top of solving this issue for once and for all. It was under “my” control.

    The First timers complex

    Soon, I decided to join a gym. I’ve been to a gym before but my definition of workout did not go beyond a few cardio exercises. So when the trainer asked me to try those gazillion other equipment, I was stumped. 😯 I had no clue of how any of it worked.


    I fiddled with the weights clumsily, while the trainer felt nervous about me breaking the instruments. 😆 He stayed calm (on the outside) and patiently demoed the basics to me. I felt embarrassed around all those professionals.

    It took me a week to tame my anxious self.

    Thank God it’s Sunday

    Soon, the weekend arrived. I wasn’t particularly pleased with my tough regime of diet and exercise. It sucked my energy. (& my soul). So, I planned a dinner with my spouse to a fancy restaurant, thinking it might as well help me relax.

    My spouse ordered beer and some more beer while I tried to fit in my new role as a “fitness freak”.
    My salad arrived with some sparkling water and I chewed like a cow, realizing this evening couldn’t have been duller indeed. 🙄

    Darkness is the evil

    We came back home with a full stomach but I had trouble falling asleep. 🙁 I couldn’t help but think about the delicious cuisines, I might have eaten instead. My craving grew as the hours passed and all my will power finally gave in.

    For the sake of sleep and the work next day, I decided to eat a “little” something.

    I strolled through the kitchen and took a good long look at all our collectibles. I handpicked a few of my favourites, just to start with.

    Definitely not in “my” control

    My guilt turned off as I switched on TV. And as I ate, I felt more hungry.
    Turns out, that night, I ate for the whole week.

    The Aftermath

    I woke up next morning feeling ashamed.
    I saw my goal list and felt so guilty.

    Clearly something had to change, either me or the goal list.

    And that’s when I did this little something. 😎

    #stillchubby

    © Copyright 2020. Megha Gupta. All rights reserved.