5 Exhilarating Health (and Happiness) Hacks I Learnt After 6 Years of Working Out

#3 Celebrate small wins

When I started working out 6 years ago, little did I think that I would ever have the courage to write this down. Little did I think that I’d ever like myself enough to feel good, or appreciate myself for saving my health when my BMI almost fell in the section of obesity.

Oh god, those love handles look terrible.

I’d mutter to myself, every time I changed in front of the mirror. There were more comments, depending on which body part I wanted to focus on. Mind you, this was not a result of my bad mood. It was a regular behaviour, regardless of what I felt.

I have interacted with hundreds if not thousands of people through my blog and (now-deleted) Instagram account in the last 5 years about fitness. After answering numerous questions, I figured out there are some patterns we have all resorted to.

Patterns about how we think of ourselves, of weight loss, and fitness in general. Here are 5 lessons which I have learnt during the last 6 years of working out. Learnings which haven’t just helped me at the gym, but have moved my approach towards life in general.

1. Do it because you love yourself

The number of people who reached out to me because they hate their body outweighed the number of people who wanted to get fit because it’s the healthy thing to do.

What can you be good at if you have strong negative feelings towards it?

Whatever it is you do as a hobby, picture yourself doing it because you dislike it. Go to work tomorrow with a mindset that its the worst place to be in. Treat your partner to a brunch and think of how you’re paying double the bill because of it's your treat.

Do thinking such negative thoughts associated with these joyful activities bring any feelings of joy?

I’d like to picture a brunch with my partner full of fun and laughter, and nothing more. But look what a negative thought does? It makes me not want to go out at all.

Lose weight because you love and respect yourself.

You deserve to be fit because regular exercising has so many benefits, such as:

Prevents you from potential diseases such as Type II diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, arthritis, anxiety, etc.
Improves mood as a result of the chemicals it releases in your brain
Boosts energy by delivering oxygen and nutrients to your tissues

Doing something with a positive mindset is a game-changer. Psst, it also makes results better.

How to do this

Positive self talk.

We are constantly talking to ourselves, our mind is full of chatter. It that little voice which tells us what's going wrong. Next time you hear your inner voice going on a road to negative chatter, replace it with a positive sentence.

My inner voice would always say gosh, still fat but I tried to replace it with I’ve come a long way

As explained by Healthline, it’s important to identify negative thinking which falls under four topics:

Personalizing: You blame yourself for everything.
Magnifying: You focus on the negative aspects of a situation more than the positive aspects.
Catastrophizing: You expect the worst in all situations/events.
Polarizing: You see the world in black and white, or good and bad — leaving yourself with any middle ground.

What next?

Talk sexy to yourself.

No, I’m not kidding. Look at the mirror and compliment yourself. As embarrassing as this gets, I confess to doing this more often than required and it helped me boost my confidence significantly.

Okay, I’ll just embarrass myself further and give you another juicy confession. My most regular pick-up line to myself is hello gorgeous, you got this. My cheeks cannot get redder than they are right now.

As Psychology Today explains,

When negative events or mistakes happen, positive self-talk seeks to bring the positive out of the negative to help you do better, go further, or just keep moving forward. The practice of positive self-talk is often the process that allows you to discover the obscured optimism, hope, and joy in any given situation.

2. The best diet is the one which doesn’t come with a fixed duration

My cousin asked me what she should eat, and I gave her some tips. The tips included:

refrain from eating a heavy meal late at night
don’t leave desserts or junk, eat in a moderate amount
eat fruits in the morning
add plenty of vegetables to your diet
drink plenty of water
exercise 4–6 times a week

She obviously didn't follow my diet. Who likes free advice, especially when it sounds so simple!

She then started a keto diet and saw great results. Then another diet online. And another diet, until a year later she came to me with another concern.

Her skin was sagging because she never worked out, and now she doesn't like how she looks. All this because of the short term results she chased with fad diets.

Yo-yo dieting is when you constantly jump from one diet to another. The consequences of following these short-cuts are often as severe as heart diseases, binge eating, and gallbladder stones.

I can assure you that you are great and knowing what a healthy diet is.

Don’t believe me? Let’s do a quick exercise.

Classify the following foods into healthy or unhealthy in your head: broccoli, spinach, cucumber, carrots, fries, tomato, frozen food, home-cooked pizza, double cheese-burst pizza. See, I told you that you’re awesome.

You know what to eat and whatnot, so stop searching for a shortcut.

Studies show that fad diets can potentially result in physiological dysfunctions such as osteoporosis, renal dysfunction and cardiovascular diseases as well as mental illnesses such as eating disorders and depression.

How to do this

Every time you plan a meal,

Eat what your grandparents ate.

A healthy diet is the one you eat 80% of healthy food and 20% of junk, forever.

Why do we make diets a punishment? If your diet feels like a punishment, its time for some tweaking.

I’m Indian, and if you suggest me a Mediterranean diet with bread and salads I’d go crazy. This is because it’s essential for me to eat my lentils, curry, and local bread.

Similarly, your ideal diet will consist of the foods you’ve eaten all your life growing up. That's where your comfort lies, that's what you're accustomed to.

3. Celebrate the small wins

Losing 25kgs didn’t feel half as good as when I lost my first 5 kgs. And then the next few. And then fitting into my mother’s pretty top.

I wish I was less hard on myself. After losing X amount of weight or inches, I’d tell myself X amount is left to lose.

I wish I savoured my victories.

I do try this now. I am awkwardly tall, have a terrible injury and am inflexible. I celebrated my first forward fold 3 months ago. I know most of you could do it. But I found this to be a big deal.

Acknowledge your moments to success

There's so much to celebrate throughout life, like:

your first day, first week, month, and year of working out/ any activity for which you’ve stepped out of your comfort zone
when you find yourself eating more healthy than before, even if you slip every now and then
when you bake yummy cookies
when you see your first muscle definition
when you upgrade from lifting 1kg dumbbell to 1.5kg (small upgrade is still an upgrade)

and everything else in life.

“Everybody wants to reach the peak, but there is no growth on the top of a mountain. It is in the valley that we slog through the lush grass and rich soil, learning and becoming what enables us to summit life’s next peak.”

— Andy Andrews

How to do this

I started becoming kinder to myself only recently, which is when I realised I was so hard on myself.

I started a gentle yoga practice which made me more aware of my body and emotions. With this, I slowly shifted my focus from the numbers. Numbers on the scale, on my calorie counting app, the number of days I worked out in a week.

It may be hard for you too, which is why I recommend doing things which get you more in touch with yourself such as yoga, meditation, journaling.

Every time you conquer a small milestone, savour the moment. Take a deep breath and appreciate yourself. If it helps, write down I did it, and I’m so proud of myself. You deserve to do so!

4. A Little Gratitude Goes a Long Way

“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” — Oprah Winfrey

When you’re grateful about the small accomplishments, about the process, and yourself — you feel good.

There have been times where I felt that I lack resources or capability. This wasn’t because I actually did lack anything, but this was my state of mind. I constantly felt bad thinking of things I don't have.

When I started writing my gratitude journal, I was genuinely thankful about basic things. I woke up on my comfortable bed above a roof, most people in across the world strive to have a home they can feel safe in. What is my excuse for being ungrateful?

This habit has stayed until today. It keeps me grounded, in content, and happy.

Feeling good affects your state and amplifies your performance. A newsletter by Harvard Medical School claims that

Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.

There will be times when you don’t accomplish your goal, or don't come anywhere close to it. Either you can feel bad about not reaching from 0 to 10 or feel awesome that you made it from 0 to 4, and you continue your journey from there.

Slow progress is still progress.

How to do this

You could do this by praying, thanking somebody mentally, and counting your blessings often.

I have been writing a gratitude journal for 42 months. Every day, I write ten things I’m grateful about. Some things I write every day are:

I’m truly grateful to wake up and experience another day.
I’m truly grateful to be a healthy person.
I’m truly grateful for my family.

Reading The Magic helped me develop this habit as the book takes you on a 30-day journey to happiness and contentment.

5. Trust The Process

Losing weight seems to be like the end of the world. I know, I’ve been there. I never imagined at 15 that I would be picking up clothes from the women's’ section 4 years later instead of buying baggy men t-shirts to hide my fat.

Getting a fit body feels like a far off dream. Just like any other goals we have. We doubt ourselves and the process to an extent that our mind gets assured that this would not work.

Trust that what you’re doing is working.

Slowly, but surely. If you’re working hard, getting out of your comfort zone, and doing all the right things — the results will eventually follow.

Just keep going at it without chasing the results. And once you’re following the above 4 principles, this one gets easier.

How to do this

Affirmations are positive sentences you say to yourself, with a strong belief.

Studies aver that affirmations boost performance, decrease stress, improve wellbeing, improve academic performance and make people more open to behavioural change.

Let me give you some sample affirmations by Lousie Hay:

I am beautiful, everybody loves me.
I am very thankful for all the love in my life. I find it everywhere.
I welcome new ideas.
I have the courage to live my dreams.
My income is constantly increasing.

I too read out affirmations mentioned in Lousie’s book You Can Heal Your Life in since last few months and feel a tremendous change in my self-esteem and emotional wellbeing.

My personal favourite which has helped me exceptionally with self-esteem is — I love and approve of myself.

Takeaways

Whether you’re in your fitness journey or stuck outside in this rollercoaster ride we call life, these practices can help you just to become a slightly better version of your already awesome self.

Summing it up

Do things out of love. It makes the process more meaningful, fun, and helps you get better results.
The best diet is the one which doesn’t come with a fixed duration. Enjoy your local cuisine, reduce the foods which common sense says is relatively unhealthy.
Celebrate the small wins. Reaching the summit only makes you happy for a bit, but the journey (of any goal, or life) is a long one so you might as well enjoy it.
A little gratitude does a long way. What are you grateful for today?
Trust the process. Trust life, and trust yourself.

You just read another post from In Fitness And In Health: a health and fitness community dedicated to sharing knowledge, lessons, and suggestions to living happier, healthier lives.

If you’d like to join our newsletter and receive more stories like this one, tap here.