No Special Diets, No Supplements, and No Motivation Required!!
Simple living and small acts of conscious organizing!
Having an active and healthy lifestyle is all about choosing to live your life in the best way possible. Easier said than done but a little goes a long way. Truly, it is the little things that improve our life. Ironically, I'm not much of a person who keeps up with my calorie count or how much exercise I did in a day or week. Though, it is my daily routine activities that contribute the most to my lifestyle; I, a working mother, with 3 children whilst myself also enrolled in a doctoral study program.
Weekdays Routine
I start my day as early as 5.00am. Straight to the kitchen, preparing two sets of meals - food packs for my kids, and lunch meals for when they return from school. 2 hours juggling between the kitchen, getting the kids ready and getting myself ready for work.
I’m usually off to work by 7.15am to 7.45am. Out the door I go, heading straight to my campus on foot. 2 flights of stairs down and around 40 steps finally gets me out of the building. Not having an elevator in my apartment complex is a blessing in disguise. It became a daily workout for me going up and down the stairs, at least once daily and sometimes more than twice when I decided to go home for lunch and more frequently during the weekends.
Walk to work takes approximately 10 minutes. Ooohhh… the walking does not stop there, another flight of stairs (around 55 steps) we go because my office is located on the second floor. Despite elevators on campus, I prefer to take the stairs (side story: I have this scary imagination of being trapped alone in the elevator even though I had never experienced one).
On campus, student building and teacher’s office building are far apart. Classrooms and labs have a slight distance from academic offices. Walking to classroom takes me around about 120 steps and knowing my schedule I’ll usually have more than one class per day. Whereas walking to the lab takes me about 250 steps. Are you adding up my steps for the week :)
Weekend Routine
One day out of the weekend is allocated just for grocery shopping. Now, imagine having to carry at least 2 weeks’ worth of groceries to 3rd floor, 2 flights of stairs! I would definitely consider this "A family activity". Would you call it weight-lifting with stair climbing 😊 in addition to numerous steps. Sounds tough but it is a routine. Good weekend workout I presume.
Occasionally, we spend the second day of the weekend at a bowling alley. Taking around 3 hours, minus the waiting time...Yupp!! You read that right, 3 hours! Game after game, almost continuously. It looks easy and leisurely but believe me it's not. I used to think exactly like that but once I started learning how to play, gosh was I wrong! Here’s a rundown of what is needed to play; good coordination is highly required, your hand holding the heavy ball, your leg to balance yourself, your eyes to aim for the correct target etc., and I usually play with a 13 lbs bowling ball. That is my whole week’s workout goal achieved in one session!! On other days, we do keep our energy in stores for our soulful Beach walks! Who doesn't want that!
All that I do ...
So, no unnatural diet to follow and we do not rely on supplements. We as a family, always start our day with break-fast as advised by many nutritionists – “Never Skip your breakfast! Being a working mother, I usually cook simple dishes for lunch mostly some combination of rice, sea food and lots of colorful vegies with little canola or olive oil (technically carbohydrate, protein, vitamin, and lots of minerals). Fruits are our favorites too; be it mandarin, oranges, grapes, apples, banana or watermelon – one of this will surely be found in our groceries bag weekly…. :) This has been an effortless automatized kind of grocery shopping and cooking and has been effortless too. Surely, this can be considered as healthy diet plan menu; even though it wasn’t really ‘mummy’s plan’… hahaha…
All that I didn't do ...
I do not have a sweet-tooth. I barely can finish a slice of cake; even though I'm quite known for my baking here:) I don’t drink carbonated drinks that often either; if it's there I will drink but I do avoid buying it for me and my family. That is a very conscious move. So, I am on kind of Sugar Detox most of the time without any artificial diet.
Sleeping late at night is seldom a move on my end. Having a tight schedule requires proper sleep and my sleep clock is kind of set. My body gives me signal to end the day, so I can rejuvenate and refresh my brain processes. I do believe I get a solid 7-8 hours of beauty sleep and I wake up fresh in the morning ready for the hustle.
Friends and colleagues are always around and bring lots of activity, cultural exchange, joy and support. We all family members are blessed with disease free health status and excellent cognition. We enjoy our lives to fullest with huge optimism and spirituality in our hearts. Thank god!
In essence, I do believe that everything you do adds up! Moving from point A to point B for work or running errands, keeps me moving and I feel I am my own fitness coach. I do not go for structured fitness regime, but movements and steps are imbibed in my daily routine and is like a functional training gym.
It is a bonus for sure, if it is possible to take care of your food intake as well by making small effortless inclusions.
Not banking on motivation but conscious organizing!
Life is 100% in my control and I am on the driving seat!!
Aizal, Malaysia
Guest Contributor
Salutation Fitness Wellness