I remember with the birth of Vyom becoming rounder and wider was an obvious consequence, there was a rapid increase in my body weight, and doing something to reduce it, wasn’t on my mind at least for that while. It was mom-in-law standing with an array of homemade ghee & dry-fruits filled laddoos and there, my mom had sent boxes full of homemade panjeeri especially made for new mothers in our family lineage. 

Eating a fat-rich diet is what I was supposed to eat as a new mother so there was indubitably no second thought while consuming a mouthful of ghee and butter in my diet. In fact, some times I was intimidated by the elder women in my family to consume a lot of fats and carbohydrates in almost everything I ate so that I gain energy and can produce good milk to feed to my baby. From 2016 to 2017 the journey went on without any ifs and buts but as soon as I began to discern some challenges in physical agility I realized it was the time to make some thoughtful changes in my lifestyle.

Vyom was one year older by now, things had changed to a greater extent but the one thing that remained the same all this while was my physical appearance, I was still the same rounder mommy and there was no significant reduction in my body weight. And how was it possible when I was making no considerable efforts?

Apparently, this wasn’t enough annoying that sooner It started to hit me with back pain and morning soreness in muscles. I could now literally notice trouble in lifting and carrying up Vyom for a long while. Standing for long had started to make me feel fatigued, in fact, I didn’t feel sunny in the daytime, felt like taking naps on the frequent hourly gap. 

It was an alarming thing for me! My ears were now echoing with one word “DIET, DIET, and DIET”!!  I decided to find rescue in going for a strict diet routine for a long period of time! I thought if it was the diet that has brought me to this situation so it could only be a healthy diet that could bring back my salad days. 

So, I finally said ‘Shri Ganesha’ to my Diet regimen, I initiated with protein-rich diet and had cut down on carbs and fats. Started taking more of fluids and avoided soda and caffeine. Those who want to read what exactly was the diet plan that helped me in weight loss, I would write a separate blog for that, so stay tuned to this space for more information.

As I was continuing with my diet routine, I was also keeping track of my progress into the same, after a while I noticed that things became stagnant with no further significant changes. Sooner, I began to get bored of eating regular meals, however, I never stopped experimenting and adding new flavors to my diet but now I had reached a point where I needed to add something more and dynamic. 

Thankfully, the spark to change never got dim inside me and perhaps that led me to meet a fitness trainer who sooner became my regular fitness coach and guiding light of my fitness journey. Meeting her was a great revelation, she has helped me immensely to understand health and fitness in its truest sense. 

I can now fully comprehend that our body is an instrument and food is like fuel, we are required to put the right fuel but at the same time, we are needed to keep this instrument flexible and active. Only dieting does not meet our requirements, a regular exercise is a requisite too to accomplish health and fitness.

Meeting my coach was like an initiation of a new odyssey of fitness with a totally new perspective and totally new ME! I was very enthusiastic to learn and adapt to whatever she was going to teach and guide me. I’ve always considered her all instructions quite seriously, perhaps that’s the reason I could acquire some really great results in such a short span of time. 

She introduced me to Yoga an ancient Indian technique that has a history of over 5000 years of practice. Mark my words, since the day I have incorporated yoga into my life, it has changed everything in all respects! I feel spry and a lot steadfast than before, my competency has improved as a mother. 

Those little tasks that I found troublesome I could now do them with much ease, the body feels agile and flexible than before, and most importantly mommies chores got much sorted. Initially, I started doing yoga as a physical activity to lose the extra bulk of the bodyweight but with the right guidance of my trainer, I developed the right perception towards this practice. 

With time I understood that it is not merely a systematic alliance of some physical asanas, and pranayama, instead, it is also a thoughtful process of diet control, positive thinking, and meditation with a motive of cultivating an affinity among your mind, body, spirit, and vicinity.

Today, when I look back at my old self and ponder upon my journey I observe such a huge transformation in myself as a whole individual. And I feel so glad that I chose to walk on this path of disciplined practice that has only benefits to give to someone who religiously follows and incorporates it in their lives. Let me share what changes I feel in myself and how yoga has helped me to improve:

• Improved health with increased agility: with a regular practice of yoga my health has undoubtedly enhanced. I feel more energetic and light-footed and moreover prepared for every day mommies’ chores that eat up a major part of my day.

• More power to Me!: thanks to my fitness trainer whose right supervision at the right time helped me to win back my physical strength. She suggested some really good asanas like the #scropianpose which are just too good for strengthening my body posture and muscles. At the end of an arduous exercise regimen, all I can say is More Power To Me!

• Helped to improve my metabolism and in weight loss: the asanas we do in yoga tremendously help in balancing the metabolism rate of the body. As I started doing yoga I witnessed the change in my body mass, I was losing weight but at the same time, I was taking care of my diet as well. Yoga and a balanced diet go hand in hand, a protein-rich diet with green leafy vegetables, and a balanced intake of milk and fluids are what you require to take along with following yoga practice. I take my meals timely and never skip them which keeps my metabolism in balance.

• Improved emotional stability and sleep: This is one of the important parts where I think yoga has mightily assisted me. Life of a mommy is not easy, one might feel fatigued and low after being so much occupied with kids. I noticed that since when I started doing yoga my sleep began to improve I now sleep very peacefully without having any physical or mental restlessness. Also, I feel calmer and stable than earlier, I remember I used to get agitated earlier on tiny things but now I respond to things in a tranquil way. No matter how messy the day looks, I take the things lightly and with a big smile on my face.

Here I’m listing a few other important reasons for why you should too start doing yoga.

• Yoga helps to detox your body by removing toxic wastes from your body.
• It helps to control blood pressure and cardiovascular issues.
• It helps to reduce depression and anxiety.
• It helps to improve your digestion and strengthen your immunity.

Yoga is not only meant for a few fitness enthusiasts, it is rather for everyone! Try to make it a part of your daily life and witness the difference yourself as I’m observing every day. I hope my views on this have inspired you to some extent, I would like to hear from you. Please feel free to comment and write your view on the same.

xoxo