The Naive Egg
Right from the beginning, I was a strong girl, because that’s how my parents raised me. I always stood tall, no matter what the situation was. I was a fighter in every way but what I could not fight was the loss of my mother. I lost my mother just forty days after I became a mother. I was broken to the bits. Slowly depression crawled over me but I mistook it as a state of mourning. I took comfort in food and gained weight. I started avoiding people so I would not even step out of my house door for weeks.
I lived like this for four years. Looking at my misery, my friend proposed that I should join a gym, so I did. Back then I thought that lifting weights will make me look bulky so I did aerobics only and it helped me lose a little weight. It boosted my confidence to go out and meet people. After a while, I was out of depression.
Then the urge to look thin made me join all sorts of fad and crash diets. I was loving this new me who was so thin. I had no idea it was at a cost of the lost muscle mass and bone density. I was thin but not strong. Later the weight bounced back, but because all I wanted was to look thin, I kept trying various diets.
The Chrysalis
A few years later because of some family circumstances, depression came knocking again, but because this time I was going out and laughing no one knew what I was going through. Meanwhile, we planned for another child and were blessed with a hearty and healthy one. I had gained a lot of weight, it shattered my confidence even more. I tried behaving normally but deep down I was empty and hollow. I knew that I was in depression again but didn’t want to admit it. I knew something had to be done so again I decided to fight back.
The Caterpillar
I started my fitness journey once more and this time to never look back. Now I knew it was not just about getting thin but about getting strong. This new chapter was about my strength, my mental, and my physical strength. Even with zero confidence, I used to show up to the gym daily but this time I landed up in the weights section. I started seeking comfort in dumbbells and barbells instead of food. Being aware of quantified nutrition because of FITTR, my relationship with food improved. I started taking food as my fuel for workouts. My mentors kept me so motivated that even though times of pandemic, I was regular with my workouts and was particular about my nutrition.
New Wings
It has been almost two years now, I am out of depression and have been fully committed to fitness and nutrition. It helped me to emerge as a much stronger person, not just mentally but physically too. Having seen the lows of depression and the highs of a healthy lifestyle, now I want to reach out to people and make them aware of what fitness or a healthy lifestyle is capable of. INFS has given wings to this dream of mine, and I am pursuing Diploma in nutrition and fitness. If can change even one life or inspire even one person towards fitness I will consider it a job done.
Author: Alpi Arora
