I am often asked how did I end up being a fitness coach when my background is so varied. With a Masters in Medical Microbiology, a few entrepreneurial attempts and working for Corporate and start ups alike, I had tried quite a bit in a decade. I was mostly associated with the health industry but, fitness wasn’t a big part of my life till way into my late 20s.
I had trained in Indian classical dancing for most of my childhood, but as I moved into high school, that stopped. The only physical activity I was involved in now was cycling. This was a total of around 20 odd kilometers a day for school and other commitments. Like most teenagers, conscious thought on trying to be more physically active didn’t picture anywhere in my day.
I was never into sports, initially due to lack of encouragement and later due to a lot of discouragement. I would love the rush of playing, the physical and mental engagement that it involves. But thanks to my sports teacher whose “favourite motivation method” was to shame and humiliate students in the assembly, I shied away even more. Once you reach adulthood, it’s even more harder to put yourself out there and try something new. The fear of ridicule and the knowledge of one’s lack of skills makes it almost impossible.
During my masters, when I was around 20-21 years old, my classmate took a membership in a local gym. After a couple of days, she decided to discontinue it and transferred her membership to me. For the next 3 months I had an absolute fun time challenging myself at the gym.
My trainer Shyam was very involved and kept pushing me to get better and better. Once I had a taste of it, I kept at it on and off for the coming years. Sometimes at gyms and sometimes home workouts. My friend Vishal who was (is) a fitness coach kept trying to push me to be a coach myself from as early as 2008. I never took it seriously, never gave it a second’s thought. I was my fittest self (except for now :D) in 2009, just before I conceived my son. Through the pregnancy, I continued some basic workouts and made sure I was physically active, which was a big help in an easy labour.
Next few years were all about the new motherhood and and like most moms, self care took a backseat. I did workout every now and then, but it was negligible. In 2014, I went through an extremely hard time battling depression and exercising was recommended by my therapist to aid in the fight. So it was time to renew my relationship with working out. I threw myself into it completely using it as an escape for my feelings. I was already not eating well, add to it the mental struggle and the physical strain now, I dropped down to a mere 40 kgs.
Fortunately, I slowed down in a bit and became more mindful about what I was doing. Steadily things got better, mentally and physically. I started enjoying physical activities more and more. I looked out for marathons and treks. Couple of years later, Vishal started pressurizing me again to consider getting certified as a fitness coach. I am always looking for new experiences and new things to learn and decided to give this a try. I was already quite passionate about it and constantly guided others too. Maybe it was a good idea to get a formal education in that.
I got certified and after an year, quit my full time job at a chronic disease management company. I was already training a couple every morning and now decided to take a leap of faith. I was also extremely thrilled that I had more time to work on myself.
I absolutely loved and still love training people! It’s not just watching their transformations physically, but watching their confidence and self worth soar is heart warming. The best part? The relationships I have built with them. They have become like a family member where I am genuinely invested in their overall well being which has nothing to do if they continue to work with me or not. I look forward to my 4 a.m. mornings, to meet and work with my clients, to video chat and review my online clients who are spread all over the world, to plan fun and active holiday retreats and to continuously study and work to get better and help others better.
My journey has been similar. It’s not about the physical transformation. Of course, I have gotten stronger and have gained a lot many skills. I also battled with physical injuries which an active life brings along with itself, and still am recovering from a few. But, the mental and emotional healing this path has gotten me has changed my life. I am more open to try new things and don’t care what people would think or say. And my journey has just begun.
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