Exercise will never fail you

I don't know when it started but working out seemed to be a hobby that I put a lot of pride in these days. The best part is that I never knew that this would even be hobby for someone like me who used to hate the thought of exercising.

The reason why I wanted to write this post was because one day I just felt really amazing after a good workout and I realised that diets can flop but exercise will never fail you. And I want to write this post to always remind myself when I get lazy, the only thing that will lead me towards my goal is to work out hard, and work out regularly.

When I first started losing weight, diet played a very large role in the process. I restricted myself from a lot of food that was considered "bad" or "unhealthy", and of course it worked. I counted calories like religion and my eating habits was more like "eat to live" than "live to eat"- in other words, it's boring as hell. It was much easier to stick to a diet plan back then because my every day schedule was a routine, it's pretty much the same every day because I was working in an office. I had 3 meals a day, and never snack. I even eat the same kind of meals for lunch at work, with very little variation because it's easier to calculate the calories that way.

This method works, even without exercising. I would run once or twice a week, depending on my energy level after work, sometimes not at all. And even if I don't run, I would still be losing weight because I was consuming lesser calories than my body was burning- which creates a calorie deficit, hence, weight loss.

Are you excited to give it a try now?

What if I tell you that this method works, BUT...

It's temporary. 

Unless you stick to this strict diet and your lifestyle doesn't change drastically for the rest of your life then yes, perhaps it might be long-term.

 BEFORE: Back in 2014

AFTER: Late 2015.

My desire to be of a certain weight/size was bigger than my love for food at that point of time. I had a goal and I wanted to achieve it. And I did, eventually. But then, what's next?

I set more goals for myself, of course.

After a while, it becomes kinda addictive. The feeling of accomplishment is satisfying, I was craving for more. That's when I started working out to tone up my body. I was skinny, all right. But there are areas that weren't firm and stubborn fats to burn.

When I started working out, I didn't know how the results would be like. Everything was like a trial and error for me. Especially when you first started out, it feels really good because your muscles will really ache and I love that sore feeling after you've worked out. That pain feels really good.

Things start to change when I started flying, it was like a one-way ticket to living the most unhealthy lifestyle you can possibly imagine.

Imagine travelling all around the world, eating the best food, trying out new things. Imagine the time difference every other day, the irregular meals and sleeping patterns, aircraft food.

Flying made me throw away all my food restrictions and I couldn't count calories that effectively anymore because I was constantly in different time zones. There's no such thing as a routine in my life anymore. Every day is different. Some days I'll report for work in the wee hours of the morning, sometimes in the middle of the night. Say goodbye to body clock because if I have a late night flight, my sleeping hours are in the afternoon. And if I were in the states, I'll be eating brunch when its 3am in Singapore. So how do I keep up to a routine? How do I calculate how many calories I consume? How do I know when to work out?

And contrary to popular beliefs, being a stewardess is not a glamourous job. We work very hard in the aircraft. When everybody's asleep, we have to keep ourselves awake and keep our energy level up because well, we're working. The job is more physical than one would know. We eat at irregular timings because we need the energy to work, even if it's in the middle of the night. So can the diet tip of "no food after 8pm" work for a stewardess? Unless I'm asking for a fainting spell in the middle of meal service, then no it will not work.

So what to do?

Adapt. Adapt. And adapt. Adapt to the city's timing, get enough rest after every flight, eat right, and always make time for a physical activity. I bring my workout attire everywhere I go because I make it a point to go to the gym whenever I can. Even if I'm lazy, I can always work out in the room. There's seriously no excuses to skip a workout.

Sometimes I hate the fact that flying makes it harder for me to keep track on my weight, but after a while, I realised that it could actually be a blessing in disguise. I know how much I indulge in good food, and that would give me the motivation to hit the gym to burn off the fats. I can't say that I'm skinny anymore because I'm not. I have gained some weight ever since I started flying, but can I say that I'm a happier, healthier person now? You bet, gurl.

I eat everything I want (in moderation of course), I stopped counting calories, I find more time to fit exercise into my schedule, I try out variations of exercises, and I get the best of both worlds.

Sometimes I'd look back on my past photos when I first lost weight through diet mostly and I wish I still had that bombz body. But hey! Situation's a lot different now. If I was probably still working 9-5 in an office, with a routine-like schedule every single day then probably that body will be possible to have again. But right now, I'm literally having a mini vacation every other day and living my life to the fullest, the best thing to do is to exercise control and to workout hard and regularly. That's the best I could do for myself right now.

That's when I start to appreciate exercise. Because diet plans can always fail, one can never diet forever because we're only human. We enjoy food, and we all know that the best food aren't the healthiest. Why should a person restrict themselves from delicious food just because it contains lots of calories? And how long can you resist? And the more important question is, WHY should you resist? Why would you put yourself through such a thing just to look good at the end of the day? I was there before. Yes, being skinny feels good but restricting myself wasn't fun, it wasn't fun at all. Diet plans fail because when you get back to how you were eating before you started dieting, you will gain all the lost weight back faster than you can imagine. And is that worth it? I can tell you first hand that it's not.

But you can always exercise. No matter how long you took a break from exercising, when you start again, it will always welcome you back like a long lost friend. Your body will thank you for that. Exercising takes the guilt away from you, and you never have to feel bad about eating a cheeseburger because you know that you're able to burn it off in just a couple days of intense workout. Exercising doesn't promise you "too good to be true" results but it will show you that good things takes time and that all those hard work will pay off. Not immediately, but eventually.

I've been hesitant about writing on my weight loss journey because I know that losing weight is not permanent. Your weight will not stay the same forever. You may have reached your goal but that doesn't mean that all your efforts have to stop. When I reached my goal, there were so many things that I was unaware of. I realised that there's no such thing as a "weight loss journey" where you get from point A to point B, because healthy living is a life-long thing. You can't stop, otherwise you WILL gain back the weight. So it's basically a continuous effort, a never-ending journey to maintain that weight loss. I can't write about it like I've conquered weight loss like a champion, because I can't write about something that is temporary.

This is why I decided to share with you guys about the positive impact exercising has made in my life- now this is something that is going to stay longer than losing weight ever will.

You'll never know, perhaps I'd gain back all the weight I've lost one day. But I do know that with the existence of exercising in my life, even if I do gain it all back, I know I will look way banging than I did before. Why? Because exercise will never fail you.

I'm still working on my body, I'm still looking for ways to improve how I look. There's still so many areas I wanna work on. There are still so many flaws I see in myself, but I love how I look nonetheless. I find it easier to feel confident about myself when I accept myself for the way I look.

After much research, I realised that my body type, a Mesomorph or in other words, "the athletic body type" will never look good with a skinny body. So instead of fighting science, I feel that I should just embrace myself for the way I am. And after understanding my body type, I realised that it's easy for my body type to build muscles and burn fats, so exercising will always be beneficial to me.

There's never a day whereby I regret spending time to work out, but I regret the days I put my body through the kind of torture just so that I could get the body I desire. I was so focused on my end goal that I overlook my own happiness. Now, it's a completely different ball game. I find myself feeling more confident in my own skin even if I'm not as skinny as I was before, I feel like my self-esteem has improved and I just genuinely feel happy with the way I am now that I feel that it's the right time to be writing about this issue that many has been so curious about.

Now you guys know.

I can't tell you the tips and secret to how I lost weight because there aren't any but I can tell you what will definitely work for everyone to feel good about yourself. And I hope that I will continue to be this way for as long as it possibly can be, and I also hope that this post would have a positive impact on you guys.

Remember guys, exercise will never fail you.

Love,
Ashhy