road work

an essay on my weight gain & health problems.

The first time I visited Kolkata I was in awe of the old architecture & the yellow taxis. I felt like I was in some 90s bollywood movie. I took out my phone and tweeted this:

the tweet

A vague tweet. That pulled in comments like:

the reaction

Something that was just a joke can become my reality now. I have got PCOD & Thyroid, if I am not careful with my diet & exercise, I will be in the 90s for real.

My body won’t be able to handle that. Because at a height of 5’2, 90 kgs is a fuck lot of weight. Not only I will gain weight, I will also gain more health issues. Four months ago, when the doctors made me realize these facts it was like a punch in the gut. The root cause of most of my health problems is my weight.

Now the interesting thing about rectifying this situation is that I can’t just run & do jumping jacks to reduce weight. It will negatively impact my knees & ankles. So I only have 3 ways left.

1. Eating right
   
   I have cut sugar. I am eating quinoa, daliya, oats. Sometimes I slip up but I try not spiral out and get back to eating healthy ASAP

2. Walking + a lil bit of strength exercise
   
   I aim to walk 7-10K steps daily. On the worst days, I have reach the minimum goal of 5K steps. Until I reach the weight of 70kgs, this is all I have to do.

3. Sleep on time
   
   I had no fucking idea, how much of an impact sleep has on my body. I have always been careless with my sleep. The more stress I had, the more I didn’t sleep. (or slept too much). But, sleeping 7-8 hours at the same time every day & eating proper meals 3 times a day is a life hack.

Habits stack over other habits. Whenever I am eating and sleeping on time, other things in my life (like work) accommodate that and also get done in time.

The title of this essay is Road Work, and there’s a reason for that.

I am highly inspired by Gary C Halbert. He is the guy who was sent to jail for mail fraud. He was also a writer. And he wrote letters to his son from the jail. The boron letters. You can read them for free here.

Did I tell you, he was a copywriting legend and might be the one of a very few people who made millions out of writing? Well, he did all that and more.

One of the things, he told his son was about the road work:

Road work is walking, jogging and running. And, in my opinion, you should do about one hour of road work everyday of the week except Sunday. I believe the best time to do your road work is right after you get out of bed.

Wash your face, brush your teeth, use the bathroom, etc., and then, eat a piece of fruit (I think a banana is the best) and then hit the street! That’s it. Just get out that front door and start moving. Walk, run, jog. Keep moving for about 1/2 hour and then turn around and come back. You know, I really do believe this is the very best way in the world to start the day. It cleans you out, it settles you down and it gives you a nice glow that will stay with you throughout the day. It will also make you more clearheaded and improve the quality of your thinking. The benefits are enormous and, believe me, if you start doing this right away (like the day after you get this letter!) it won’t be long at all till you become positively addicted to your early morning workout.

This morning, I had a vivid dream that I am wearing a beautiful blue dress with white shoes. And I AM RUNNING! I am running fast like never before. I am not out of breathe. I am happy. I am laughing out loud. There’s greenery & beauty all around me. It felt so real, like a memory unlock.

If I am able to bring this to reality, it would feel like such a Deja Vu moment.

Before I sign off, I would love to know:

How are you taking care of your health?

Much love,
Akanksha

Excited to hear from you!