Physical fitness - mandatory

I regret being a zero-physically-active person all this while. All I had done was crooned over books or worked on a computer. I did do a little playing-with-friends as a kid, but even that died as academics became taxing and the thought of a physical exercise or playing a game was the last thing that I ever thought of doing. As days progressed, I got used to the routine and laziness took over me.

When I see these people in America, a lot of who seem to be fitness freaks, I envy them. Its a pleasure to see people jog with all the grace. The swimming pools are always bustling with people. The tennis courts, soccer fields, basketball courts, are hardly free. Hiking is something which people do regularly. We had driven to a mountain range one afternoon and driving on those windings almost got us tired until we started spotting bikers on the road, biking their way up the hill. I wonder how long they had been biking.

I think its really important to make some form of a physical activity mandatory for kids, either at school or after, so that it gets into them when they are young.

With the stressed up work and home life that we are experiencing these days, I know there is hardly anytime to go for a walk or play a game. But the fact is that, a physical workout will help a great deal in coping up with stress. Also, indulging in physical activities with the family is one way to spend quality time with the members.

Staying in shape is very much focussed on these days, but the ways undertaken for the same, is sometimes going hungry. Due to lack of time or lethargy, its easier for some of us to go hungry than work-out. This might help you be in shape, but may lead to other health complications. The best way to stay fit is eating right amounts of the right kind of food, combined with regular work-outs.

It is a widely accepted belief that regular physical exercise will reduce the occurrences of heart related ailments and keep diabetes in check, apart from helping staying in shape.

I know, taking time out of the busy daily schedule is going to be difficult, but here are some thoughts(specially for women, as they are the ones who are branded as people who should cook at home). Men(who don't cook or help at home), can't give excuses as they have all the time in the morning before they have to leave for work. For the others, I would say, keep the cooking simple. Not having to spend a lot of time cooking, will save some time required to exercise.

We are used to eating elaborate meals at-least thrice a day. We need idli/dosa/pongal not forgetting sambar/chutney for breakfast, rice for lunch and rice/roti and the like for dinner. With this kind of an eating routine, we end up spending most of the time cooking and a tougher time trying to stay in shape. I would rather go with an elaborate meal once a day and the other meals would be something that I would not have to spend much time to prepare, like cereals, fruits, sandwiches, salads,juices,etc. These are not only easy to make, they are healthy too. Week-ends are always there to splurge upon :)

I have been doing some walking/playing lately. The resulting body pain sometimes(in-fact, lot of times) puts me off, and I tend to skip doing it, but trying hard to make it regular :)

Work-out, stay fit, have a less-stressed, fun-filled life!