Take Control of Your Today

It has been said, “sleep is deaths’ sister” you may be wondering why I may be saying that. It’s quite a scary thing to hear, especially right before getting into bed. Scientifically, our bodies go through regeneration and our heart rates are at its lowest. I enjoy seeing the statistics of the quality of sleep I get each night, my night time heart rate is normally 50 beats per minute. When awake and static by heart rate is at 65 to 80 beats per minute. The difference is quite significant.

Now you may be thinking why I started with the above quote in the opener of this story. I learned the value of my body when I stopped caring for it.

I have always been the athletic type; playing soccer and basketball in junior high, soccer throughout high school and then entering community sports and playing basketball, then heading into focusing on soccer and playing consistently for 2 years. When you think of me you are probably thinking: athlete.

That’s exactly how I wish to see myself, but I have never considered myself as an athlete. Although winning a gold medal in Dubai playing Basketball for team Canada in the International Ismaili Games is quite an achievement, and should “classify” me as an “athlete”, but I have never felt like one.

In October 2019, I was diagnosed with kidney stones and a fatty liver. Me? Yes, me! I would have never imagined that I had neglected myself for so long. For many years I was struggling with establishing a fitness routine into my day to day life. I’d have a perfect routine for a month, the minute one day didn’t go as planned compared to the previous day I would slip and fall back into the hole which was: neglect, all over again.

The day when my family doctor told me of my diagnosis, I had made a commitment to myself that I would not need any medication, and I refused to let those kidney stones get the better of me. I also went home and did all the research of how to clear kidney stones naturally without needing to pass them.

My journey began.

January 2020, after watching a fitness coach for over 3 months on Instagram, I got off my couch on a Monday evening and completed a workout. The switch officially flipped. I began my fitness journey I began by adding a30 minute workout everyday. No matter what time I worked till. I made the commitment every day to complete my workout. I did that for 1 month, I began to see the weight drop. Great.

My next commitment was to drink and eat healthier. I still struggle with this and it is the hardest aspect of my health and wellness to master. I am a Canadian Ismaili Muslim, my parents: Tanzanian, cuisine cooked at home? East Indian. What does that mean? Butter Chicken, Rice, Chicken Korma, Hakka Noodles, Kuku Paka. How do you change all those delicious ethnic dishes? How was I supposed to tell my mom to cook something separately for me since I’m on a “diet”. I truly do hate that word, “diet”. I have never been able to fully understand how one is able to “diet” and maintain a sustainable lifestyle. Trust me I’ve tried. What did we do instead? Made easy swaps. Instead of using canola oil as a primary ingredient my mom swapped it for olive oil. Instead of table salt as our primary seasoning, swapped it for Himalayan pink salt.

I spent days researching easy hacks and swaps we can make to ensure our home cooked meals remained, and enhanced them to be sustainable and positively impacting our health.

I was scheduled for a CT scan in May. I knew everything was going to be okay. One week later, my family doctor called me and said, your liver enzymes are looking good, and you have no kidney stones. The feeling I had after leaving the clinic, the sense of achievement I felt that day was priceless. I knew I was doing something right.

When COVID hit Alberta in March, a lot changed for me in lockdown. I am a Board Member for the Ismaili Council for the Prairies, my role: Member for Sports and Active Living. I went from working full time at a bank, volunteering 4 times a week and managing self care to working part time at a bank and managing self care. Now you may be thinking, “I don’t see the problem? You had more time for yourself.” Well, I need to remain busy in order to be productive, I also had mentioned above that I require a routine to be successful. It took me two months to establish a routine before I got pulled back into virtually volunteering and creating programming for my board; only to have the privilege to implement them nationally across Canada.

In June, being inspired by Leslie Sanson I created a 6 week calendar with workouts from YouTube for my community, I added volunteers as accountability coaches, I even reached out to a Naturopath, Life Coach, Chiropractor and Physiotherapist. These professionals would do weekly presentations about eating habits, injury prevention, mobility and motivation. The team was ready to go, registration was published, and then the waiting game of how many people will register? I assumed I would get 40 registrations (at that time, being 4 days away from the first day, having 5 accountability coaches = 8/coach) was a good number to begin with. The first day of the event was June 7th, 2020. On June 5th, I had 150 people registered nationally. It was incredible.

Now me being on my own fitness journey, I knew how much I needed activity in my life. I would have never expected so many people wanting to take control of their lives with exercise. I realized what I had created was something very special, it was something I never realized I had the aptitude for.

Research began. Now what do I do with this skill I have realized?

Current profession: Banker.

Current passion: health and fitness.

How does one combine these together?

I had been watching my coach and she was inspiring as ever. In August 2020, I restarted my fitness journey with becoming a health and fitness coach. I now use social media as my accountability partner, I work everyday towards my fitness goals with the hope that I will inspire 1 person to take a chance on themselves and join me.

In November 2020, I got diagnosed with COVID-19. Again, I asked myself the same question as to, “how did I get COVID?". Not in a shocking manner, or disappointed, but rather - I had just begun feeling like an improved me. I was thankful that my symptoms were not terrible, today; I still have on 60% of my smell and taste back, but I was unable to workout for 3 weeks. I thought I would never get my routine back. I didn’t have the energy to workout. All I wanted to do was get out of bed, get off the couch and move. I wasn’t able to.

I bounced back fast! Within 3 weeks I was able to start working out again, I was healing. I have to be patient. I know. There are many days of cardio in my program, I can’t always be my best yet. I’m recovering, and that’s okay. I know I showed up. I’m eating better, drinking 2L of water, I can move. I’m doing the best I can for me. People are watching my battle with myself- I will conquer!

I know this new year is a year of big things. The intuitive feeling is beyond anything I can explain. Everyday I am thankful. Everyday I strive to be better for myself, and better for those who are afraid to take action, to take control of their day when they wait for tomorrow.

We treat our day, as if we are entitled to a tomorrow, but tomorrow may never come. When we sleep, we lose control of what our fate has written, there is no conscious decision making when we sleep. We are transported into a world where we explore dreams and create realities we hope to implement when we begin our new day. That does not mean we will wake up to make them happen. So, be grateful for your today. I do it everyday, every workout, every sustaining meal. That is the goal I wish to inspire others to live by. Live for today, by starting today. Tomorrow may never come.