I hit the gym every evening for one hour and call it my ‘me time’, the time I take out for myself from life’s everyday demands on me. For me going to gym is more or less about destressing myself. It is often at the gym that I make peace with myself and try to quieten my inner turmoil and refuse to be let down by the negativity that cowers me down somedays. So, all in all it is a win-win situation for both mind and body as exercise helps in calming down my mind and keeping my body healthy.
We are a group of around fifteen feisty ladies, a bunch of home makers, teachers, students and professionals. We often have long conversations with each other during the course of one hour exercise while we are admonished for the same by our instructor.
Though the commitment to maintain a healthy body resides strong in us we are often guided by our taste buds and dither from the course of a healthy diet that has been charted by our instructor. Most of us have still not been able to control our taste buds and often go binge eating after the gym.
Once the instructor spotted his student outside a chole bhature stall relishing the delicacy with an aplomb that too in gym wear. He was aghast at this act which to him was no less than a violation of code. He shrieked from a distance, “Madam, kya kha rahe ho?” The poor lady had to duck for cover but the ignominy did not last there. She was surprised when our gym instructor, who was riding a scooter turned around the corner and came back to her questioning her if she intends to have more chole bhatoore? In the coming days, she became a butt of all jokes as the instructor narrated the tale of chole bhature in the gym and we could not help laughing thanking our good fortune that it was someone else who got caught.
The shopping store which occupies a place of pride beneath our gym is another place where we do not want to get pulled up by our instructor. Some of us have a craving for a packet of chips after a strenuous exercise session. Many a times we have caught each other slipping the sinful packets in our shopping bags. And everyone is wary of the mighty challenge they might encounter in the form of instructor who somedays saunters in the store to buy fruit.
Though we have never seen him eating junk food we are envious at his control over his cravings and we wish to emulate him. But till the time we are able to reach the pedestal acquired by our teacher we keep on digressing from the path of the recommended diet by gorging on a snack here and a snack there. At the same time, we end up burning some calories which are equivalent to those we are consuming at the same time. As a result, at the end of the month when we weigh ourselves we realise we have not lost even a single kilo. And then the chorus of dissatisfaction grows louder: “Sir, weight tho kam hi nahi hota!”