Sunday, October 26, 2014

My Healthy Lifestyle

As my personal account has reached nearly 28K, there is something that I have noticed and learned over the past couple of weeks. Something I hoped would not happen, and yet I think it now has...

I always had the freedom of posting and saying whatever I wanted, but at this point, more often than not, I find myself rereading my clauses and going 'wait..should I even?' ... and I don't want to be that person. It is becoming scary, as I see a lot of people taking My journey, My opinions and My own mistakes even, as some sort of guidelines to follow. And then somehow I become responsible? Now that is not fair.

Initially, after seeing your support on Instagram, and how many of you want to get healthy and back on track and start exercising, I got excited beyond words and thought of this as an oh-yay-team-muslimahs-going-healthy-together-teamspirit-wohoo! But now after some contemplation...the above-mentioned is one of the things that makes me a tad hesitant in sharing my health goals and journeys with you, because I would never want to find anyone thinking they should follow what I am follow, or do what I am doing.

Let's get some things straight. I am not a teacher. I am NOT an Islamic scholar. I am not a nutritionist and I am not your trainer. I am just a 22-year-old Eileen, sharing her own thoughts and...life. If that is alright by you, then please continue reading. :-)

As I am writing this, I am in a humongous purple robe with flowers all over it. And the hood pulled over my head. Man, it's cold! Wait, I shall grab a cup of Green tea with Jasmine petals. 

Alrighty,

Let's make a little long story short: Nowadays I am known to be quite the health nut. Up until the age of 14 I had some baby fat. I never considered myself fat, but I remember being called 'fat' at school. Then I grew out of it, but HATED sports. Yes, hated. A very strong word but that's how it was. I remember talking about it all the time, and eating whatever the heck I felt like, all the time. And alhamdulillah for good metabolism or my young age, cause nothing really happened, until one day I had a moment of awakening around the age of 20. I thought... if I continue this way...then by the age of 40... I am going to be quite ruined. 

I believe I have said this SO MANY TIMES, but wallahy, it is our obligation to take care of what God has given to us. Ever since, I have been self-studying about all aspects of fitness and health, started going to the gym, and ended up being one of those people who exercises 5x a week (I actually ended up taking a Zumba Trainer course and I am officially certified to give classes), and eats super healthy, avoids gluten, and doesn't eat after 6-7 o'clock (let's rrrrrrrrrrepeat: this is what IIIIIII do - ME - Eileen - do NOT think this is something you ever gotta do).

So..in all honesty, I do feel like I do know quite a lot about this field, but at the same time, having been surrounded by this for years now, I feel like this is common knowledge to all. But since I have been receiving so many questions and requests for me to share healthy recipes and some personal tips that have worked for MMMMEEEEEE, then I decided to go ahead and do so, while I am at home and have time anyways. :-)

Earlier today, I posted the following on Instagram:

"OH. MY. GOD. I am definitely NOT as happy as I seem on this photo! The people who know me know I can NOT live without exercise and a healthy diet and neither were accessible to me during my travels and... What has happened is extremely sad and I lost a lot of self confidence (yes, my body and health provide a huge amount of it for me - so sue me :-P) in this respect. I just measured myself and I have gained 4kg, my hips are 6cm wider and my thighs 5cm and my skin has changed drastically! See what eating rubbish does! :-O To me it's about being fit and being healthy and taking care of what God has given to us, and thus feeling alive - so the point of this post is not to get the "oh you look good anyway, don't worry", no, the point is to tell you that ALHAMDULILLAH from tomorrow I will be back to my everyday regime, healthy diet, healthy meals, scheduled times for eating, and exercise! From tomorrow you can follow my journey back to my old self. :-D Dear Body, I am so sorry for what I have done to you. Starting from tomorrow I will, in shaa Allah, I will practice what I preach and treat you with utmost respect like I always, previously, have. Its not about being skinny or being fat, its about being healthy and feeling self-confident about yourself and doing whatever makes YOU content and happy with yourself! Tomorrow is Monday and I am starting my day off with a 10:00AM BodyPump and I have not figured out my daily meals but in shaa Allah I will be sharing with you lovelies! Who is up for it? Who is up for a challenge with me? Let's set a 1 month goal at first? Throw away your chips and your soda, and let's start cooking healthy! You can still eat pizza and you can still eat muffins and pancakes and all the stuff you love (at least I know I do!) you just have to replace the ingredients with pure foods and become fit by merely enjoying to the moon and back! It's 70% about what you eat and 30% about your workout, so your diet plays a huge role! We can share recipes with the #teamhealthyeslimah hashtag, and try em out all around the world and show each other our own results! What are your goals? Mine are to get back into the shape I was prior to my travels!"

I believe this is the most personal and upfront I have ever been regarding such matters. 
Anyway, AL HAMDULILLAH - I found so many of you being supportive, and so many of you actually wanting to start a new page and become a healthier you as well! And mashaAllah how awesome to motivate one-another to some goodness!

I am personally going on a 28-day-cleanse, and if I end up liking it, I will share it with you guys, but as long as it is not finished, I can not yet provide an opinion or a review.

Regarding my eating habits, these are some new things that I will aim to doduring the cleanse:

*Avoid dairy (something I usually do not do, this is strictly for the detox period)
*Avoid overeating of fruits (as you all know, I eat fruits way more than a normal person, and as healthy as they are - nothing in excess can be good - come on, in the end...it is actually all carbs)


Now..I can elaborate on my usual daily routine (things that I have experimented with and really do help me and make me achieve my goals) and life, which is actually something I recommend for others as well..how many 'tips' should I list here? Humm..Humm..Let's go with 5 to begin with!

*I try to drink at least 1.5-2 liters of water every day. I add lemon or lime to it, and make fruit infused water (substitute this with juice, if you are a juice-person!). If you are someone who doesn't like the 'taste' of water - like my mom, then this is a supergood way out! And just to spice things up, anyway. Cause how fun is a colorful mason jar. 
PS! Don't forget to experiment with different fruits, berries and herbs, and more importantly, don't forget to share it with your sisters! Pics and Recipes or did not happen, eh!?

*Avoid junk food and processed foods. I know to many of you this sounds difficult. I used to be that girl, who thought being healthy and fit meant eating only salad. But as soon as I discovered the world of healthy cooking..As soon as I discovered I can STILL eat muffins and pancakes and pies and chocolate pudding and popsicles and pizzas... then being healthy became easy and rather enjoyable. Because I have found it to be quite true that..once you know something has healthy ingredients..it automatically starts to taste better. Haa! Prefer everything natural. Check out something called the Paleo Diet (I personally do not follow anything strictly myself, but I do largely agree with their views, as they are all about eating everything natural, as our ancestors would have - without all the jars and the cans and the chemicals and preservatives.) 

*Try to work out at least 3 times a week (many argue that 3 is good for maintaining, and a tad more should be done in order to see effective results..now I am not going to tell you either..this is up to you - what I am going to suggest is for you to do any form of exercise..only dietary changes are not going to cut it..and likewise, just working out will not either. 
If you don't have the time or the money to go to a gym, or you find it uncomfortable to exercise outdoors (for example there would have been no way in the world I could have gone for a jog in the Medina, during my stay in Marrakech), then there are tons of online videos you can follow at home. Also, some of the most effective exercises - like squats and lunges, are totally doable at home! I personally strongly dislike working out at home, as it is the thrive and the emotion that gets me going, and I only get it when I am outsy, but...I know a lot of people, even stay-at-home-moms, who made crazy transformations, never going to the gym! Find something that you love doing! Sports should never be something you hate and just merely force yourself to!

*Have a fulfilling breakfast. They don't just say that breakfast is important for fun. It really really is. Overnight oats, oatmeal, omelet, protein pancakes, agh..breakfast is definitely the favorite part of my day!
Also, what really helps my bloating and my body is not eating a heavy meal 3-5 hours before going to bed. I aim to have my dinner early, not right before going to bed. My trainer told me, that even if we are watching TV, we should try to sit up, as when the body lies down, your organs are not fully active, and same goes for your digestion. Now this one is a TOUGH NUGGET if you are not single. Kids and hubsies and families and TRAVELING, oh boy..I know, man, this makes it waaaaay harder. Again, KNOW your body. This is not a rule set in stone or anything. Every body is different, nurture it and love it, feel what it wants and give it what it wants (unless it's always craving for McDonalds).
 If I am, indeed, hungry... then I will go for tomatoes and/or cucumbers. If those won't cut it, then carrots. If those still don't cut it, then protein. I usually go with boiled eggs, as halal meat is not accessible for me that easily. Haa.

*Try to limit your consumption of gluten (I am very sensitive to it personally, a lot of people are, but many don't sense a difference..but there is a difference. Research it. You will know why.
Prefer wholegrain, wholewheat. If you can afford it, try to substitute wheat flour with almond flour, coconut flour, oat flour, wholewheat flour, rice flour...you name it. The chances are so many in today's world. But it really depends on where you are living. In some countries these alternatives are incredibly expensive and in some, they are very hard to be found. I grind my own flours! I have a grinder, I put whatever I want to make flour of (oats, nuts, rice, buckwheat...) in, and grind, and voila!

<- so these are some of my findings over the years - these things really do help, or they help me at least, they help me be more fit, more healthy, more energized and in the end more confident and happy. If you have any awesome tips and tricks for everyday life, then lemme know!


What are your goals? What foods will you be making? Let us know! Shoot some photos, share the recipes and the love and use the hashtag #teamhealthyeslimah so we can all experiment and try em out all around the world! Fun way to be united once more! Yay! :-)


Lots of Love,

I have BodyPump tomorrow morning at 10:30 and it is 11:25 so I shall now head to bed, after posting a recipe idea.

Your Eslimah





1 comment:

  1. Assalamualaikum..
    Welcome to blogger! Glad to see you here.. ^^

    I realy love to read about your thoughts, sometime I want free to saying everything like you. About islam especially, but my english not so well.. Hehehe..
    Thank you for being sharing! :*

    triadilah.blogspot.com

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