TwoCents | To another Beginner on their fitness journey

Some five years ago I started taking my physical fitness a bit more seriously. The words that follow are not expert advice or suggestions but, recently I started believing very much that beginners should have more of a say in matters of fitness - we should share our journeys, struggles and insights more often. Just like that beginner inspired me on Twitter those 5 years ago, I hope I make the mystery of where to begin a bit less daunting. In the beginning, was failure. I had tried different versions of trying to be fit beforehand. Once upon a time, It was eating even more food than usual and doing ridiculously difficult push-ups. That got me fat. I even tried to switch to the full-body versions of these exercises - all I got was more failure. You see, when you’re at the onset of all this, there’s too much information and there’s too much that’s difficult so I was lucky to hear from the mouth of one of the laziest athletes out there: “you can eat anything but not too much”. It’s not a lot but I’ve found along the way that you don’t usually need too much to start; the basics are enough to make a first step; all the complex jargon can come later. Before any of the discussions with a trainer or friends start before you pick up a weight or take advice from lazy athletes you need to ask yourself what you want for your body. Are you trying to be athletic (what does that even mean?) do you want to gain some muscle mass or learn how to kick ass at a particular sport? I just wanted to be lean - at least at first. This was what being fit meant to me at the time. One day I reiterated this to a nurse while getting checked and she said “being healthy or even fit is a spectrum. You can be fitter even while looking exactly the same.” Again. it might not seem like much but I learnt from these two people that dieting didn’t mean I had to exclude or include things I liked or didn’t and it could also mean portion control. The nurse also taught me that there’s not one version of a fit body - I could work with what I had and just make any positive step in the right direction. Eventually, I started talking with one of my friends who was always sharing his run times and progress on Twitter. This friend had gone from fat to lean to ridiculously jacked - it was all the inspiration I needed. I asked something along the lines of “I want to be less fat. What do I eat and what do I even do for fitness?”. He said it was all about calories and caloric deficits instead of surpluses. I got confused. He said we all needed a certain amount of calories based on weight and we just had to track them to make sure we ate less than we needed and we would lose weight. He also said I should start running. I was overwhelmed at the time because what did counting calories even mean? It’s a key juncture in anyone’s fitness journey; the time when you cross over from the everyday language to the more complex aspects of being healthier in general - it started for me with calories. If you’re self-teaching yourself fitness it’s easy to get overwhelmed. There’s a lot more than calories to track and there are just too many routines, to begin with as for exercise; this is why people pay trainers and dieticians. It’s a very amazing way to not think too deeply about the complexities of getting fitter but I would say whichever route you take, you should learn as much as you can about all of it; you have your whole life to do it. I couldn’t afford either of these so I started running. I ran as I could and ate less than usual. It’s important to know I still ate enough, it was just a lot less - I realised I took on more food than I needed regularly. I tweaked the runs and I adjusted the meals based on what I could afford or what I could find (he had said to start eating more protein). in the end, I failed yet again. I had the wrong shoes and I had flat feet that blistered and ached even when I started enjoying the exercise. I felt defeated and even ashamed. What would they think? I thought quietly. One big thing with moving positively along the spectrum of fitness or achieving whatever your dream body might be, is you have to shift the goalposts and celebrate each step. If I didn’t I would have stopped a long time ago. I couldn’t run so I searched for alternatives. “The best exercise is the one you enjoy doing every day. The best health food is the one you find tasty.” Naval Ravikant said that. All these sayings are still at the core of what pushes me or helps me back up. I’ve been calibrating the workouts and meals ever since. I got to boxing and I found out I’d rather be in a gym for exercise. Something about having somewhere to be motivates me. I learnt boxing was too intense for me at a certain level and I wanted to get bigger (shift the goalposts, remember?) and I even found out a way to only have to be in the gym three times a week. As time goes on, calories and macros and all the terminologies come naturally. I choose as a matter of principle to learn only what I need or might need. I’ve been reading a lot about cardiovascular health and protein synthesis this past month and I want to refrain from being too technical. I would advise everyone I know to do some sort of physical exercise regularly - any that they enjoy. You also have to get on top of what you eat; if you can’t keep track of it get someone you trust to do It for you. You might have to pay them in money or kind; you could also follow a registered professional online to get a sense of it but, at every confusing juncture it’s fine to take a step back. Eat the number of calories you need to get smaller or bigger; look for protein that doesn’t raise your cholesterol, eat food you like but not too much and immediately stop any workout you don’t enjoy. It can be hard but enjoyment is a must. Beginner to beginner I’ll say all you need at the many starting lines you draw are the fire in your heart - the resilience and “why” and a first step. Pick your aim and get on your marks, fall all over the track on the way to the different ends and in the words of Toshinori Yagi, Go beyond plus ultra!

Other insights from Joshua Omoijiade