How Working Out Turned My Life Around

I’ve always been an active person. I love dancing and did a lot of it in my younger years during family gatherings. I joined practically every extra-curricular club I could in high school and college. Even as a young girl, I was always looking for something to do. This is probably one of the reasons why I didn’t hesitate to find time to workout.

In the late 80s and early 90s, going to the gym was not a major thing yet, so I did my workouts at home. And it was mostly dancing. I remember dancing to St. Elmo’s Fire at least three times a week. I loved the feeling of dancing and sweating out.

After college graduation, I got busy and didn’t have time for dancing (or so I thought). So I completely forgot about it – and my St. Elmo’s Fire cassette tape (CDs weren’t popular at that time yet) was buried underneath piles of books and magazines.

Fast forward to 1998, the year I came home to Cagayan de Oro after living in the Metro for 12 years. My first job was as a teacher at Philippine Southfield School in Bugo. It was there that I rediscovered my love for dancing – because we teachers were regularly asked to perform special numbers in certain school programs.

Despite all these, however, I didn’t really think of working out as a regular part of my daily routine. It was just something I loved doing. Not even when my sister started working as a fitness professional.

But things changed in 2006, a few months after my mom died.

I was close to my mom because I was her “companion”. She was 98% blind and partially deaf, so I accompanied her to most of her appointments. Her death left a big hole inside me and I didn’t realize this until I started to feel depressed.

I started to develop fears and this would manifest in my body. Every now and then, I’d find a part of my body that was aching or “not functioning well” (like my left arm, which suddenly became weak – later on diagnosed as part of my scoliosis). My dad and my husband didn’t say anything I didn’t want to hear, but they also made me feel there wasn’t anything wrong with me. Each time I felt something, I’d go to the doctor and, of course, there was really nothing wrong. Everything was just inside of me.

I learned to let go of my fears and depression when we started an Internet café in the latter part of 2006. That was also the time I started going to the gym. But then, our cafe closed down a year later and I was back to my usual fearful self – because I had nothing to do. It’s a good thing that I didn’t stop working out because it was what eventually helped change a lot of things.

In 2009, I started to do yoga exercises regularly. I also religiously followed a workout video my sister gave me (Bump n’ Burn with Anne Curtis & Luis Manzano – where my sister was one of the featured coaches). Several months later, I began to notice positive changes. I was happier, more confident, and stronger. I could lift a water-filled dipper with my left arm, without difficulty. Everything was coming up roses for me.

From then on, I vowed to make exercise or working out a major part of my life. I graduated to doing other workout programs like P90x and TRX functional training, but yoga has remained a constant part of my practice.

Although a lot of factors contribute to the changes I experienced – including my family, of course – my fitness journey is something I cannot just brush aside. Working out continues to help me cope with the challenges life throws my way. So I won’t stop doing it and I’ll continue loving every moment of it.

I’ll share more stories about my fitness journey next week. I’ll also feature somebody who, I’m sure, will serve as an inspiration to all those who want to achieve their fitness goals. So don’t forget to join me next Saturday!