When I was 20 years old, I thought I’d reached the peak of my fitness journey: I became one of India’s first female bodybuilders, and was even acknowledged in India’s national and world records book. It was an incredible honor, and I took immense pride in the discipline, strength, and athleticism it took to get there. Little did I know, though, that some of my greatest fitness accomplishments would come decades later, in my 40s and 50s.
Growing up, I always loved playing sports recreationally, and that passion for movement and competition eventually led me to bodybuilding. But at 24, I got married and moved to the United States with my husband; shortly after, I gave birth to my daughter at 29. With all these big life changes, fitness fell by the wayside.
My life was centered around giving to my family, and somewhere along the way, I stopped prioritizing myself. Over the next two years, I became chronically exhausted, lost muscle, gained weight, and didn’t feel like myself physically or mentally. Then, when I was 33, I decided to make a change.
I thought back to the discipline and structure I once had with fitness and realized how much I missed that part of my life. I wanted to get back to those habits and rebuild the strength I once worked so hard for, so, I began making time for fitness. My husband started watching our daughter after work while I began doing full-body workouts using light weights, focusing on consistency rather than intensity.
I already had a strong foundation in strength training from my bodybuilding days, so I created most of my own workouts. But I also reached out to my former coach in India, who helped program some of them. At first, the workouts were hard, and I was sore every day.
But mentally and emotionally, I felt amazing; for the first time in years, I was committed to doing something just for myself. Starting then, I promised myself that I would never stop prioritizing my health again. Over the next year, I worked my way up to hour-long workouts and continued lifting heavier weights.
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