FemAsia TeamDocumenting My Healthcare Journey.
Almost Wonder Woman started as an Instagram account documenting my journey to becoming the best version of myself, mentally and physically. I wanted it to be an honest and encouraging space for myself and it slowly trickled into becoming something a little bigger than that.
As I kept documenting my struggles about adopting a healthier outlook on nutrition and keeping fit, I had a few people messaging me saying how much they could relate – and I didn’t have that when I was starting out. I’ve been on this journey since 2015 and I’m still learning and still struggling as we all would be.
I am in no way a certified nutritionist or coach but just an everyday girl trying to make healthy choices amidst the plethora of things that take up my time. And if there’s anything someone can relate to and make the whole journey a little less foreign and daunting, be it mental health, food or even training, that’s a win in my books.
Initially, my biggest challenge was the knowledge deficit I had. Getting on a consistent training schedule was easy but the nutrition was the very antithesis of that. I had no idea what I was doing when I was first starting out. When I decided to lose weight, I cut my food intake to 1,200 calories.
It was an arbitrary number that didn’t take into consideration any factors. Eating at this caloric level was unhealthy for me and it led me into that binge/restrict cycle with food that took a long time to break away and mucked up my relationship with food along the way.
Understanding food labels, nutritional facts, weighing food, calories, macronutrients, micronutrients – all of that was overburdening.
Years of teaching myself what all of that meant got me to where I am. Of course, I had help along the way because I was trying to swim in the deep end without help and I wasn’t doing very well. As I learnt more about how nutrition plays a vital role in adopting a rewarding lifestyle, I wanted to share that.
I have struggled and still experience the binge/restrict cycle of eating and meal preparation and organisation has been incredibly helpful. As someone doing a corporate job on top of a full master’s degree class load, prep was a sine qua non in making sure I didn’t abuse UberEats.
Think about it, after a hectic day at work/college, coming home to a meal already there for you just waiting to be reheated sounds pretty fabulous, doesn’t it? The thing with meal prep is making enough with the assumption that you will inevitably eat out a couple of times a week. So, I don’t prep every single meal.
In saying that, though, for a really long time, I avoided going out to eat because I was scared it would undo my progress. This was such a detrimental mindset because I became afraid of food and categorised meals as either ‘good’ or ‘bad’. There’s no such thing as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ food, but simply food of varying nutritional level.
I still go through phases where I feel this way and categorise my eating habits but I’m trying to break it. I’m trying to become comfortable with the idea that I’d rather have a meal with friends or have that slice of cake and chalk it up to creating good memories rather than limiting experiences in life.
Of course, everything is dependent on goals, but my goal was to create healthier choices and going cold turkey on any eating out or indulging wasn’t the way to go, personally.
A few years later, a lot of reading, a coach and some existential conversations with myself later, I’m still learning but I’m in a much better place to gauge what my body needs.
These dietary and activity choices are not a temporary regime, but definitely a lifestyle. I am not a fan of calling it a diet because the connotations imply that it’s something short term and unpleasant when it doesn’t have to be. I love the food I make and hit my nutritional goals. Likewise, I love my training schedule. But as much as I love it, it’s not without challenges.
Currently, my biggest challenge is finding a happy medium between moderation and enjoying myself. It’s a matter of drawing that line in the sand about if I should enjoy that gluttonous cheesy, oozy, gooey pizza or hold myself back. Drawing that line is hard, and it’s a work in progress sort of thing.
For most people wanting to make changes in their health and fitness levels, it is often a difficult, confronting and isolated journey.
But sharing the journey takes some of that away.
Creating Almost Wonder Woman has introduced me to some pretty darn great people who have inspired me in so many ways. You don’t think people you e-meet can have that great an impact, but I’ve been proven wrong. I’ve shared my struggles with people and related to others. It makes the journey more engaging, inspiring and humbling when you share it along the way. I also enjoy a good laugh every so often when I get a salacious direct message.
As the name of the Instagram account suggests, I’m just an everyday girl trying to wonder-woman my way through life. My perspective and attitude towards beauty and body image have changed since I commenced this journey.
The ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures I catalogue tells the story that consistency and focus bring great personal rewards: not only in looking and feeling physically better but in the confidence of taking steps to improve your own health and happiness.
As I mentioned before, this journey hasn’t always been a positive one. In fact, I’ve damaged my body confidence by comparing myself to others on social media. I’ve given my body more than its fair share of judgement and criticism which, at one point, made me hate my (thunder) thighs, the extra weight on my hips and everything else that didn’t seem perfect.
What I’ve come to realise is, your social media feed is a product of your choices and who you decide to follow and associate with. I spend upwards of two hours a day on it and I didn’t want to be in this loop of content that made me feel any less worthy.
So, I did an overhaul on the content I was fed on my social media. I started following women (and men) who spoke about body positivity, who addressed mental health issues and other topics that were relevant for me to build a better image of myself physically and mentally.
As with most things, it’s still a battle but I’m in a much better place than before. Since starting this account, I’ve gone on a rollercoaster of emotions but every one of them has made me realise how life is really all about balancing on stilts and we’re all just trying our best.
Starting this account and being conscious of what content I consume made me realise it’s ok to make mistakes, it’s ok to have bad days, it’s ok not to be on a high all the damn time.
It’s about doing the best you can in your circumstances and making a healthier choice when you can. That healthy choice could be a baby step or a mammoth one but at the end of the day, if you’re trying and doing your best, that’s really what matters.
Written by Anonymous author.
