When it comes to their health and body, most women let other people control them – their spouses decide their ideal weight, a parent or an in-law decides how much to eat and doctors above all determine your lifestyle. And thus, we end up in a world where we are externally-driven.

But such an external drive lets our internal clock go for a toss and over a period of time, it turns a guilt provoking apparatus. Learn to rewind the inner clock and take control of yourself. And this will unleash a new sense of confidence and power from within.

Identify your energy state

After a look at that hour-glass figure of the neighbour, many women will have an adrenaline rush to do the same for themselves. However, when they decide to start, most of the time they will be left wondering about the right kind of exercise or fitness routine that suits them and be confused about the options and finally end up doing nothing but just feeling guilty.

I would say apart from the most common excuse of not having time, the reason most women discontinue a workout routine is because they don’t like what they do. Besides stress, factors such as pollution, fatigue, traffic etc tires them out, leading to a lot of physical wear and tear.

Isn’t this a common scene among working women – after a long day at work you tell yourself I should go to the gym, or maybe after a late night, you wake up in the morning tired saying I should go for a walk. But when we think of exercise there are only two choices – One: to refrain from exercise and blame yourself for not doing it, thus adding it to your negativity; two, to force yourself to do it and never enjoy it.

Let me share with you about a practice called body scan that I read sometime ago. After trying it out for a while, I found it very useful as it brought a better meaning to my workout schedule, lifestyle and left me feeling empowered.

First, do a quick body scan to check your physical status. Close your eyes, take a deep breath and scan your body from head to toe – you are in touch with reality, ignore all the shoulds, haves and guilt statements.

What is your energy state? American fitness editor Peg Jordan classifies this into four levels.

Too tired – your body is achy and limp, it requires replenishment of energy;

Too wired – you have sufficient physical energy but you are feeling too wired and stressed, you need time to take off and unwind;

Too uninspired – your physical energy is up but you feel too dull and lethargic;

Too mired – you are entangled in a routine that sucks you in and leaves you drained, you just need that space to take a movement break.

Identifying your energy state, will allow you to take charge of your body and adopting a fitness routine that will suit your life style, will make you feel empowered. From next week, let’s focus on some quick exercises. Until then take charge and feel empowered!