Saying Goodbye to Someone You Love

FITNESS for the Soul By Rhoderline Kyeme

When I reflect on my school years I remember always being on the larger side, most probably due to overindulgence of mother’s amazing Ghanaian home-cooking. I developed a passion in my teens for sport and found an aptitude for athletics, even making the cut for our school’s athletic team to compete across our borough.

Despite my enthusiasm for sport, I had an ongoing battle with my weight and would often refer to myself as “big boned” probably as a means to excuse my size and weight. The start of university life sparked my desire to take control and do something about my weight, so I joined a well-known diet club.

Through sheer determination (and if I am honest frustration of being a plus size) I lost three stones and have ever since managed to keep it off. That was twenty odd years ago! Losing the weight was the easiest part, keeping the weight off or “maintenance” as some call it, has been the greatest challenge requiring consistency and self-discipline. For many years I was fixated with my weight and size, it felt as though my identity was centred on this and nothing else.

The dawn of my thirties saw a more confident me, I became truly comfortable in my own skin and didn’t allow external influences to determine my identity. This also coincided with the rebirth of my spiritual life, becoming more connected to my faith and my relationship with God. I no longer cared how others might have seen me nor allowed negative self-perception a stronghold, but rather focused on how I felt inwardly and how I knew God saw me. The following scripture from Psalm 139:14 comes to mind as I write this:

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well.

Life begins at forty they say, a few years ago one of my pals suggested that given my passion and dedication to keeping fit, why not study and gain a qualification in fitness. Weirdly though a real passion, I had never seen myself as someone that could influence others to lead a fit and active lifestyle nor did I feel I epitomized that physique.

However, being a real academic, I enrolled on a course. It was challenging, but I was driven. In the summer of 2016, I qualified as a Level 3 Fitness Instructor and Personal

Trainer. This passion has now become a parttime occupation I love and now see as more of a vocation. I teach group classes and train one-one. What I love most is the noticeable change in people post class/session. There’s an exuberance and energy that is priceless and heart-warming.

In 2019, I decided to study further and qualified as a Nutrition Specialist, which provides a more holistic approach to my own personal fitness journey as well as the service I provide clients. I still keep busy with my 9-5 as a consultant, though have achieved a good work-life balance by splitting my time equally between my day job and my PT work.

For me, the essence of fitness is that it must be holistic; it is all-encompassing and includes health of the mind, body, and soul. Therefore, equal time and energy should be invested in every one of these areas to make for a wholesome human being.

As a woman I know too well how our hormones play such a significant role in our perception of self and can distort our selfimage. Our identity can often be wrapped up in the superficial, and yet there is so much more to us.

The ever-growing popularity of social media has much to answer for in this area of “health & fitness” and I write this in quotes as I feel that many people are saturating their minds and forming beliefs which may not be 100% accurate.

I have learned over the years not to rely solely on the obvious measuring systems (e.g. the dreaded bathroom scales). Example case: over the past three months I have increased the level of weight training I do and yet the scales have stayed the same. However, many people have commented on how trim I look, and my clothes fit better. The answer? Increase in muscle mass and reduction in body fat. This flies in the face of what my twenty-somethingyear-old self would have believed.

My advice to anyone reading this article who might be struggling with “weight loss” is to think about varying your training regime, nutrition, and adopting good sleeping habits, for these are all contributing factors to how our bodies look and feel. Spend time daily to meditate, show appreciation and gratitude to your body for all that it enables you to do, and then set about your day.

What does the next decade look like for this forty something female fitness professional? Well as we get older our fitness goals should look different, my focus will be on increased mobility and flexibility training. I hope to compliment my gym-based work with alternative exercise such as Pilates and perhaps take up swimming or cycling. I’ll continue to teach and train for as long as my body will allow me. And perhaps s A career in Management Consulting and Project Management over the past twenty plus years gave me such breadth and depth of experience in the commercial arena. A profession which provided opportunities to work across varied and interesting industries sectors such as Aerospace, Banking, Pharmaceuticals and Agrochemicals to name but a few. Over and above the work itself are the people I have had opportunity to work with globally, exposing me to diverse cultures and experiences, some who have become close friends. Work often entails travel and on each trip, and I ensure to pack my essential items of sports kit and trainers! Fitness and well-being now permeate every sphere of my life.

Study some more, after all we’re never too old to learn something new!