Transforming Habits: What I Learned from 90+ Days of Regular Workouts

Let me introduce myself. I am Anuj Jindal. I am a software engineer and have been coding for more than 7 years now. You must be wondering why I am telling you this. So let me explain. It's the main part where the story begins.

I was a very fit individual with decent stamina. But things started changing when I started coding. I did a mix of freelancing and some small startups, but I didn't have success for close to 4 years. During this time, my lower back was severely strained, and my digestive health was not great either. There was a time when I would vomit instantly after eating food. I paid a few visits to the doctor but found nothing.

All of this was happening due to stress, anxiety, and sitting on my couch for long hours coding without taking breaks.

The COVID wave wiped out all the business, and we went to zero in revenues. However, I had my skills, and within 15 days, I got a job. Market conditions were not bad back in 2021.

As soon as I started my job, I had ample time. So, I started going to the gym, but I was not regular. As soon as I started getting better, I became inconsistent and left my gym routine.

Months passed, and then came a twist. I had to travel for six hours a day for my second company. My back pain became unbearable, and going to the office was not possible. So, I changed my job on September 2, 2023, and decided to take care of myself with the saved time.

I started playing badminton for an hour, but that was not working for my back pain. Then, one day on December 9th, I paid for a gym membership. I went to the gym but was not consistent. Then came the twist, New Year was on the way, so I decided to take a resolution to do some form of exercise daily and become consistent.

The Gym Journey

From December 26th, I started going to the gym. The first day was not easy at all. It was 2°C in North India during peak winter. I collected myself somehow and went to the gym. I was fully tired, but music kept me there.

The second day, I woke up a little late, i.e., at 6:30 AM, and was able to hit the gym at 7:15 AM. Now, this looked fine on paper, but I realized I needed to wake up early. So, I came up with a solution to set two alarms for the worst-case scenario.

Similarly, I went to the gym, and one week passed somehow. On the 8th or maybe 9th day, I had a fever. I had a real challenge to complete my goal. I did my best and had a walk for 5 minutes in my house itself. On the very next day, I was not in a state to even walk, but I took a walk in the noon after getting relief. Somehow, I completed two weeks. But this was not enough. In the third week, I got a cold and again, due to weakness, got a mild fever. But I was in a state to walk. So this time, I went to the gym, marked my attendance, and walked for 10-15 minutes on the treadmill. Somehow, I regained energy and again continued with my full potential.

As every human, 20-25 days went by. I started looking for results. Somehow, I completed 25 days in the gym, and I should see results. But there was not a single visible result. I started feeling demotivated, and going to the gym in my end of January felt like an unwanted task. But I got back to my past and gave a thought to why I started all this work. I soon realized I needed to start documenting this.

I started recording myself while going to my society gym. It was hardly a 3-minute walk to the gym from my apartment. I started recording, and seeing those recordings motivated me to wake up early and walk more early.

10-12 days passed in the same manner. Now, morning walks started converting to more gym days, and the ratio for gym vs walk increased.

I soon hit a very different challenge. I got a ton of work in my company, and I needed to work on tight delivery, which forced me to quit. But I didn't leave hopes. Somewhere in my heart, I knew this was going to happen, and it would be hard for me to stick around, and that's why I took 5-6 am time where I had the choice to do it at 8 am as well. So, I somehow managed my gym routine.

The Miracle Day

I slept at 3 am due to the nature of my work that day, and the next morning, I needed to show up in the office. But on that day, a miracle happened. I automatically woke up at 5:45 am and could not sleep. I tried to sleep, but then I realized why fight myself, let's go to the gym. I did my best and hardest weights that day, and all my stress and anxiety went away. I was so tired when I came back, and I had rest soon after. Some time later, I went to sleep for 90 minutes, and the sleep was so satisfying that I felt like I was sleeping for the last 10 hours.

Days went by, and I was still not picking heavy weights to my full potential. Daily, I was optimizing for my gym routine. It was taking a lot of effort for me to create a routine. So, I chose a mix exercise schedule, and till this day, I am doing mix exercise schedules.

Why I Chose Mix Exercise Instead of Targeted Muscle?

My main goal was showing up and not feeling demotivated again. In my mix exercise, the first 30 days were lower and upper back-specific exercises entirely. And somewhere, I knew that if I missed a gym day and went for a walk, I would start having guilt, and this journey couldn't go long. So, I opted for some simple tricks to pick single weight dumbbells and do various exercises with the same to remove resistance and thinking paralysis or wait for non-occupied weights.

Days went by, and I started feeling active but not very good on the physical appearance side. I started feeling bored again. I started taking my accomplishment selfies. Now, whenever I felt low, I used to see my previous progress and show up daily.

Now comes March 1st, when I saw myself being consistent. I started taking challenges, and every day, I took one new challenge.

The Change

With the start of new challenges, I was able to complete them day after day. Suddenly, after 4-5 days, changes started appearing, and I started getting little compliments. Then, I took a weight + cardio challenge, running 2km after my weight training. I completed continuous 15 days with that, celebrating each day like an award and justice to my body.

I never thought I would be able to cultivate a good habit, be consistent, and show up daily. I always felt my progress was slow, but it matched my pace. I always felt going to the gym was not physical work; it was more of mental training.

Today, I decided to write this post. Maybe my journey can give some practical tips and motivation to the community out there.

Achievements:

1. I can run 2km now easily with my personal best of 4km.
2. I can sit for 8-10 hours on a chair without back pain.
3. I stay active throughout the day, so no more leaving life as a dead body.
4. I usually get sick once a month, but it's been 3 months since I last fell sick.

Tips:

1. Let go of guilt; you can't have the same energy and mindset every day.
2. Show up every day; your brain has limits too.
3. Understand how you react; your body, your mind is unique, and you need to understand that and create a better version of yourself.
4. Start taking challenges on days when you feel confident.
5. Don't overpush yourself. There were many days I wanted to put 2 hours of gym, but I didn't because I needed to have a long run instead of small, short, impulsive runs. The gym was always a side skill I was building.
6. Feel gratitude for the justice you have done with your body.
7. Have some accomplishment rewards that work for you and better support you and push you to do more better.
8. Focus on one thing at a time.

Last but not least, I recommend you guys read Atomic Habits. I am available on Twitter/x https://twitter.com/anujjindal121
if you guys feel need I can help anyone.