Discover how Punam Transformed her Life and Now Feels Younger. Podcast Episode 34

Today I’m really excited to share Punam’s story with you. She has totally transformed her life from “couch potato” to “fit and fabulous”. She says she even feels younger than she used to!

I want you to be inspired by her story and realise that if she can do it, so can you!

 Transform Your Life and Feel Younger Podcast 

Punam Used to Eat Junk Food

When Punam was approaching 40 she had 4 kids aged 12, 10 and twins of 8. Both her and her husband were working long hours. She couldn’t find any time for herself. She found herself turning to junk food.

“Literally I could eat an entire bag of chips and drink 3 coke colas in one sitting.”

She knew this wasn’t a healthy way of living.

When she turned 40, realising that diabetes and heart disease ran on both sides of her family, she knew she had a choice to make.

She could either continue on the path of unhealthiness.

Or she needed to make a change.

The Hardest Part Was Making A Decision to Change

Something in her brain changed. One day she decided that her goal was to run 5 kms around a nearby lake.

She signed up to a 5k race that was in 4-5 months time. She trained 3 times a week.

Her 8 year old daughter wanted to do the race too. Punam was dubious at first but let her enter. Her daughter won a giant trophy whilst Punam only just finished.

It was motivating and disheartened at the same time.

Punam continued to run and race.

She finished her first marathon 2 years after she started running. She’s run 4 marathons since! (Congratulations! That’s an amazing achievement.)

Enjoying Your Exercise is the Key to Success

Now she finds running healing and enjoyable. It benefits her emotional wellness and her health. It gives her a lot of energy.

How Did Exercising Impact the Way She Ate?

Punam stopped eating chips and drinking coke cola. She realised how far she needed to run to burn off the junk food. She hasn’t had a coke cola in 13 years.

She started to lose weight thanks to the changes she made in her diet. (She wasn’t “overweight” at 40 but she’s now a healthier weight.)

She changed the way she thought about food. Now she wants to eat healthier foods because they give her more energy and she can eat larger portions.

Punam created an Upward Spiral of Health and Wellness

Punam is a fantastic example of creating an upward spiral. You start by making one change. Then you build on it. In this case, she started exercising which led her to change what she ate.

It doesn’t matter what your first change is. You can build on any positive change.

Making Healthy Changes isn’t about Deprivation

It’s about getting the balance right. It’s fine to eat treats from time to time. But moderation is the key.

How does She Feel Now?

She feels younger!

“My age at 40 and my age at 52 is very different. I am mentally, emotionally and physically much stronger than I was at 40.

It is because I made a conscious decision to change my life that has truly empowered me to go on and do different things.

I don’t think I could have had this conversation with you 12 years ago because I was not in a mental space of confidence to do so.

Running has given me a lot of confidence. It happened to start at 40 but it can start at any age.”

How Difficult Does She Think it was to make the Changes?

The most difficult bit was making the decision to make the changes. Once that was made up, the changes were easy.

She thinks it was difficult because we’re creatures of comfort. We like our routine.

To change any piece of that is difficult at times.

Punam knew that she was looking at diabetes and heart disease if she didn’t change.

She also wanted to be healthy for her children. She wanted to grow up and see her grandchildren.

Children Learn from Copying Adult Behaviour

This is a double edged sword. It’s actually super easy to teach our kids healthy living. We just need to demonstrate it.

But, if we demonstrate “not healthy living”, they’ll learn “not healthy living” by copying us.

Punam’s Last Words of Wisdom

Do not be afraid to fail!

If you start something, fail and regroup that’s fine. It can be an important part of growth.

There are hard parts of all exercise. It’s important to find what’s right for you and remember that you’re doing it for you.

In fact, chances are, if we start something new we won’t be any good at it!

Stay Connected with Punam

Check out her website: www.edu-me.net.

Listen to her podcast is Edu Me.