Did I become a fish?

Apparently not 😂; I got this comment the other day. I mean, it would be cool if I could swim like a fish.

The first time I started swimming was back in January. I got back into swimming and the first day, I had an issue with my watch tracking. So, it only registered 100m for 14 minutes. It went on for several days that I couldn’t track my swimming session. Until the 2nd of february where I tracked my swimming session regularly. For 59:15, I only got a total of 975m. It was even on the beginner pool and I had a lot of breaks. Then 21 days ago, I got to 2km swimming in almost a 2 hours session of swimming.

I had to stop swimming for about 6 days when I got sick. But on the 7th day, I couldn’t take it anymore, so even when I still felt light headed, I got into the water. I felt like a dead fish floating. That day, I only swam for about 30 minutes and just hoped the next day, I would be better. But instead of getting better, I was once again sick. So, I didn’t swim the next day. But I forced myself to get into the water and now it has been 6x swimming since I got sick. The more I got here, the better I could swim. And the improvements I saw are really good for my overall life. So since then, here’s what happened.

Saying goodbye to sleepless night

Usually, when I got back to my hometown, I would sleep at 9 AM and wake up around the afternoon. I had a crazy sleep schedule that led me to easily being sick. It kept happening until I started swimming and started to notice that I sleep at regular people’s hours. Though it’s not always perfect, I sleep about 6-7 hours/day with the latest being 2 AM. If I don’t swim, I would sleep around 4 AM which isn’t bad compared to my past sleeping cycle.

Reduced Stress

My life generally is really stressful. So, I always appreciate being in the water because it relaxes me. In the past, I only did this once in a while when I stayed at the hotel that has the pool. But, since I am home and the sports center is somewhat close, I can go to the pool almost everyday. I notice my overall mood improving and my stress level is lowering. How do I know? My watch told me so, though maybe not accurate but it’s significantly less than in the past. Not to mention, I can think so much better and clearer.

Didn’t lose too much weight but toned body

Though my scale shows a little improvement, my body is getting toned. I didn’t really do any strict diet and even ate just the regular amount of food and about 1500-2000cal. I only lost about 8 pounds in a week. But I can see some improvements overall in terms of being toned, especially around the abdomen area.

Bye bye sedentary lifestyle

Besides traveling, I would not have too much movement. I did a light workout but that’s mostly it. I couldn’t even get the recommended activity minutes in a week, especially last year. But since I do about 30-120 minutes each session, I can reach out even surpass the minimum weekly exercise. Not to mention, since swimming, I also reduced the amount I spent on my phone too. Since for some reason, after swimming it’s always work then I would get too tired to be on my phone.

Eating better

This one is quite a contrast to what people say about swimming. Sure, the first time it was like that for me. I got ravenous after swimming but as soon as I regularly swim, OMAD(one meal a day) becomes a regular. It was also a way for me to trick my hungry brain. Sometimes though I don’t do it, I just eat brunch and light dinner with coffee. So, during my swimming days, I probably eat only about 1000-1200cal compared to when I didn’t do swimming where I could eat 2000cal/day.

Increasing my breath-holding capacity

The first time I swam, I was out of breath. I couldn’t even do breaststroke properly because I was taught freestyle and only did that. But since I started swimming, I could do breaststroke and backstroke efficiently, learned it by watching others and instructors at the swimming pool + youtube videos. The first time I did breaststroke, I always felt the need to breathe each pull but now, I could do much longer without breathing. Even breathing too regularly during swimming feels really weird these days.

Reduced Asthma Attacks

That one is for my mom. My mom has chronic asthma. She was told to swim as a kid to reduce the symptoms and attacks. She did it until I was around 10 years old but stopped. These days, she and I swim regularly and even I could see her improvements. She no longer takes the medicine and doesn’t get too many asthma attacks. And she only swims about 3x, sometimes 2x a week.

Those I mentioned were my experiences after swimming 5x a week for a month. By now, it’s about 2 months in and I will never skip my swimming session as it becomes part of my routine now. I noticed when I stopped swimming, my sleeping problems were back.And sleeping problem is the root of all negative things in my life 😅Also, maybe one day, I would get into the gym but unfortunately, I just can’t find a liking in public gyms.

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Mac is a jack of all trades. A typical introvert in love with literature, books, technology and philosophy. She is also so into nootropics, productivity, minimalist lifestyle, cybersecurity, and languages. Other than that, she is passionate about cooking and traveling. In her free time, she enjoys learning various things. If you like her content, don't hesitate to upvote, leave a comment or a feedback. A re-blog is also appreciated.