In January I picked up a basketball for the primary time in nearly three years.
Let me preface this all by saying I’m no athlete. I gravitated extra towards theater than sports activities rising up. I discovered sports activities to be too aggressive however wished to appease my dad, a pure athlete, so I tried a number of. After rising six inches over the summer season in center faculty, folks began asking me if I performed basketball or volleyball. Although I did play in a basketball rec league throughout this time, I had little interest in pursuing it additional. Solely the occasional hoop taking pictures on my driveway after faculty. I loved that point as a result of there was no competitors or stress – simply me and my internet. However, my disinterest in taking part in competitively didn’t cease folks from asking me to proceed taking part in.
In highschool, I began attending a neighborhood gymnasium with my mother and aunt to “keep in form.” I’d all the time been a lanky child, however after gaining some weight in puberty, I began to change into extra preoccupied with my physique, feeling compelled to return to the lithe model of myself I used to be in center faculty. At first the journeys to the gymnasium had been comparatively innocent – simply doing a little bit of lifting adopted by some strolling on the treadmill. However it sadly started to tackle a lifetime of its personal. Train grew to become one thing I abused for a number of years in an try to “keep skinny.” Motion was now not enjoyable. It had change into a ritualistic necessity, dictated by my consuming dysfunction.
By age 16, I developed osteopenia – one thing ladies usually expertise nearer to age 50 – and misplaced my interval. The mixture of lowered physique fats from over-exercising and a lower in hormone ranges from malnutrition left my physique in tough form for a number of years. Fortunately, I used to be in a position to restrengthen my bones and restore my interval in restoration. However, to today, I’ve to tempo myself once I train as a result of my knees and my again by no means absolutely recovered.