Several of my friends who saw me after I was released from JKUAT hospital commented on how plump I had become. My brother Bob Njinju was among the first to point out my weight gain. He once asked me in the December of that year 2008, "Thuita, are you really feeling comfortable in that weight?"
Several months later, my high school deskmate Martin Wamoni was taken aback when we met on a path at JKUAT. He asked me, "Did someone pump something into you?"
Such kind of reactions didn't impress me because I had never wished to grow big all my life. In the months that followed, I battled to lose that excess weight which I eventually succeeded in 2011 thanks to doing a lot of walking.
I still do try to keep my weight under control by exercising regularly. These days, I have formed the habit of jogging and walking to Kiserian Town, which is about four kilometres from where I live. Good heavens, it's turning out to be fun!
And exercising physically is good for health and peace of mind. In his best-selling autobiography Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela wrote, "I have always believed that exercise is the key not only to physical health but to peace of mind."
Then Voltaire, the 18th-century writer, historian and philosopher, wrote to a friend, "The body of an athlete and the soul of a sage: these are what we require to be happy."
A wonderful book I own titled Glencoe Health: A Guide to Wellness, aptly sums up the benefits of physical exercises when it says that physical exercise:
- strengthens your cardiovascular system,
- helps you control weight,
- burns off unnecessary fat,
- improves your appearance,
- improves your sleep,
- improves your breathing,
- reduces stress,
- improves your mood and outlook,
- decreases your appetite,
- gives you more energy and decreases fatigue,
- uses time productively,
- reduces boredom,
- provides social opportunities,
- boosts your self-esteem![1]
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[1] I have extracted these benefits of physical exercises from page 17 of Glencoe Health: A Guide to Wellness (Texas Edition) by Mary Bronson and Don Merki, published in 1987 by McGraw Hill.