I'm a 40s female here. For me it's working around injuries and post-pregnancy. Your body changes after pregnancy and after a certain age no matter how fit you are. It's also hard finding time and motivation to keep going with children and 2 jobs as a single parent. If I miss just one or two workouts it throws me off-balance. Also finding ways to incorporate fitness with my family especially young kids. I found a gym with a good childcare where kids are active and kid classes.

When I was a teenager I started my gym life and competitive runner but I also struggled with eating disorders. Dieting was challenging because it was hard to change my mindset. Slowly my fitness journey and learning about nutrition helped me overcome. Diet culture and fad dieting and body negativity was there among the desi women. Such obsession with being slim. Even when I put on the slightest weight I'd get criticism and food shaming. Gym life helped me change my mindset but at first i couldn't handle the diet part. It was easy for me to get obsessive about it. And I had to see a registered dietician and avoid reading about it on my own. Now I am different and it doesn't trigger me as much.

Adapting desi diet is harder.

The good thing about the gym and weights is that you can easily adapt to any life change. I used to lift when I was pregnant and swim laps. It helped me stay healthy and I had the strength for childbirth. All my pregnancies and delivery went well.

And yes I hear ya about our desi mentality. People who have never seen the inside of a gym have plenty of unsolicited and often wrong advice. I hear ya about criticizing desi diet.

The best part is inspiring other women. Desi women still seem to think that lifting heavy makes them bulky. The funny thing is that women often ask me how I stay in shape. When I mention weights they argue with me about how it's not good for me etc. Ok whatever.

Now I've motivated 2 naysayers throughout my life and they got into it too.