SOOC Exercise Entry 1

After more than two decades, I finally discovered the exercise which works for me. 
My Papa introduced me to the concept of exercise when I was six or seven years old. For the idea of physical fitness, he gave me a book with photos of kids in pink leotards holding cute sized, candy colored dumbbells. He enrolled me in martial arts camps (Taekwondo, karate, kung fu). He enrolled me in swimming lessons thrice. He went rollerblading with me. He introduced me to wheat bread when I was in grade 5 and told me about the potential "dangers" of white bread. For mental exercises, he made me read one article in the encyclopedia books he brought home and made me list what article I read together with the date I read it. The goal is to learn at least one new word per day. Aardvark is the first entry. I can't remember what happened but I never made it to "B." 

Years of binge eating (because junk food is highly frowned upon by him) and crash diets gave me a history of weight cycling. I tried the gym, frigging exercise videos and running in our backyard. No matter how many times I try, I can't get past 1km without catching my breath (makes me wonder how I made it to Pulag's summit in 2010). To clarify, I'm not saying diet and traditional exercise does not work. I'm just saying, it does not work for me. 

Late last year, despite watching what I eat (proportionate servings of carbs, protein, fiber and fat as per nutritionist's advice) and exercising for an hour, I weighed 148 pounds. Then I suddenly became too busy to manage following the "proper diet" and exercise schedule. When I get the chance, I eat whatever makes me happy and just stop eating when I'm full. My regular, unintentional exercise these days is taking photos. Because we tend to be relentless until we get the shot we are happy about, we usually squat, crouch, run, walk and even dance for it. I now weigh 117.2 pounds and then I am often greeted with "Bakit ang payat mo ngayon?"/"Anong ginawa mo?", "Nagpapayat ka ba?" greetings which seemingly sound concerned. I wish we live in a place where society does not need compelled to comment on how we look or how we changed physically. I wish we are not boxed by a pre-set standard for "fitness" and just let people be and yet we could not reverse hundreds of years of history which brought us to where we are now. I also wish people who share the same struggle realize they are worth more than their weight and that whatever body type they are in, they are beautiful and perfect as they are. 

Sorry for digressing. 

Yesterday, I was telling my team mates, Myel and Ayahow their shots have improved. Their framing, exposure and white balance in their #SOOC shots are better so our work is easier. Inspired by this, I thought of challenging myself to shooting something non-work related at least once a week and sharing it without post process. This is my first entry for this self-imposed challenge/exercise. Go ahead and judge me, I mean my photo. :)