.jpg)
KUALA LUMPUR – We live in a world where the word ‘diet’ has been weaved into our daily conversations, but how well versed are we with it to know that what we are doing is right and in a healthy manner? Without proper guidance and knowledge, we risk developing an unhealthy relationship with food. And who to better testify than ex-national rower, fitness advocate and certified trainer, Ain Ramli.
Ain Ramli graciously opened up to The Vibes about her journey through a rough year battling with bulimia and how she overcame it through knowledge. Ain grew up in an athletic family and was exposed to sports from a very young age by following her father, who played and coached rugby since she was seven. She ran track and field in primary, long-distance in university, joined the national rowing team and is now a fitness trainer. While Ain may look like the ideal image of an athlete now, she did not always have a healthy relationship with her food.
When Ain was running long distance in university, she battled with bulimia where she would binge eat and regurgitate her food. She shared that the societal expectation to be skinny got to her and she found herself caving under the pressure. “When you look at the surroundings and you look at the media, you get triggered to become really skinny. And back in university, I still didn’t have a healthy mentality when it came to understanding how nutrition and workout works, that’s when my eating disorder started.
As Ain pushed through this ordeal, it wasn’t just her support system that aided her; it was also the knowledge about nutrition and fitness. It was then that Ain started taking certifications in health and fitness, and with this, started to truly understand the proper ways to get healthy and set goals.
Ain shared, “My knowledge changed the way I see working out, and how I became healthier. Nutrition took first place instead of constant workouts. I started to lift weights with my cardio activities and made working out fun instead of just doing it for the sake of it.”
Ain’s knowledge not only saved her from her disorder but is now helping others to do the same as well. To her, it is not so much the process of losing weight or meeting a certain weight or body type, it is how healthy we feel on the inside that matters. “As I’m getting more experienced, I get to know my body better and it helps. For me, the most important thing is how I feel about myself instead of how people perceive me. It’s all about me loving myself,” Ain shared.
Our society has become so fixated on how a person’s weight coincides with their health, but for Ain, “rather than believing in what people say, you should stick to what you say about yourself.”
Today, Ain not only has her regular Instagram page where she posts her quirky and enthusiastic videos, but she also has a food journal page. And for someone who once had an unhealthy relationship with food, this is proof that things can and will get better. – The Vibes, October 22, 2020
