‘Even if I have to crawl to the gym, I’ll go’
FROM BEING UNDERWEIGHT AND SICKLY, ABEER AL KHAJA IS A STRONG AND HEALTHY WOMAN HELPING OTHERS TO FOLLOW HER EXAMPLE
Once underweight and repeatedly hospitalised, Abeer Al Khaja today is a shining example of living a healthy life |
Once underweight and repeatedly hospitalised, Abeer Al Khaja today is a shining example of a person living a healthy life — thanks to a disciplined fitness regimen.
Fitness is the key, Emirati personal trainer and CrossFit coach Abeer said.
“Exercise and fitness helped me realise how important they both are to be able to be productive throughout the day. They also helped me keep my weight in check, gain more muscle mass and be able to do my tasks correctly,” Abeer, 32, fitness development manager at Zaabeel Ladies Club, told Gulf News. “Fitness changed my life.”
But this was not always the case for Abeer, who is one of Dubai Fitness Challenge’s (DFC) six ambassadors this year. Nearly six years ago, Abeer went through an experience that turned her life around.
While volunteering to hand out iftar meals before Ramadan one hot August afternoon, Abeer felt lightheaded.
“I felt I would faint. I felt very weak. It made me feel very bad that I wasn’t able to help in the volunteering process,” she recounted.
“Back then, I would skip meals. I didn’t know anything about nutrition or eating well and how important it was for one’s health. I was underweight. I was very weak; my muscle mass was very low.”
She would have issues even just going outdoors, she said. She was allergic to dust, pollen and grass while outdoors, apart from her many food allergies.
“I would be hospitalised almost every month. My immunity was weak.”
Determined to turn things around, Abeer got a personal trainer, a nutritionist and surrounded herself with like-minded people. She eventually fell in love with it, she said. “At first, it started as training — to get stronger. So I was able to volunteer and do what I loved. After that, it turned into loving fitness. It turned into a lifestyle because then I figured out it made me feel happier. It made me feel fitter, more productive — like I can do so much more in my day,” she said. “Right now, allergies are under control. It’s way better, alhamdulillah,” she said. This is why the month-long fitness challenge works, Abeer said. Doing just 30 minutes of activity daily can fire up anyone to make it part of one’s lifestyle, just like what she experienced. “After the challenge last year, I saw so much change in a lot of girls I train. I started to train them only during the challenge, but they continued to train even after that. So it became a habit. I have seen it myself. I have seen people get better
because of the challenge.” While getting fit to lose weight is good, Abeer said there’s more to being fit than just being able to fit into one’s jeans. It’s a lifelong commitment, she said. “Body image is very important.
The better you look, the better you feel. Or the better you feel, the more you want to look good.
“However, it’s more than just that. It’s a lifestyle. It’s not just a habit that we pick up for a certain length of time to reach a goal, lose weight and that’s it.”
“For me, it’s a life-long goal to continue to train. I will keep going to the gym until the day I crawl into the gym, I have no problem.”