Month: November 2019

Growing up, I’d never been the fastest kid in my PE class and was rarely the first to be chosen when teams were picked for games. Whilst this did not devastate me, it saddened me to feel as though I rarely excelled at sports in the same way that my peers did. It was a bit later that I found out that I had inherited thalassemia minor from one of my parents. Other than learning that it meant that I would face mild anaemia day-to-day, I didn’t know much about it. I never wanted to give it any true importance, because I felt that it should not dictate how I live my life. Other than eating iron rich foods at home, we never discussed it further.

I only ever become truly curious about it, when I started to notice that I would constantly get tired faster and more easily than my friends during school trips, sports, and other activities. As a result of it affecting energy in my day-to-day life and more specifically my physical fitness, I decided to find out more about it. Through some research, and visits to the doctor I learnt that Beta thalassemia is a blood disorder that limits the production of haemoglobin (an iron-containing protein in red blood cells that carry oxygen to cells throughout the body). Whilst this is not life threatening unlike thalassemia major, as a result of the low levels of haemoglobin, there can be a lack of oxygen in various parts of the body. Furthermore, patients also tend to have a shortage of red blood cells resulting in anaemia which causes pale skin, weakness, fatigue and other such complications.

During middle school, I participated in the school badminton and basketball team, however as the workload increased in high school, I felt more and more tired and was unable to balance the commitment. I especially enjoyed playing badminton, and was really devastated that I was not able to play any sport – much less badminton.  Before the summer of grade eleven, I decided I wanted to take up a physical activity that I could balance better with my studies and which would have flexible timings. As grade eleven started, I had made up my mind. I wanted to start going to the gym, as well as do some yoga at home under the guidance of a trainer. I used to go the gym previously when I had quit school sports teams I had been part of, but I had only ever really used the treadmill. An activity that I had enjoyed (despite its difficulty) in the past was Lesmil’s Body Pump that I had done during school PE lessons. Some goals I want to set for myself this year are:

• To maintain a healthy diet that helps increases my energy levels.
• To drinks lots of water during the day.
• To stay consistent with my workout routine.
• To increase my stamina and fitness.
• Explore strength training.
• To be more familiar with different equipment in the gym and learn new exercise techniques.