Nisaa Saher Shariff is a fitness expert and a content creator having a massive following of over 370k on Instagram where she shares her fitness journey and tips.
The fitness enthusiast is the co-founder of Move an online fitness program alongside her friend Aayush, where she also coach. She is a full time fitness professional coaching people online and creating content for the same.
Icy Tales is in conversation with Nisaa Saher Shariff about her journey, challenges, fighting depression, and advice for people on their fitness journey.
Q) How did your journey started?
Nisaa Saher Shariff โ I started my own fitness journey, approximately six years ago. Thereโs so much of misinformation in the media. I could see people doing crazy amounts of cardio and going on detoxes.
Even actresses promoted that they would go on this particular detox before this certain festival and lose a lot of weight. And I myself had quite a lot of weight to lose when I started.
So, I was tired ofย constantly doing cardio and crash dieting. Then completely binge eating after that.
I wanted to do something sustainable. Second is, I also wanted to feel strong and powerful. I wanted to feel better about myself because I wasnโt doing very well mentally too.
I was suffering from depression. Thatโs when I started looking into movement and I found weight training. It just seemed really cool.
I wanted to develop some strength. Thatโs how I started training at a gym. And then after that, I just fell in love with the process.
I genuinely liked the entire process of putting in the hard work and getting the result at the end. It made me feel a lot prouder and happier with the results that I achieved.
And it feels great to be able to move your body in ways that I always dreamed of. I wanted to be able to do all of these things with my body.
And now thatโs possible because of theย training. So, thatโs how I initially started. I started at the gym and then from there on, I never really stopped.
Q) What kind of role do you think mindset plays in fitness growth and journey?
Nisaa Saher Shariff โ Mindset is incredibly important. Not just in fitness, but in everything you do in life. Firstly, you need to believe you can.
And then beyond that, you also need to have the ability to work hard for it. So, you are capable of great things. Like as humans, we often tend to place limits on ourselves that there are certain things we canโt do.
But if you make those demands from yourself and you tell yourself, that you can do these things, they are achievable.
Put in that extra hard work and you will be able to achieve whatever it is that you are trying to achieve. And each time you do so, you convince yourself more and more that I am capable of more.
Q) Can you tell us about โMoveโ, the online fitness program you started?
Nisaa Saher Shariff โ Itโs actually a partnership with my friend and colleague, his name is Aayush Grover. I had last year reached out to him. So, I wanted to learn a handstand.
That was one of the goals I had. I just needed someoneโs guidance for that brief period. So, I reached out to him and he was very happy to help. I started training under him for those particular things I wanted to learn.
And then after that, we became good friends. We sort of like the way we approach movement and how we were as people.
Actually, he had this idea. And then from there, we took it forward. We put something out on Instagram saying that weโre starting this online group coaching.
It focuses on not just changing your body, but also getting stronger, leaner, faster and being able to move better.
So, thatโs how we started. And then from there, we had a decently good response. Ever since then, the community has just been growing. We started somewhere around August last year, so itโs going to be almost a year.
Q) What sacrifices you had to make and what challenges you faced ?
Nisaa Saher Shariff โ When you can impact lives just beyond yourself, the amount of joy you can derive from it is not comparable to anything else. Just because you know the fact that your existence and your work is helping so many other people.
In a way it helps me out too. So, I think that is probably one of the greatest things of being out there and being able to create content.
No matter what, I wouldnโt trade it off with anything else despite it being difficult. I guess in terms of challenges, of course when youโre an online person you will be subject to a lot of negativity and hate.
There are people who will troll you, people who dislike what youโre doing. But I think thatโs just part of it. Itโs something that you have to be okay with if youโre putting yourself out there.
Not tons of sacrifices but there are certain things that you canโt. Letโs say if you want to have a great body. Of course you canโt be eating whatever you want, not moving and just being on the bed.
There are certain things you have to do in order to achieve it. So, of course there will be sacrifices, but I think you donโt regret making the sacrifices. When you are doing it and you are getting the results.
In fact, you feel better about yourself, you feel proud that you had the ability to delay gratification. You were able to work hard and not get the reward immediately.
So, that in itself, that feeling, is far greater than anything else. Letโs say itโs food. I donโt think anyone feels very good about themselves eating junk food all day, every day.
Even if you enjoy the food in that moment, after that you feel terrible about yourself. I think even though you have to make certain sacrifices. In the long run you wouldnโt mind making those sacrifices.
Once you start seeing whatโs it doing for you. Not only physically but also mentally.
Q) What mistakes you feel like you have made in the past?
Nisaa Saher Shariff โ Before I started this journey I used to do hours of cardio and try to eat as little as possible. But that wasnโt very sustainable. That would be before I started.
I think after I started, even if there were mistakes here and there, Iโve only learned from it. So, wouldnโt say that they are mistakes because they are actually only lessons. Lessons, no mistakes.
Q) Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
Nisaa Saher Shariff โ I really donโt know. So this stage, itโs been a year and itโs been in fairly while. I would just hope that it keeps growing and that I can just do this full time and for the long run.
And I would love to inspire people. So thatโs my hope. But then at the same point, I can say, that this is going to happen, this is definitely going to happen. Iโll work hard, try my best and then whatโs going to happen will happen.
Q) Were your parents always supportive?
Nisaa Saher Shariff โ I think Iโm grateful that my parents are fairly supportive. But at the same time it was frowned upon in the beginning.
One of the biggest fears they had, at least this is what almost everyone told me that youโre just going to get too bulky. The lifting weights are going to get bulky.
I think a lot of people have this misconception. At the same time Iโm also told in multiple ways that how I look or what Iโm doing is quite ugly. Itโs not suitable for a female, so, I think thatโs still there and will always be there.
How it makes me feel is far greater than everything else. What Iโm doing, the positive feeling, emotion, way I view myself, the respect I have for myself. All of that has just increased as Iโve gone down this journey .
Letโs say even if I donโt fit into societal standards and people genuinely do think I am all of those, itโs fine by me. Because at the end of the day, Iโm happy with myself.
Q) We procrastinate a lot when it comes to working out. What can we do about it?
Nisaa Saher Shariff โ I donโt think there is anyone who doesnโt procrastinate. Before almost each and every session I procrastinate. I just tend to delay it. The only way you can stop it is by taking action.
So, letโs say Iโm dreading that I have to work out, Oh my God, itโs one hour. Iโm going to be so tired or I donโt feel like doing it.
Just go and do 10 minutes or 15 minutes. Do that much. Take that action. And if you feel like, continue, if you donโt, itโs ok. Just do the 10-15 minutes.
Procrastination means that you planned so that you have made time for it but youโre still procrastinating. The only way to stop it is by taking action.
You see how good you feel after you take that action. Because you didnโt want to do something. You were trying to delay it, but you did it regardless. Letโs say I donโt end up doing it.
That day I actually feel terrible about myself. Because I know that I had planned for something. I had set out to do something and my laziness prevented me from doing it.
So, in a way I lose respect for myself every time I donโt fulfill the obligations I tell myself Iโm going to. On the other hand, every time you do something which youโre supposed to, you gain respect for yourself.
If you want to improve your image of yourself, self esteem, self-confidence, the only way you can do so is by taking action. You canโt just sit and think that, things are going to happen for me. They wonโt.
Q) What advice you would like to give out to beginners?
Nisaa Saher Shariff โ A few actually. The slowest day is often the fastest. Thatโs because you donโt expect things to happen super quickly. Because when you try to take drastic measures, what ends up happening is, itโs not sustainable.
Your body and vein will fight back and you havenโt developed the habits or routines to sustain those results.
Letโs say one week you go on this crash diet and you lose a lot of weight and water. But you havenโt done it for long enough. Like live the healthier lifestyle for long enough that will allow you to sustain the results.
Because after that one week of starvation, whatโs going to happen is your bodyโs going to fight back. And then you have nothing to prevent it from doing that.
So one is, take your time. I know itโs difficult. Itโs not what people want to hear. But good things take time. Do it the hard way, do it the slow way.
Second, atleast for me, this mindset shift helps me stay consistent for as long as I have right now. It is focus on what your body can do versus what it looks like.
So how it can move? Is movement easier? Am I able to do the things I want to do? how strong am I?. For example, letโs say in my building I have a flight of stairs.
I can run up and down without getting breathless or I can carry suitcases for my parents without it being much of a struggle.
So, focusing on how strong I am, on what the things I can do, the things I can achieve with my body versus how it looks like. That atleast for me has helped me stay consistent for as long as I have.
If you set yourself athletic goals over aesthetic goals, learning how to do a push up, or a pull up. See for those things too, you have to put in a lot of time, sessions and dedicated efforts.
In the process of doing that, you will have the body changes you want. But you need to focus on one over the other.
If you set yourself a goal of learning how to do push ups versus letโs say you want to have a certain waist size. What happens with the push ups is youโre working towards gaining strength.
If you are going to show up for those strength building sessions, regardless of what is happening. But what ends up happening is when you have a very aesthetic goal where youโre constantly fixated on your body.
Every two days youโll be checking and youโll be like, oh, Iโm not getting this results let it be.
So, having an athletic goal or strength goal or a movement goal is a lot more sustainable. And it will help you have a more positive mindset towards this entire journey than focusing solely on your body.
Nisaa Saher Shariff is a fitness professional. She has been helping people on their fitness journey through the information which she shares on social media.
She has definitely learned a lot from her own experiences and put a lot of hard work in achieving the fitness she always wanted.
Last Updated on by Himani Rawat
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