On 22^nd May 2021, TRIOMPH (Transplant Recipients of India and Organ failure patients – a Movement to Provide Hope), a Patient Support Group powered by MOHAN Foundation, invited Ms. Shibani Gulati, a kidney recipient of 11 years and a national and international marathoner, to share fitness tips and motivate others to begin their journey of fitness, for the inaugural session of #Getfitwithtriomph.

Dr. Aanchal Makhija, TRIOMPH’s counsellor was the moderator of the session. She began with introducing TRIOMPH and its commitment to transform lives of transplant recipients, those coping with organ failure and their caregivers through education, support, awareness and advocacy

Ms. Shibani began with how she had to face many challenges during her early days of fitness training. For example - no coach / professional was readily willing to train her and in-fact many dissuaded her since they considered her as a patient and though exercising would be too risky for her. She did not give up and decided to discover her own path by starting off with simple 30-minute walks, which she made a routine of and then kept building on that. She emphasised that she kept her life disciplined when it came to her exercise and fitness and it was this consistency that helped her.

She also went on to share that transplant recipients may be prone to drug induced complications like increased blood sugar levels and cholesterol, due to the immune-suppression regimen and how essential fitness was, to prevent these complications.

To get yourself to commit to the routine, even on the days that you may not feel like it, she shared some valuable tips such as –

• Making your cues ready for next day, like keeping your track suit ready the previous night, so that it remains in your subconscious mind.
• Finding an exercise buddy and fixing up mini goals to motivate each other, for the days that you may be low on motivation.

Ms. Shibani also stressed the importance of consuming nutritious food and balanced meals, simultaneously with the fitness routines. She added that it was important that we go easy on ourselves and one could have a few cheat days and it still would not matter as long as overall, one has been following consistent and disciplined meals and exercise.

She reiterated that exercise was even more important during lockdown and COVID-19 – even though recipients might not be able to get out due to risk of COVID exposure, yet one must find ways and means of exercising - like going on the terrace or balcony or simply at home.

In conclusion, she highlighted the importance of creating one’s own fitness goals, having the right trainer and pushing oneself with discipline, to get fit.

Ms. Shibani truly inspired everyone and spoke passionately, thereby motivating many. This session was aired live on Facebook as well as YouTube and total 25 people attended the live session via facebook and 20 people attended via YouTube. (The post was shared more than 32 times on facebook with more than 95 views till date on YouTube video)

We thank SBI Foundation for their support to this initiative. We convey our sincere gratitude to Ms. Shibani Gulati for her motivating talk.

Click here to watch the video.