Sunday, January 5, 2014

Make a Change

I was reading Deb's blog and she mentioned a challenge hosted by Fitness, Health and Happiness called Make a Change Challenge. The challenge is to choose something you want to change and follow through with it for 21 days. A lot of the people who are doing the challenge are focusing on dietary changes (e.g. no dairy, no soda, no gluten etc.). However, since I'll be doing the Whole Life Challenge from Jan. 11, I decided to focus on something else.

Since October I feel like my fitness regime has not been going my way. I have yet to fully recover from my bout of bronchitis that started in the beginning of October. After that, I injured my wrist.

I was determined to make the best of the situation and do what I could. I thought - ok, since I can't do my usual yoga poses, I'll do ones that don't require me to use my hands; I may  not be able to grapple, but I can still do different drills related to my MMA training.

I haven't done either.

I still stretch and workout regularly (almost 100% cardio), but I haven't been doing the things that I wanted to focus on. I've just been lazy. It's easy to walk, but it's not easy to get myself on the jiujitsu mats and do drills on my own (especially since they're challenging). I need to stop this. I need to do the things that intimidate me and make me a bit uncomfortable. There's no point staying in my comfort zone!

So, for the next 21 days (Jan. 6 - Jan. 21), I'll be focusing on daily yoga stretching and specific MMA drills. I need to make a list of them - I'll do that in the morning - so that I have a checklist that I can follow each day. The good thing is that I should be able to do pretty much all these exercises while I'm away on vacation too.

I know that having a plan will help me feel better and stay focused.






6 comments:

  1. You are sooo competitive with yourself! A trait I admire, and have tried to emulate in my own quest to reach fitness goals. I started playing around with Yoga in the fall of 2013. From years of neglect I'm about as limber as peanut brittle. Anyway, I got focused and started practicing more in December. Today I reached a first in my adult life. I successfully accomplished the plow pose (finally)! My toes touched the ground and my legs were straight. I use your can do attitude as inspiration for the challenges in my life. Thanks!

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    1. Thanks Marc - that means a lot to me. I do need to set goals/challenges for myself to help me stay focused. I wish I was disciplined enough to just do what I needed to do without having challenge parameters to help me -- but I guess that's what I need to help me move along!

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  2. I love this challenge, and you'ved picked a great thing to change. Yoga poses and those drills aren't easy, and I'm so proud of you for picking something outside your comfort zone. You got this!!

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  3. Hi Ayesha, I've also been frustrated, with my recent bout of little injuries, but I've talked to so many older gym buddies who advised me to wait it out (with some gruesome stories of them *not* waiting it out). I sure *does* feel lazy, but the alternative of aggravating an injury is terrible. Sometimes, instead of terming it as lazy, I think of it as conserving my body for future decades. It sounds less putzy that way!!! :D

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  4. I would be in great shape if I could accomplish about a third of what you do. You are an inspiration to me. :)

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  5. LOVE IT!!! You amaze me!!! I do admire you and the way you challenge yourself!!!

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Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment! I can use all the support I can get :)