The 50 Day Challenge Details

The focus of the 50 day challenge is to try to add good habits into our daily routine. The hope is that just by keeping healthy habits at the forefront of your mind, it will help minimize the temptation to overindulge during the holiday season.

The details of the challenge are below.

1)        Drink water.

For me, as the days get colder, it gets harder for me to drink water. You can use this calculator to figure out how much water you should be drinking each day.

You can use this link to help you out: http://nutrition.about.com/library/blwatercalculator.htm

Although sodas and other sugary drinks (diet or otherwise) are not healthy beverages, this challenge is not about avoiding any other types of drinks. You can drink whatever else you want – the main focus is water. Regardless of whatever else you drink, the challenge is to drink your minimum requirement of water on a daily basis.

2)        Eat thoughtfully.

The main thing that works for me is to not have tempting foods in the house. Somehow, my discipline and focus really gets shaken when I know that there are sweets in the house. The easiest solution – don’t bring it in in the first place. If someone gifts it to me – I give it to someone else or just get rid of it. Having these extra foods just leads to mindless eating.

What I have found to be much more enjoyable is when I have been disciplined for a couple of weeks and then actively decide that I want to enjoy a piece of cake, then I really enjoy it. I eat it because I actually do want it and I enjoy every bite, guilt free. It’s not really about working for it – it’s just about being happy with the choice I made. I know that there have been many, many times when I’ve seen something I like, I’ve eaten it, and then immediately or soon after thought Why did I just eat that?!

The challenge is to be smart about your food choices and eat what you enjoy. Sit down, chew thoroughly, savor each bite, stop when (or just before) you’re full, and be happy with the choice you made. Don’t fall into the trap of eating something just because it’s there. It’s better to keep the piece of pie on the counter than lingering on your hips for the next month! You already know what’s healthy for you and what’s not (fried foods, refined flour and sugars, creamy sauces are obviously unhealthy). You don’t need to be told what the healthier choices are. You know. It’s your choice. You can say no. For now, it’s not about saying no to anything. It’s just about being sensible and accepting responsibility for your choices. Eat what you want, but make sure you really want it … and then enjoy your choice. The more important thing is to make sure you don’t eat things you don’t want.

3)        Choose your celebrations.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could have it all and not have to worry about any consequences? Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way – but that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun and enjoy ourselves. The key thought behind this point is that one indulgent meal should not spiral out of control into continuous indulgent days. The challenge is to choose which days you will be celebrating on and make sure to focus on eating cleaner and leaner on the days before and after that occasion so that you can enjoy whatever event you’re at.

My social calendar is filling up. I’m excited to spend time with my family and friends, but I am nervous about the food. There are some celebrations where it will definitely be more about the company than the food … and there are other occasions where the food will be the focus too. I’m keeping these days in mind and I know 2 things for sure – 1) I want to look and feel good when I get there, so I don’t want to consume any extra calories and I do want to make sure I get to the gym so I can walk in feeling confident and leave any trace of self-consciousness behind & 2) I want to enjoy myself when I’m there. This kind of works in conjunction with eating thoughtfully. I don’t want to arrive at the party with all the ‘I should have’ thoughts running through my head. Moreover, I don’t want to leave thinking ‘I shouldn’t have.’ It’s about finding the balance.

4)        Move regularly.

It’s no secret that exercise is good for you. If you can get around to exercising daily, that’s fantastic – but schedules and other circumstances don’t always make that possible. However, that doesn’t mean that exercise can’t be incorporated into your lifestyle – even if it means putting an extra spring in your step as you walk to the tube station for your daily commute or parking further when heading into a shopping mall or going to a restaurant, or waking up 15 minute earlier so you can stretch and get in some exercise at home … there are lots of options. If you’ve got kids, I know there’s a lot to juggle – but including them in your workouts and creating a sort of fun family challenge (e.g. how many jumping jacks can you do while I try to finish 20 squats) can be a great way for them to join you and make it a sort of competition. Will this always work? Maybe not, but it’s worth a try. The challenge is to get in 200 minutes of exercise per week (just under 30 min a day)– whatever activity you want at whatever intensity (but you should work up a bit of a sweat). You can do this all in one go, space it over the week, even space it out over the course of a day (10 minute chunks). The main thing is to be conscious of trying to exercise regularly.

5)        Track and Reflect Daily

I know this seems like a pain, but it really does make a difference. First of all, when you know you’ve got to write what you ate down, you really do start to think twice before you put that piece of chocolate in your mouth. It makes you stop and think – do I really need that? Tracking is also a chance for you to go back and reflect on the choices you made. Even if the changes don’t happen right now, you may be able to modify or change some of your choices later. Having a record means that whatever results you get in the end won’t be a surprise. Ate lots of chocolate and cake over the weekend – a gain shouldn’t be surprising; exercised regularly and ate in moderate portions – a loss on the scale should keep you motivated to keep that up. Sometimes (as is often the case with me), you do it all correctly and still the scale doesn’t reflect the change you want to see. It happens. You’ve just got to trust that you’re working for something greater – overall health … more energy … and hope that the numbers on the scale will catch up. Keeping track of what you’ve been doing also gives you the info you need to make the necessary changes. Perhaps try a gluten-free diet or exercise for a shorter time but at a higher intensity … with everything written down, at least you have a record that you can work with to try to create a program that works for you. The challenge is to write everything down for the next 50 days – what/when/how much you ate/drank/exercised/slept – and any other notes you want to make about your day (emotions, tasks that were accomplished, frustrations you felt).

Keep your notes simple and short. Tap it into your phone, scribble it in a notebook, write it on your blog. Whatever method you use is up to you – you don’t need to count calories, you just need to write down the basic info (e.g. Tuesday Nov. 4, morning: 2 cups of coffee with milk, 1 bowl of museli w/1/2 cup Greek yogurt, lunch: 2 scrambled eggs and spinach, snack: peach, ½ cup of cottage cheese with cucumber, dinner: 200 g baked salmon with a garden salad + 10 glasses of water + afternoon: 1 hour walk in the park – felt energetic). Keep it simple – don’t make the task any harder or more complicated than it has to be.

I’d like to have at least 10 people sign up for the challenge before I create a Facebook page where we can support each other and share our progress. For now I'm posting on my Plumpetals Fit Facebook page. Comment below if you’d like to join or send me an email at plumpetalsfit@gmail.com. 

A Short Challenge

I don’t know about you, but for me, the last 2 months of the year are deadly for my waistline. Despite my discipline and my passion for fitness, I find that there are too many temptations around during the holiday season – whether it is the cold weather tempting me to stay home instead of go to the gym, holiday dinners tempting me to go back for more helpings, or those oh so tempting desserts that seem to always call my name. There’s temptation anywhere.

I don’t think trying to stay healthy during the holidays is impossible nor do I think that trying to be a bit disciplined and aware of choices is something that should be seen as a punishment, something getting in the way of enjoying our celebrations.

I know that I’m tired of waking up on January 1^st and thinking – oh man, I’ve gained weight again and now I’ve got to work extra hard (again) to try to get this weight off – along with the rest of the weight I’m trying to lose as well.

I don’t want to end 2014 feeling disappointed nor do I want to begin 2015 feeling overwhelmed. 

With that in mind, I'm thinking of setting up a short challenge to help but I'm gauging interest before I fully go for it. The basic outline is below (further details coming soon). It's not about restricting any foods or anything -- just about being a bit mindful through the holidays so a weigh in on January 1st won't be intimidating! :)

Let me know if you'd be interested in joining.

Sunday Motivation

Don't give up. 

Set your goals. Create your plan. Work for it. Celebrate your accomplishments. 

November Plan

If I get accepted into the final stage of the Instructor Certification Program, it means I'll be heading to Los Angeles towards the end of January -- in just under 12 weeks. With that in mind, I'm setting my goals for this month to help me get ready for that trip.

It's hard enough being tested on something ... add to that the fact that it'll be a physical test ... in front of a group of instructors and other students ... wearing a gi (something I'm still not completely comfortable in) just makes it feel a lot more stressful.

Just like when I went to defend my PhD, I need to be completely confident that I had done everything in my power to prepare me for that moment. I don't want to get there and think - I wish I had been more diligent with my eating or I wish I had been more focused with my training.

I have the end date in mind so there are no excuses. I cannot let January creep on me and still be stuck - stuck at a particular weight, stuck at a particular fitness level, stuck at a particular mentality.

If this is the direction that I want my life to go in, then I've got to do all I can to get there.

I now have a pretty good routine.

My physical activities include: Weight lifting, MetaFit (body weight HIIT), Muay Thai, Jiu-Jitsu, and Yoga. My main objective is to feel more sturdy and stable with my movements and less out of breath with my cardio.

My physical goals are: to drop a few inches and to lose weight (ideally 7 kg by the 3rd week of January). I want to feel comfortable doing my Jiu-Jitsu moves both in gi and no-gi training.

My food goals are: to still follow the Whole Life Challenge eating guidelines, giving myself 3 'bonus' points a week (which will most likely be 'spent' on coffee with milk), and trying to incorporate the Gracie Diet food grouping strategies into my meal prep. I want to minimize my natural sugar intake and focus more on eating raw and low glycemic index foods.
I know this sounds like a lot, but I plan on taking a slow and steady approach. At least the Whole Life Challenge type of eating feels easy to me. That will be my basic eating style. The other tweaks will be added gradually.

I have a long list of general tasks and errands to add to my goals for the month, but these are my basic food and fitness ones for now.

I've got a lot going on. Staying organized and productive will be key!

Ending the Month on a High Note

Wow, October has been super busy and also very, very fulfilling.

You  know that t-shirt that says Eat, Sleep, Train Repeat? Well, add in Study and Cook and that pretty much sums up my life. It's routine. It's predictable. It's all very satisfying :)

Ever since I started studying for the Instructor's Certification Program, I have been overwhelmed with work. The curriculum is a lot more detailed than I had expected. It's been an amazing learning experience. I have particularly loved how I've seen links between the teaching methodology I've applied while teaching English at a university and what is applied to teaching martial arts. It's been fascinating. Although it's been a lot of work, I really have been quite thrilled at all the new things I've been learning. I've made quite a bit of progress through the curriculum over the past 2 weeks. There's still a lot more to be done ... I'll definitely be nervous until I find out whether or not I've qualified for the next level.

There's about another week of the Whole Life Challenge left. I've been completely spot on with everything - my nutrition, my workouts, my lifestyle challenges ... I have used some of my indulgence points and have learned a lot about my food mindset in the process. I'll be posting my reflections on the challenge on my WLC blog later on. The food parameters of the challenge definitely suit me. The only thing I still have to work on is my desire for something sweet. I tried a few challenge-compliant desserts this time (different things sweetened with dates), and while they were nutritionally sound, this past week I've given up on those as well because I really need to not want something sweet at all. It's tough. It's something that I'll continue to work on.

The good thing is that I've got my food prep down to quite a routine. I do spend quite a lot of time on Sundays getting food ready for the week. It is worth it though. I just wish I could do it ALL on Sunday. I still end up spending a couple of hours a day with food prep - particularly dinner. I'm getting better at it, but as much as I love cooking, I would like to cut down a bit more kitchen time. Let's see how November goes ...

I finished my Weights program. It was a tough one -- fewer sets and reps, heavier weights. As much as I loved pushing myself and lifting heavy, it was a difficult program to follow. First of all, I didn't count on having to take so much time to recover from my lifts. After I did my 90 kg squats, it took me a good 4 days before I felt completely like myself. Part of it is that I haven't really been fully resting - I'm either at MetaFit, Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, or Yoga ... so my schedule is packed. It's fun and I do enjoy it all, but I the heavy lifts threw me off a bit. Once I got to the really heavy lifts, I was only lifting once, maybe twice a week. I'm happy with the progress I made, but I'm glad to be scaling back to a more regular program until the start of next year.

Yesterday, I went up to 100 kg on my Deadlifts. This was a big accomplishment for me given that I really suffered when I dislocated my wrist at the end of last year. Refraining from any weight training for 4 months and then starting again from really light weights was difficult for me - psychologically more than physically. However, I'm so glad I (for once) actually listened to my doctor and followed my rehab program to the letter. It helped me get to where I am today. I still haven't hit my 120 max as before, but I'll get there.

Here's a comparison pic - the top photo is of me doing Deadlifts for the first time after dislocating my wrist. It was taken in March 2014 at I'm tentatively lifting 25 kg. Then there's the mini video excerpt of me lifting 100 kg. Prior to that 100 kg lift, I had completed 3 sets of 6 reps at 70, 80, and 90 kg respectively, so I felt great about my progress. Onward and upward! :)

Working without Numbers - Part 1

I weigh myself daily. I know that there are a lot of discussions out there about how often you should weigh yourself and the pros and cons of whatever decision you make.

I've decided to weigh myself on a daily basis. However, it's taken quite a bit of discipline not to let the numbers get the best of me. I've seen major weight fluctuations with the span of just 1 day - one morning I wake up weighing X and the next day I'm up almost 2 kg, despite eating clean and working out. The following day I could be down 1/2 a kilo (it always goes on faster than it comes off, doesn't it?!), and then after another 3 days it could be 2 kilos lighter.

It is so frustrating!

That being said, I still like to weigh myself daily because it allows me to check myself. If I have a weight gain, even if it's 100 grams, I focus on what choices I make during the day to ensure that I stay on track and not contribute to the weight gain. Does it always work? No.

The real discipline comes from not letting those numbers get the best of you.

In the end, it's a long process. You've got to trust that the results that correspond to your effort will eventually come.

It's not easy. However, I am getting better at it.

By tracking daily, I have come to realize how big my weight fluctuations can be. I could steadily gain weight over a period of 2 weeks only to see it all come off with a bit extra over the span of 2 days.

The key is to just keep diligently working towards your goals.

I know that in the past I would get frustrated and think - Seriously? I gained weight? What was the point of skipping dessert if I was going to gain weight anyway?!

This type of mentality is dangerous to have. I think that's why the end goal shouldn't be solely on weight loss but rather living a healthier lifestyle.

Weight lifting definitely helped me change my attitude because after several months of really good weight lifting, I began to realize even though I was either weighing the same and often more, my body shape was changing and I was losing inches, even if I wasn't losing pounds.

I had to change my perception of weight and my attitude towards the numbers.

I knew that being stuck in that negative head space wasn't going to do me any good at all.
It's still tough for me to see a gain on the scale, but after moping for a bit, I shrug it off and get back to doing whatever needs to be done to keep working towards my goal.

After all, my overall goal is to be healthy and fit -- with or without the corresponding numbers, that is my end goal. Hopefully the numbers on the scale/body measurements will eventually catch up.

The bottom line: Know your goals. Figure out what you need to do to achieve them. Keep working towards them, and don't let the numbers on the scale hold you back. 

Smile!

This week's lifestyle focus of the Whole Life Challenge is to smile at at least 3 people you don't normally smile at (e.g. not smiling at your family members, best friend, etc.) I love this 'challenge' because I love to smile. Ever since I moved to London, part of getting comfortable in my new surroundings has been to not shy away from making eye contact with others and to just smile. I say hello and good morning to random people and I've always got a favorable response. I like the idea of doing what you can to spread good cheer -- with tragedies and bad news happening way too often in every corner of the world, I think we should definitely smile whenever we get a chance!

I've definitely been smiling a lot lately as I've been making good progress towards my goals. Well, in terms of actual results, the numbers may not be adding up. However, I am 100% pleased with my effort and am confident that the numbers will catch up in due time. It's just about trusting the process, being patient, and keeping on pushing forward.

Some things I smiled about over the past few days:

Managing 3 really good low and slow back squats at 90 kg (198 lbs) - wish I had a photo of me actually doing the squats!

Being awarded my Blue Belt in Jiu-Jitsu -- I'm the first female to reach this rank at the club!

I made a {if I do say so myself} really yummy lemon and date 'cake' - gluten free, sugar free. 

Will share the recipe soon.

Getting a handle on my weekend food prep.

A perfectly timed belated birthday present of a fab new foam roller -- much needed after doing 4 workouts on Tuesday! 

Smile - spread the cheer!