You're doing great, you have a routine, you stick to it, you eat fantastically, you feel amazing and then..... it ends. You get sick or you have a holiday or you just lose track because you got too busy. It happens to everyone at some points - multiple points even. And that's completely okay! It's happened to me a few times and every single time I try my hardest to get back on it right away and it's almost like nothing ever stopped me. But this last time. This time was different. I got busy, a little sick, very tired, had other things I wanted to do and basically just lacked the motivation to add a workout into my day when it was 11:30PM and all I wanted to do was sleep. This meant I did workouts about once a week for nearly 3 weeks and that made me feel terrible. Not because I felt bad but physically I felt lazy, like I lacked energy, I was sleepier and ate worse because I missed eating as much as I did when I worked out regularly. I really didn't like this so I knew I had to up my game again. And right when I was thinking this, both UFit and F45 presented opportunities to help me. So what did this teach me? 1. IT'S OKAY TO FEEL WEAK When I made the decision to get into my routine, I jumped right into UFit bootcamps, boxing, intermediate yoga and many F45 classes. I figured since prior to this bump I was very active, I could keep up and it'll come back to me to me. The truth is as much as I loved being active and not feeling so lazy again, all of those classes kicked my ass. I felt weak. So weak. Like I almost lost all my strength and stamina. It's definitely not like I wasn't able to get through a class, but it left me feeling like I was struggling to get through the hour. I wasn't expecting a miracle, but I did expect that the workouts would feel easier. It did disappoint me to realise how much I had lost during this "break period" but after just a couple of days I realised this was how it works. That's why normally I keep going, because I like taking steps forward, not back. But this wasn't me taking a step back. It was me listening to my body and resting because I needed it. So feeling weak wasn't me giving up, it was me taking care of myself and that is completely okay. When I'm ready (like I am now) I get back on track.] 2. CHANGING YOUR ROUTINE HELPS Every other time I've "fallen off track" I get back into it by doing the exact same thing I did before. Same workouts, same equipment, same space. As someone who gets bored of her workouts easily, it was never a great idea to go back to the same thing. But I guess I never really thought about changing things up. This one time that I did, I enjoyed working out way more than I ever thought I could. I already loved it because of how it made me feel, but I was now doing completely different workouts, challenging myself, meeting new people and actually didn't have to plan my workouts. It was all ready and I just had to show up. I loved it, I was way more motivated and it felt great to introduced to a new way to get stronger and take care of myself. 3. START DRESSING FOR YOUR WORKOUT If you haven't realised, I'm a huge fan of dressing as colourfully and bright as I can. I love prints and different fabrics and coordinating my workout clothes. It feels fantastic. But because I was trying something so different and I was going to be around other people AFTER taking so much time doing almost nothing, that fancy outfit did not make me feel any better. The first day I went for a class to "jump into it" Instead of actually planning an outfit that I knew could make me feel great, I just wanted something to help me breathe, feel comfortable for the workout I was going to and not make me question if I had the wrong pair of tights on. Now, let me explain - Before all this, I worked out 4-6 times a week and was so comfortable doing strength, HIIT and yoga that it doesn't matter what I wore. As long as I had a good sports bra on, I'd feel fine. Compression or lightweight tights don't matter, loose or tight shorts don't matter. But this time I needed to be comfortable and feel fine because I knew there was a good chance I would be sore and tired and I would want to be comfortable. So for F45 and bootcamp workout I picked tights with support, for yoga I had my comfiest lightweight (and somewhat loose) tights on, and for anything outdoors it was 7/8 length black tights with support all the way. But most importantly, wear the right shoes. A workout is a workout regardless of what you wear, but dressing in the right pieces actually did help me feel better and perform better - especially now when I needed it. It felt great to already be on track and know what I needed to do, but having this little bump in the road and having to start it over helped me change things and improve myself. There's more to it then the 3 points listen above, but if you need some help getting motivated to start working out again or if you want to find a way to make things feel better (especially if you get bored like me), take a step back and see what you can change or need to learn to help yourself do better.
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Depending on where we start our journey and who our motivation/inspiration is, we all tend to have different ideas of what constitutes healthy habits. When it comes to food there are so many people within the community saying completely different things – vegan, vegetarian, paleo, raw till 4, low carb, no sugar etc I can’t be someone who claims to know what to magic healthy diet is that will fix all my bad eating problems (though I am leaning towards vegan), but whatever the diet is, and whatever other people preach, I just hope they promote a healthy relationship with food before anything else. See these two photos up there. The one of the left is a piece of homemade "Ondeh-Ondeh" (made of sweet potato, tapioca flour, gula melaka and coconut shavings) and the right, MANGOES! They're both delicious sweet treats, unprocessed (that I would know of), vegan and I could easily overeat my serve of either of these in one sitting. Sure, the mangoes would be healthier option because there's gula melaka in the Ondeh-Ondeh, but that doesn't mean I should completely avoid one and feel bad if I were to have a piece. I'd eat both of these and feel exactly the same - satisfied, happy, healthy, and probably like I would want more! There would be no regret, no sadness or calorie counting, no getting upset or trying to "work it off" later on. Why? Cause unless it makes me sick, the food I eat is never a bad option, never a regret, never a failure or a lack of self control. My food is just that, food, to nourish me. There are way too many people on social media who promote the idea that “pretty girls don’t eat” or that to be a “pretty girl” you have to restrict yourself and get skinny to be pretty – apparently the idea that the smaller the better still exists. I am completely against this idea and against everyone who promotes unhealthy restriction on diets.
It’s usually coming from people who don’t know what they’re talking about – but there are the exceptions as well! I can’t blame them all – especially when they’ve been doing it themselves, were completely uneducated about healthy eating or had an idea that this is completely acceptable. And sometimes they know the truth but fast results make for more likes than a gradual healthy change would. If only we lived in a world where everyone was taught how to be healthy. I have always said, I'm no nutrition expert. But that didn't mean I wanted to listen to someone else just because they were a doctor, were confident when they spoke, had a lot of followers or were lean. And you shouldn't either. I put in my own time and effort into making sure I understand how food works, how the human body works and how it all goes together. I understood how my body reacted to foods and found the best way to eat and live. Right now there's no blanket solution (though there could be one out there somewhere) like some people claim, but at least I know how food works in my body and I made an informed decision. This is exactly what you guys should do. It’s all gotten out of hand. Calorie counting every little thing you eat, restricting carbohydrates all day long, forcing yourself to leave food on your plate, the 5-bite diet, 24/7 juicing, ruining your food so you can’t eat it. Does any of that really sound healthy to you? All girls should eat; in fact all people should eat. We know this isn’t just a problem with girls – it just seems that way but there are just as many men as there are women who struggle with diets and self image. We should stop being afraid of food and thinking that beauty is associated with a certain size or how much we decide to eat. Learn what your food is made of, learn how calories actually work and what different calories do. Did you know calories are not always equal? Yeah, shocking! Trust me, 100 calories from tomatoes and 100 calories from a steak are not equal in the same way 100 calories from strawberries and 100 calories from strawberry sorbet are not the same. Everyone is beautiful. And we need to treat ourselves that way. When you think of food, think of energy and nourishment. It’s not a set of numbers, it’s not evil or punishment. There are no cheat days or cheat meals because you shouldn’t think of yourself as doing something bad when you choose what to eat. Eat because you need to, and eat well because you love your body. I will always say, have healthy food because your body will love you for it, and have your treats (whatever you consider a treat) because you will love you for it. P.S. nana ice cream and acai bowls falls into both those categories and I eat it everyday for breakfast! Imagine getting ice cream for breakfast every single day! Countless vegan who I follow constantly talk about the great benefits of being vegan. I've experienced may of them, but I'll admit Veganism is not just some happy place where nothing terrible happens or that you will feel completely happy and satisfied with your life from this point on. That's just not how it works, especially at the start. So since I've been vegan for a few months now, what are the real good and bad parts of going vegan? Benefits of being vegan: 1- Clear Conscience This is the most obvious one. It's not secret that I and every other vegan would feel uneasy about the process it takes to get animal products onto our dinner plates. That's usually the number 1 reason for most vegans to make the switch. And I'm no different. Now it feel so much better about the food I eat, products I buy and the brands I support. Many people may still eat and use animal products and they seem to want to stay blind to the reality of what it is, but i feel better knowing i'm not contributing (or at least contributing less) to the process it requires to get us these products. 2-Getting Creative Funny how people say vegans have too many restrictions but how many of those people actually change up every single meal everyday? We all know the person who's had the same brekkie everyday for years or the guy who insists on fish and chips every single time you eat out. Yeah, there are more options on the menu as a non-vegan, but how many people take advantage of that? I'll admit, even before i was a vegan i had the bad habit of ordering the same thing at a restaurant just cause i knew i liked it. No one says you have to get creative with food once you're a vegan, but many of us do. Acai bowls, nana ice cream, pancakes, chia pudding, overnight oats, rice and pumpkin, beancurd - just some of the things i've had for brekkie since becoming vegan. Though now I stick to nana ice cream or dark chok PB and chia seeds on toast (my ultimate favourites) It's not as limited as people claim. That's just brekkie too. Since making the switch I've found even more amazing meals on my plate. 3-Less Junk and Crap Food Going vegan means you kind of "accidentally" cut out all kinds of foods that aren't the best for you anyway. No more deep fried chicken skin or mozzarella sticks. I finally feel fine not eating ice cream or cakes or tarts and cream pies. No nutella (the amount of sugar in one serve. No thanks). All of these foods, though I once loved, i'm now turned off by them because they support a disgusting industry and aren't healthy for me in the slightest way. 4- EAT MORE Not everyone likes this, but i do. I really do. I have managed to increase the amount of food i eat without getting more body fat, getting sick, feeling bloated or really going through anything negative. Of course, this doesn't mean sitting around having oreos or pudding all day! Eat more healthy whole foods (high carb and low fat! YAY!) I don't sit around worrying if i had too much for lunch and should have a smaller dinner or go "if i have this slice of cake i shouldn't have so much rice with dinner" these weren't common thoughts before but i did have them whenever i ate out or we had something to celebrate. I just never found myself completely enjoying food when I normally should have because i was a little afraid of the outcome. Now I don't worry as much. If I wanted a vegan cupcake, I don't stress about what that means for dinner. And if i want a second serve, I just have it. It may seem like we exaggerate and i'm sure some people do. But being able to enjoy my meals and eat more if I wanted to is a huge plus! 5- Questions, questions, questions. This is another good and bad point. When people are genuinely curious, want to know why, want to understand veganism, i love answering questions no matter how silly it may sound. I was once in their position so everyone who wants to learn should get to learn about it. NEGATIVES:
1- Not everyone will understand, or want to understand Family, friends, colleagues, restaurant employees, really about anyone you have in your life. Some people will understand and be supportive. Some won't care at all and that's fine. But the ones I hate are the ones who just want to give you a hard time for no reason. The ones who try to "tempt you", who are rude and disrespectful and the ones who refuse to understand what veganism stands for. And not to mention family is sometimes the worst - trying to sneak animal products into your food! You can't always make them go away, so you have to be prepared that some people will want to give you a hard time. 2- Vegan does not automatically mean healthy Though veganism has many health benefits, it doesn't automatically make you completely healthy. There's tons of unhealthy vegan food, vegan junk food (OREOS!), sugar, oils, fat, it can all be vegan and you still need to be careful with that. It's not like we're all sitting around having vegan puddings and sorbet 24/7. After all, helping the animals and the environment is great, but don't hurt your health in the process. 3- Food Choices When Eating Out Not every restaurant is vegan friendly. And some still don't have vegetarian or vegan options. This is where we need to get creative. Obviously when you can choose, just avoid places that don't have a vegan option. But I for one would never turn down an invite to dinner or a party just because they don't have vegan food just for me. Don't be a pain to your friends and family. So plan ahead. Look up menus, call the restaurant and find out if they can do something for you, or even just order a few vegan friendly appetizers and have that instead. 4- You see the world very differently This may not apply to everyone who goes vegan, but it happened to me even before i decided to be completely vegan. Suddenly that ice cream store with a smiling cow in the logo looks absolutely disgusting. Leather jackets scream murder in your head. Watching people eat steaks may turn you off. It happens. It's tough, but even if something makes you feel disgusted or turns you off, you'll learn to deal with it. The world is not going to automatically change for you, so you will learn to manage the best you can. This does't mean preaching to everyone who's having an ice cream or a chicken sandwich. It means knowing you're doing the best you can now that you know better, and if someone asks, you'll be as kind as you can about it so hopefully they learn better too. 5- Relationships May Change. This is a very extreme and hopefully rare case. But it does happen. Sometimes people think you're crazy for being vegan - like my family did. Sometimes they will end up fighting over it with you - like mine did at the start. They might try to change your mind (and that's okay - it's normal, just like how you will wanna change their mind) if this happens it will definitely be tough, but don't be the one to push them away. Sometimes you just need to let things settle and everyone becomes accepting - like my family now is. But on the off chance this doesn't end, i always think it's better to try to have a calm discussion about why you're vegan and why you believe it's the best thing for you (and them too) And if they still want to be rude, mean, bring you down or insult you, then why keep such terrible, negative people in your life unless you absolutely have to? For the first time ever, I've managed to finish a full workout program. I usually have this bad habit of letting something get in the way and then quitting between Week 5 to 8. This time though, I powered through! There was one week in between where I had the flu and another where I was too busy and tired with work but even with an extra two weeks, I still managed to get through it all and I can see and feel the difference this plan has given me! So first thing's first - progress photos! Since it was required by the plan, I also took me measuremets from week 1 to 12 and this definitely helped me notice some difference i might not have seen in the photos as well. 18 April Shoulder: 29cm (Both) Chest: 83cm /32.5inch Underbust: 73cm/28.75inch Arm: 24.5cm (R) 25cm (L) Waist: 70cm/27.5inch Thigh: 55cm (both) Hips: 84.5cm/33.25inch Bum: 89.5cm/35.25inch 1st August Shoulder: 29cm (both) Chest: 79.5cm/31.5inch Underbust: 69cm/27inch Arm: 25.5cm (R) 25cm (L) Waist: 64cm/25 inch Thigh: 53.4cm (L) 53cm (R) Hips: 80cm/31.5inch Bum: 90cm/35.5inch In terms of workouts, 90% of the time I followed the plan completely, sometimes weekends are hard so there were times where I had to skip Saturday's cardio session and towards the end of the plan, some of the workouts got so hard I had to change it to suit what I could manage. Still, this is mostly thanks to the workouts that i saw and definitely felt a difference in my strength. In terms of meals - I transitioned to being vegan within the first couple of weeks of the plan. So i completely gave up all meats, dairy, eggs and honey. Before transitioning, I didn't eat junk food too often or overeat much - generally my meals weren't too bad. But after being vegan, things changed a lot more for me. No meas and more veggies definitely made a difference in terms of how many calories and nutrients i was consuming. I felt better and recovery time between workouts was phenominal so this did help me do better. The meal suggestions in the plan were perfect, and though I didn't try them all, it's easy to change them around to suit how you eat (though I recommend making them vegan!). Also, I completely stopped having stuff like frozen yoghurt, cakes, ice cream, pancakes etc not the worst thing in the world since i didn't have them often, but it made it easier to pick a healthy option instead. And i learned PB on toast, though people may say "eat in moderation" you can never really have too much of! I may not have had the perfect "clean diet" or followed the plan 100% but as you can see, i still saw results, results i am very happy with.
just imagine how much more progress i would have made if i did manage to do it all as expected. The whole reason why this still worked was because this wasn't a plan that expected you to crash diet or over-exercise to get "fast results" it's real eating for nutrition and health, it's proper workouts expected to see you progress, not just some weight loss solution. You may not want to start bodybuilding, and that's fine, I don't want to either, but this plan still worked wonderfully. I'd still happily recommend it to anyone who needed something new to try. So click right HERE and get yourself a copy and watch the progress happen! The best thing you can do for your health is quit smoking. But let's hope that all of you never started that disgusting habit or have already quit. So since we're all better than sticking a death stick between our lips, what's the next best thing you can do for your health? EXERCISE AND EAT WELL! uh...duh! It makes you feel amazing on the inside and the outside, and it's that secret that taught me to love myself and that it's okay to think I look amazing (even if someone else doesn't think so) Selfie, anyone? I know, for a fact, that not all of you who read my blog actually workout regularly or actually put an effort into what you eat. And that's okay, everyone has their reasons and I sure hope you have reasons instead of making up excuses for why you don't do it. But if you've been reading my blog this whole time, I figure that you have some part of you that wants to start. So if you need a little push, a little convincing, let's hope this does the trick. Anyone could go over the textbook details like improved sleep, lowered risk of certain diseases, better mental health, better body imagine etc But if all these reasons were good enough, people would all be active, they would all eat well and they would all be perfectly healthy. But that's clearly not the case. So, what's the real reasons you should exercise and eat well?
Maybe some of you already expected me to say these things and if you did then you understand why i love this lifestyle so much. I'm happier, healthier, the benefits are so much better than the negatives. And really what are the negatives? Doms? Maybe just doms. And they're only temporary! So if you're still not doing it, what do you say,let's take the first step to being a better you! |
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