Post: #21

(01-25-2011 10:13 AM)Celes Wrote:  Hey Tariq!! You're doing a wonderful job I love how tidy and organized your kitchen looks now! How are you liking your salad meals by the way? The one you posted looks good! What are the ingredients? (I see broccoli, pepper (or is it avocado?) and tomato there?)

Hey Celes,

Thank u. Yea, it has been my job to make sure everything is fine with the kitchen. Honestly, I will not be motivated if it is dirty and messy!

I love eating salad so very much nowadays, and I enjoy preparing it almost everyday. And the one you saw in the picture was really the simplest I've ever made. I actually prepared it in not more than 10 minutes (to me it was really quick!) .

Hmm...the ingredients are: cauliflower, broccoli, green pepper, red cabbage, and tomato. The dressing is the mixture of lemon & honey & thousand islands.

ps: I have tried your recipe too. I like it so much! Even my nephews and niece like it too!

Post: #22

(01-24-2011 12:35 AM)Andreea Wrote:  Hi, Tariq, wow, I`m impressed by your your journal and your progress for the first half of the challenge, you`re doing really great!!

I loved reading your results with exercising and running in the park, shopping, cooking and making healthy choices despite your sister`s meals (I know so well how hard can be avoiding it ) and on all the tasks from 21DHL! Actually you inspired me to go back and work more on the tasks which I didn`t do 100% on the challenge and you also changed a little my perspective on drinking much water, thank you a lot for it!
Your shopping list and your meals sounds wonderful, thank you a lot for sharing your photos as well - I hope you`ll show us more of it.. and maybe you`ll take a picture of the park where you`re running as well? I`d love seeing it

You mentioned on one of your first posts that you have problems with the negative thoughts and I`m wondering if you ever tried using brain dumping for it? Celes has a fabulous article about it here, I`ve discovered and used it since the beginning of the year and it works great for me every time when I`m feeling my mind heavy or I`m worried etc.

I wish you all the very best and lots of good luck from now on, I`m looking forward reading your progress in the next days!

Take care of you and have a wonderful week!

Hi Andreea,

Thank you for your wonderful words here. This has been my one of the important things I want to do in my life, writing journal about health, about my personal development etc. I will 1st learn and seek for guidance and then will proceed with implementation. Celes's effort of health and fitness program is extremely meaningful and helpful to me. It has made the ball rolling!

I'm glad that my stories and my efforts here are able to inspire yours, Andreea. Me & my girlfriend love sharing good things with people and vice versa. Actually, that has been the passion that both of us share I'm sure you would want to read more about life lessons of other things besides health on our blog : http://www.thevantagejourney.com

Okay, this weekend, I will take my camera with me and snap on the new park/jogging track that me and my girlfriend explored last week. And I will post it here.

Yea, that negative thoughts has been bothering my life a lot! I feel so stressed to deal with the kind of thoughts . Thank you for the info of the Celes's article. I will read that soon.

Thank you again for your interest and kind words of my stories. I wish you all the best too in all things you do. Take care and have a blast weekend!

Post: #23

Today is my Day 19 of 21DHL. I woke up early and managed to accomplish some pending work, fuhhh...happay! And 1 more thing that makes my day today is my girlfriend, she's kind of free now (she has quit her 9-5 job and now she's doing that only as a part-timer). This means I will have more time to spend romantically with her and more time to spend for our blogging thing (our duo account blog: http://www.thevantagejourney.com).

Yes!! I've made my great achievement and satisfaction for the peace of mind & soul for today, tomorrow and the rest of my life (praying a lot for this!).

Done for Mind & Soul! Now for Food & Fitness. Yesterday,(Day 18), I went jogging for about 45 minutes, again with my girlfriend, my great motivation!
We came back, and I cooked for our lunch. I made salad and our favourite pasta, Aglio Olio!

I didn't have the chance to take photo of the food we ate yesterday because we were so hungry and the food were so tempting, we ate them straight away! Both of us ate about 2 servings of vegetables and 2 servings of fruits We did the grocery shopping for fruits and salad. Yesterday's salad, I added a saute mushroom and sunflower seed, hmm yummay! For the pasta I added a little bit beef sausage for protein. I successfully achieved my goal to reduce eating oily-food. At night, I drank my healthy shake and 1/2 serving spaghetti bolognese .

I realized I need to add more servings on vegetables and fruits since drinking water and do exercises are not problem to me in practicing a healthy lifestyle.

My goal to cook at home is 80% achieved already and it has been great motivation to me. Although I don't have photos for yesterday's salad, I still want to share with you the photos of the food I ate on Day 16 & 17.

Food on Day 16: Salmon Pizza(bought by my girlfriend), fruits & Simple Salad:
   

Food on Day 17: Grilled BBQ Chicken & Herbs Brown Rice & Fried Spinach
   
   

Ps: When we feel like eating rice as our main meal, we prefer to eat brown rice.
I have talked about Eating habit and mindset about food on our blog: Here are the links:

http://www.thevantagejourney.com/2010/12...breakfast/

http://www.thevantagejourney.com/2011/01...od-health/

---

Tasks of Day 17 & Day 18: Handsome Smile! Big Hugs!

Day 17: Floss My Teeth


I've never missed flossing my teeth since small. When I was small, I was too lazy to brush them, so to keep them clean, I just flossed.

Yes, I admit, I still have bleeding problem when flossing. Thanks to Celes for the video and info of the right way flossing our teeth. That is very helpful. Owh, ha ah, we both having the same problem, so I'm gonna ask my girlfriend to watch the video with me .

From the day on, I started to remember and practice the best dental hygiene as suggested, brushing my teeth before and after sleep, rinsing the mouth and flossing the right way. Thank you Celes!


Day 18: Gratitude & Hugs, hugs, hugs!

I finally tried to hug myself yesterday! Guess what, my girlfriend likes this task too! She was so excited when I shared with her of this info! And we started to hug ourselves and focus on our love towards ourselves too! I could feel how much loved I've been receiving from my girlfriend and my sister's family so far.

Honestly, I have never done this before in fact never crossed my mind to initiate this! I feel how grateful I am with the loves I have owned from my loved ones. I took about 20-30 minutes, enough for me to recall all the good things have happened in my life. The bless from God, the opportunities He has given me to live as real man.

I have promised to myself to do this task everyday in order for me to always feel loved and grateful!

Ps: Hmm...actually my girlfriend loves this task because she loves we hugging each other. Actually, we make sure we hug at least 9 times a day!

Post: #24

Hey Tariq!! Huge kudos to you for following through every day on schedule I'm really looking forward to your Day 20 and Day 21 updates!

Tariq Wrote:Yes, I admit, I still have bleeding problem when flossing. Thanks to Celes for the video and info of the right way flossing our teeth. That is very helpful. Owh, ha ah, we both having the same problem, so I'm gonna ask my girlfriend to watch the video with me .

From the day on, I started to remember and practice the best dental hygiene as suggested, brushing my teeth before and after sleep, rinsing the mouth and flossing the right way. Thank you Celes!

I found flossing addictive actually. Once you do it the first day, you'll naturally keep doing after that every day, if not every other day! I didn't realize there is actually so much "invisible" debris between our teeth - we may not see anything but there's actually a lot of stuff stuck there!

Tariq Wrote:Ps: Hmm...actually my girlfriend loves this task because she loves we hugging each other. Actually, we make sure we hug at least 9 times a day!

Aww, that's so sweet! It sounds like both of you have a very loving and supportive relationship

"If you want to get something you have never gotten before, you've to do something you've never done before."
Personal Excellence - For people passionate about achieving excellence in life

Post: #25

Hi, Tariq, thank you very much for your response and for the link to your blog, I`ll subscribe to it in a minute!

You`re doing a great job journaling your 21DHL progress and your daily life, I enjoyed so much reading it and looking at yours&your girlfriend`s blog - what you`re doing there together is beautiful and I wish both of you lots of success with it and I hope all your dreams about it to come true!

I love the salads from your photos (all of them are wonderful!!), I enjoyed a lot seeing your before&after kitchen and your nice bottle with tea and I couldn`t stop smiling while reading about the nice things that you`re doing with your girlfriend - it`s great that she`s so supportive and that she joins you in your journey to a healthier life.

Congratulations again for everything you achieved in the last days , all my best wishes and thoughts are flying to both of you!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Post: #26

Day 19: Celes Was Right!

On Day 19, I did the task suggested by Celes - Barefoot Walking and that was my first time doing that. She was right when she said about feeling present and connected with every step she made.

I could really feel the connection between me and the environment, the roads, the ground and the water on the road because it was raining heavily. I walked without my shoes from my apartment which from the 2nd floor heading to the swimming pool (less than 10 minutes walk).

Although it was so cold and the road was slippery, I managed to finish the walk confidently without being so worried with all the risky things on the road and ground (I didn't really care whether it's dirty or clean). In fact, it made me feel so alert and present. I've already decided to continue doing this task regularly ( at least 2 times a week for 10-15 minutes).

Ps: I did follow the advice in this video before going for the barefoot walking. I would recommend all my friends in this forum to watch this video too to avoid heel strike.

All the best!

Post: #27

Day 20: Facts About Caffeine

Due to the brain tumor I have suffered for the last 12 years, I was advised to stop or at least reduce taking any drink contains caffeine. I also quit from drinking soda, coke and any other kind of soft drinks except for green and herbal tea.

I didn't know that any kind of tea also contain caffeine until my girlfriend shared with me about that. However, since green tea has been my favourite drink all this while, I have made an effort to get some information and healthy facts of green/herbal tea.

I've felt so relieved after reading this:

Quote:Many researches have been conducted on the health benefits of green tea and the results suggest that regular use of green tea can lower the risk of high cholesterol, heart diseases, some types of cancer, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), diabetes, liver diseases, etc. Above all, it is also claimed to be beneficial in weight loss programs. It is believed that green tea contains high levels of antioxidants called polyphenols, which are responsible for its health benefits. It was these health benefits which made this tea popular in other parts of the world. But nowadays people are skeptical regarding the use of green tea, mainly due to claims that this tea contains caffeine, which is detrimental for health. What is the truth behind this contention? Does green tea really contain caffeine? If yes, then how can we reduce the caffeine content in it?

Caffeine Content

Unless marked as 'decaffeinated', green tea normally contains caffeine, which may sometimes negatively affect the health of some people, if consumed in large quantities. Apart from caffeine, green tea contains two caffeine-like substances (caffeine metabolites) called theophylline and theobromine, which are present in trace amounts. The advantage of green tea is that its caffeine content is much less than that of other types of tea, coffee and caffeinated drinks like coke. The caffeine content of green tea depends on the type of tea and the way of preparation. However, a cup of this tea may contain 3 to 30 mg of caffeine, whereas in case of regular tea, it is between 30 to 60 mg. The caffeine content of instant coffee ranges between 65 and 100 mg per cup and it may go up to 200 mg in drip filtered coffee. Caffeine in a can of coke is 34 mg.

Effects of Caffeine in Green Tea

The effects of caffeine in tea are different from that of coffee. It is believed that the caffeine in green tea can improve the metabolism and blood circulation in the human body, through the central nervous system. The increase in oxygen supply to the brain helps in enhancing mental health and muscle functions. It is also said that the tannin in green tea has a very soothing and stabilizing effect, thereby slowing down the absorption of caffeine, which in turn prevents the 'caffeine shock'. Unlike other caffeinated drinks, green tea does not elevate the blood pressure levels.

How to Cut Down Caffeine in Green Tea

The amount of caffeine in green tea depends on the type of tea being used and to some extent, the time duration of brewing the tea leaves. You can reduce the caffeine content of green tea by the following methods.:

* You cannot determine the caffeine content of green tea by its color, but it is observed that high grade ones, which are made from the terminal bud and the adjacent leaves contain the maximum amount of caffeine. This type of green tea is very expensive and is said to be the sweetest.
* Green tea bags have a higher caffeine content than the leaves. Another reason for avoiding tea bags is the poor flavor, as compared to the leaves.
* Boil the green tea with water for five minutes and throw away the first infusion. This can reduce the caffeine content by 80 percent. You can use the second and the third infusions.
* If you are sensitive to caffeine, then start with very small quantities of green tea. Increase intake gradually, till you find your level of tolerance. If you find a level intolerable, stick to the lower level.
* Another method is to cut down the amount of tea leaves needed for a single serving. If you are regularly using one teaspoon for one cup, reduce it to half teaspoon.
* It is also said that the effects of caffeine in green tea can be reduced by drinking it hot. Some components of green tea, like catechins and theanine reduce the activities of caffeine. While brewing, these components combine with caffeine, making the latter less effective. On cooling, these components break down and caffeine becomes more active.

In short, the caffeine content of green tea is very less to cause any side-effects, but it may negatively affect people who are intolerant to caffeine. Otherwise, there is no benefit in avoiding green tea because of its caffeine content. You can enjoy its health benefits and reduce the caffeine content simultaneously, by following the above said methods.

By Sonia Nair http://www.buzzle.com/articles/does-gree...feine.html

Another reason why I think it's fine for me to still drink this kind of tea because I never combine the intake with any other caffeinated drinks like coffee or coke.

However, I really appreciate if any of you who knows better of this matter so that I get more accurate information/research.

Cheers!

---

(01-28-2011 11:06 PM)Celes Wrote:  Aww, that's so sweet! It sounds like both of you have a very loving and supportive relationship

Hehehe... Yea...we do love and appreciate our relationship really much!

---

(01-29-2011 10:56 PM)Andreea Wrote:  Hi, Tariq, thank you very much for your response and for the link to your blog, I`ll subscribe to it in a minute!

You`re doing a great job journaling your 21DHL progress and your daily life, I enjoyed so much reading it and looking at yours&your girlfriend`s blog - what you`re doing there together is beautiful and I wish both of you lots of success with it and I hope all your dreams about it to come true!

I love the salads from your photos (all of them are wonderful!!), I enjoyed a lot seeing your before&after kitchen and your nice bottle with tea and I couldn`t stop smiling while reading about the nice things that you`re doing with your girlfriend - it`s great that she`s so supportive and that she joins you in your journey to a healthier life.

Congratulations again for everything you achieved in the last days , all my best wishes and thoughts are flying to both of you!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Hi Andreea,

My pleasure. I hope you like it and will benefit the information we share in our blog. Owh, we will also share with our readers of a free kind of ebook, don't forget to subscribe for the updates as well.

Thank you for the wish and prayer, we really really appreciate them. We will pray for your happiness and success too.

I'm glad you like the information I've shared here and yes, my girlfriend has been very supportive and also very excited in joining me implementing all the tasks.

Thank you, thank you thank you so much for the support you have been given me all this while.

All the best to you yea Andreea!

Post: #28

Day 21: The Review & Reflection Day

1) The 21DHL Tasks: The Tasks That I have Not Done Yet

I seriously need to quickly start completing the following tasks. I have set the goal to finish them up in another 2 weeks time (after I finish my other important work that I'm struggling of now). I will update the completion in this journal.

# Day 2 - Create a Calorie List
# Day 6 - Eat 5 Servings of Fruits/Vegetables, so far only 2-3 servings each
# Day 10 - Calculate Your Daily Energy Expenditure
# Day 11 - Start Your Healthy Living Guidebook

2) Reflections

On a scale of 1 to 10, I score:

Technically, I believe I have achieved the below score for my health and fitness since I have been planning and practicing (although not really consistent) healthy lifestyle prior to 21DHL. I know I really need to make more effort to achieve more score. I'm working on it...

* Fitness = 6
* Diet = 6
* LifeStyle = 7

3) Healthy Living Plan Ahead

Key Area of Diet:

1. Keep record of calories intake and reduce it more.
2. Create more interesting & creative meal plans & continue doing it!
3. Maintain good relationship with healthy food.


Key Area of Fitness:

1. Tone more on lower part of my body especially my back (buttock).
To make it look more fit.
2. Increase muscle and bone mass in order to look and feel strong & tough.
3. Increase workout routine & number of days doing that.

Key Area of LifeStyle:

1. Meditating consistently as it has contributed a lot to my focus.
2. Eat & spend $$ healthily by cooking own meals at home.
3. Practice more frequent on positivity in order to peacefully face
challenges in life.

Key action steps includes the following:

* Stay focused and persevere.
* Consistently do the reviews of health & fitness plans.
* Do not allow unimportant things to distract me from keeping good health mentally and emotionally.
* In order to stay motivated, share the progress of my effort in this forum and read others too.
* Always remember, challenges in life will make me stronger not weaker.
* Instill creativity in the area of healthy lifestyle so that will not easily give up or get bored.

Overall Results & Outcomes [/size]

I feel so happy and grateful that I added Celes on twitter. I got to know about 21DHL at the right time and the right place. Although I started it a bit later than others, but I still got full support from Celes and few friends in here. The only thing I feel a bit sad is I have had a very limited time to get to know more friends in here during 21DHL. However, I have promised to myself to follow them once I'm free, soon, I will!

For the last 2 months, I have been struggling to maintain and be consistent in taking care of my health, but I did not have any guide and motivation to do that. However, by following this program I have gained a lot and started to be more certain about my health and fitness, mentally and physically.

The best part is, my girlfriend really enjoys practicing the tasks too, especially the hugging and grocery shopping .

I am really excited to share with my 21DHL friends of the significant changes I have discovered after completing 21DHL for the last 21 days.

These are the changes I have made (my girlfriend has made some of them too):

1) Know how to gain back my focus through meditation.
2) New hobby created: Cook my own meal regularly at home. In fact try to cook from my own recipes.
3) Actively doing grocery shopping. Me and my girlfriend we both will remind each other that we need to do some grocery shopping.
4) Sleep & wake up early. Not only good for my health but also I manage to accomplish many things since the day feels longer.
5) One weakness detected and need to overcome: Calories Count
6) Maintain my healthy lifestyle. We make all the tasks from 21DHL as our checklist of health.
7) Got the opportunity to gain knowledge of health, food, fitness from other people stories and knowledge they have shared here.
8) I go jogging and do exercises consistently and has decided to do that at least twice a week.
9) Barefoot walking: a new thing to me, I have done on Day 19 and I look forward to doing that again and again. I like the feeling of the connection and presence (mentioned by Celes too) I have made from my feet up to my mind and feelings.
10) The best things I have gained are: POSITIVITY & PEACE OF MIND! I realized by keeping your life healthy mentally and physically will also affect you spiritually of how important to be positive and have peace in mind.

I have not loss any weight, but I'm happy I did not gain any either. I can feel that my body looks more fit and more energetic (that is how my girlfriend describes about my body for the last few weeks).

Drinking a lot of water and Herbalife shake have also contributed to my excellent health so far. I used to have excess body fat and visceral fat before, but now everything has consistently reduced.

Post: #29

Many congratulations for everything you achieved and shared on this journal, Tariq , your plan for the future sounds also great and I wish you lots of success and good luck with it!
I`m glad mostly hearing about the positivity and peace of mind that you`re experiencing after this challenge, this is beautiful and I hope you`ll always keep these close to you..

Thank you for your kind thoughts and for the interesting information that you shared about green tea and everything else - I enjoyed a lot following your 21DHL journey and I`m looking forward to read more from you (here and on your blog also).

I wish you and your girlfriend very much health and happiness and I hope you`ll enjoy together many serene days, joyful grocery shoppings and the accomplishment of everything you dream..

Post: #30

Hey Tariq! Congratulations on completing your 21DHL journey, and that's all through your own vigilance in updating and following through everything! I'm really proud of you It sounds like you have gained a lot from your 21DHL (and your girlfriend, too!) and it's really your hard work and effort all paying off.

Tariq Wrote:The only thing I feel a bit sad is I have had a very limited time to get to know more friends in here during 21DHL

Don't feel sad about that! All of us are still here in the forums, so just join us in the other discussions. Also there's 30DLBL in Apr 1 which a targeted challenge on bringing massive change in our overall life and goals of our choice. It's only for those with the 30DLBL Book though but it gives you access to all future 30DLBL Challenges. Either way there's always the forums and the blog of which all the resources are free so don't worry!

Tariq Wrote:Barefoot walking: a new thing to me, I have done on Day 19 and I look forward to doing that again and again. I like the feeling of the connection and presence (mentioned by Celes too) I have made from my feet up to my mind and feelings.

I really love how you gamely took on the task and went right ahead with the barefoot walking. Well done!

Hey Tariq, as your 21-day plan is technically completed and it has been over 21 days since you first started 21DHL, I'm archiving your journal into the 21DHL forum now. I understand that there are a few tasks that you have not finished and you are planning to do them, which I recommend that you still continue to do them! Reason being I want to maintain a close adherence to the days/dates set aside for the challenge (which I do for the 30DLBL challenges too as 30DLBLers would know), and not have tasks/updates bleed over the original timing, as it sets the wrong precedence for other members for any future challenges. Shifting the journal over to the Health/Fitness forum is more of an exception I made just this time as I did leave sign-ups open till Day 7 and I really love your great energy throughout the whole challenge!

"If you want to get something you have never gotten before, you've to do something you've never done before."
Personal Excellence - For people passionate about achieving excellence in life