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Thulemin · 01-02-2011 05:20 PM

Hi all!

Have been way too busy yesterday to be able to write anything, so here's my journal, starting Sunday 2nd at 4.20pm

I'll try to post one summary per day, plus personal reflections as it seems I'll really need this to make me accountable

Here's what I had planned on Day 0.
I wrote like 2 pages + action plans, here are the links if you want to check them out:
http://bit.ly/hsHmLu for my action plan
http://bit.ly/e7lL6K for the Day 0 brainstorm
(They're google documents)

But for an over-view, here's what I'm planning:

- Drop to 62kg (currently at 65kg)
- Drink 2L per day
- Stop coffee, chocolate & alcohol
- Wake up early every single day
- Stretch 10 minutes every morning
- Meditate 10 minutes at the end of each afternoon
- Eat one apple a day & strive to have 5 portions of fruits / veggies
- Be able to do 8 normal push-ups
- Be able to do the one-hand cartwheel and a monkey vault (parkour stuff)
- Be able to run 6km twice a week
- Eat a more brown-carb diet

Hope you're all doing great :dance:

Day 1 = half failure..........

Ok, seriously, everyone, I don't know how you did but I sure DO need more self-discipline. I have lots of excuses, obviously, such as
1/ My best friend was moving permanently to India and I had to spend a lot of time with him, so cut down my personal time on that day
2/ NYE didn't exactly kill me, but it did not leave me with a lot of bouncing energy either
3/ I had a BBQ in the evening that I couldn't miss, hence I went to sleep late
4/ Malls were PACKED and I gave up on doing the groceries
5/ I moved in a new place on Friday & I don't have Internet so I couldn't read all the motivational things from here to keep me motivated
6/ etc, etc. Just excuses

Now, I think I still did ok. I managed to :
- Drink 2L (actually a part of my plans too)
- Do 10-minute stretching in the morning
- Take a 40-minute walk for sunrise
- Do the first set of push-ups
- No coffee, no alcohol
- 4 portions of veggies

But I'm way less happy about that:
- Went back to sleep 8 to 11am...
- Didn't find the time / will to meditate
- Didn't eat my one apple a day
- Didn't do the jumps & handstands training
- Didn't eat brown carbs
- Ate a donut -__-

Actually, one of my goals was to learn how to do one-hand cartwheel, but I think I twisted my arm while training on Thursday, so I'll have to switch off that goal so that I don't injure myself more (did 2 two-hand cartwheels in the morning and the pain came back). I'll probably switch it to doing abs instead..

And I feel lazy to do the calory list... All the more reasons to do it

wf3103 · 01-02-2011 07:01 PM

You should call day 1 really successful - look at all the things you DID do :-)
And maybe just aim to do some of these things every day until the habit forms.
Good luck for Day 2!

Vroom · 01-02-2011 10:42 PM

I really like how organised and specific your plans are, I think I'll be drawing quite some inspiration from you. So, double all the best with your plans

tperez330 · 01-03-2011 01:34 AM

It's not easy changing our lifestyle, but the thing is to keep trying, not giving up! Don't dwell on it, other than what, if anything, can be learned from what went wrong.

Thulemin · 01-03-2011 02:00 PM

Thanks guys!

I see so many people stopping short in their NY resolutions as soon as they have failed once. But success comes from repetition of efforts, right? I'm trying to live by some quotes, two of them being:

"Many of life's failures are experienced by people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." (Thomas Edison)

"When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it - but all that had gone before." (Jacob Riis)

Keep on fighting! :dance:

*********************************************
Day 2 = getting on track!

So, yep, I'm happy to say yesterday was way better! And it seems today is going to rock on too

My waking up at 6.30am... was a failure haha. I decided I needed more sleep to survive the coming weeks of exercise, and went back to bed until 12pm! Now I'm fully stocked!

Managed to exercise (hand-stands, jumps, push-ups & stretching) as planned. I know this is not active exercise but I feel awesome just after my 10-min stretching in the morning. It totally makes me feel lighter & more energized, just by doing a few postures... Maybe it's the slower breathing? Anyhow, I'm so going to keep that!

Managed to meditate 10min also, which went by so fast I didn't believe my alarm clock when it rang

Went to bed early enough for once (11pm) so that's all piling up to make me feel less tired.

As for food, I'm lucky my new flatmate decided to cook brown rice with mushrooms & salad for lunch. Set my on track for the rest of the day, so I got my 5 veggies portion. I'm planning to go soon into making a list of the food I have to eat to manage my vegetarian diet in a balance manner (it's been 3 months!)

All in all, it's just making me more confident that I can do it! Hope your day was as good as mine!

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For Day 2 task, I had more trouble though, as lots of the food I eat here is either not registered on websites or is categorized under brand distributed in the US (which would thus be adapted to their market I guess). I eat in street food stalls most of the time, as it is cheaper & faster than cooking home, plus it's often packed with veggies if you know what to take...

If anyone know the calorie count for those food, let me know

- roti canai
- butter naan
- teh tarik
- nasi lemak
- nasi goreng / mee goreng
- curry mee
- any kind of Malaysian / Indian food...

rohit.kshirsagar · 01-03-2011 11:31 PM

I just love the way you have set up ur exercise schedule. Your menu too looks healthy and tasty. I see you have a taste for Indian food

Nice to see some Indian cuisine on the forum. All the best with your early to bed and early to rise plan.
and the quotes are timeless.. thanks for those

TAW · 01-04-2011 08:10 AM

Great Work....
Hang in there...You'll do just fine.. You information is having me think what other approaches I can look at..

Thulemin · 01-04-2011 09:08 PM

(01-03-2011 11:31 PM)rohit.kshirsagar Wrote: I just love the way you have set up ur exercise schedule. Your menu too looks healthy and tasty. I see you have a taste for Indian food Nice to see some Indian cuisine on the forum. All the best with your early to bed and early to rise plan.
and the quotes are timeless.. thanks for those

My pleasure

I found decomposing the exercises in a progressive schedule makes me feel more confident I'll be able to achieve it. So far it works, now I just need to see if I'll be able to do the 8 final push-ups

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Day 3 = TOTAL SUCCESS, woooh!

I totally fell into pace yesterday. Everything has been easy and effortless, and it felt really good. By 10.30am, I had been awake for 4 hours, had drunk 1L of water, eaten healthy breakfast & nuts, run 4km, did my stretch / abs / push-ups & started to tidy up my room. Couldn't believe it haha.

Ended up the afternoon with the meditation session, really cool dinner with my flatmate (carrot soup, whole-wheat vermicelli cooked with pumpkin & onion & soy proteins, and salad. Just perfect!).

I even found the time to look out for calories of Indian & Malaysian food... and oh my god! A roti canai is like 300+cal! :o

Apart from that, I keep on talking about it to people (the "make yourself accountable trick) and I found a really fun shift through the last 3 days. At the beginning, people were "hey, why would you do that?" (duh, it's my health...) and seemed skeptical (maybe because I was a bit too?). Now, my flatmate joined me into healthy food & stretching (she does yoga during the day in her room), and 2 friends started to wake up at 6.30am too!

Ripples of health all over Kuala Lumpur

Tiger Lily · 01-05-2011 03:09 AM

Omg, what a great comeback.
It's very inspiring for me, since I started yesterday and haven't exactly succeeded today. (The gruesome details are in my post)
I think you're absolutely right in being so specific about your goals and I'm sure you'll be Kuala Lumpur's health master in no time.

Best of luck tomorrow!

Thulemin · 01-05-2011 02:15 PM

Day 4 = not as smooth but keep on rolling

Yesterday was supposed to be rocking, with a hike to Chiling Waterfalls, one hour away from KL. Woke up at 6.30am (as usual now), did my exercises (skipping the handstands also now, but keeping the push-ups & abs. Didn't have time / energy for the jumps so planned to do them in the evening... and I didn't. Lesson: keep them in the morning!), had breakfast, boarded the car with the friends, drove all the way to Kuala Kubu Bharu...

... and learned that the trail to the waterfall is closed Mondays to Thursdays. What the hell??? How can we close the jungle? Calls to rangers office totally disheartened 2 of the friends, so we ended up following the river a bit to chill and swim in the sun, instead of doing the 2-hour hike to the falls. Never mind... It was good to be in nature, but still a bit disappointed.

Food wasn't as good as the day before either, but I still had an apple (I was missing on fruits a lot before!) & nuts. Rest not so good as I only managed to get fried rice but 3 tiny pieces of veggies and eggs for lunch (at 3pm when coming back) and a Veggie sandwhich at Subway at 9pm (had to catch up with work 5 to 9pm and then most places to eat were closed).
Obviously enough, I didn't manage to do my ideal meal. Planning to do that one on Friday.

On the plus side (really?), my motorbike is broken (or rather, in repair). So I have to walk. All the time. Makes me a bit stressed for work and prevents me from doing the groceries (supermarkets are faaaaaaaaar from where I live) but it's good on the exercise side.
Meditation / chocolate / coffee / alcohol : according to plans

brilliantlypure · 01-05-2011 04:23 PM

It sounds like you had a hard day, but I bet you can laugh about it later. I have an active imagination so I always have something silly pop into my head and diffuse the stress of bad situations. Laughter is great medicine and I find that it draws good people into your life so keep your chin up because you are doing great! Your goals are very specific, but as you discovered you never know what each day will bring so just go with the flow, be positive and see success and adventures in small things :-)) Life's problems wouldn't be called 'hurdles' if there wasn't a way to get over them. Much Alohaaaaa to you!

Tiger Lily · 01-08-2011 01:30 AM

How can we close the jungle?
was officially best quote of Day 4.

It's always annoying when you have good intentions to do sth healthy and then unlikely practical obstacles.
Walking is good, as keeping to your plan on Meditation / chocolate / coffee / alcohol.

How was Day 5?

shannonDP · 01-08-2011 03:08 PM

Love reading your honest and heartfelt updates. How are you doing?

Thulemin · 01-09-2011 08:17 PM

Hey, thanks Shannon & Tiger Lily for following up! Keeps me motivated

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Day 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 : hiccups!

Hum... All has not been as well, all has not been that bad. I've had a bit of a hectic schedule, a fridge that stopped working and had to spend a lot of time outside, so I have missed a bit on the "food" part... Taking it back in hand today though!

I didn't wake up at 6.30am on Friday either, so that was my 2nd day of failed waking up. I understand why now, so can take matters at hand. Most important is not to have a snooze at all, or you'll just say "5 more minutes" after the snooze. Just get up...

Was a bit short on water on the 6th day because I woke up so late I didn't have as much time to drink

Skipped meditation 3 days in a row (oh my god!) namely Thursday to Saturday, because I was coming back home so late I was just going back to sleep... Hectic schedule, much?

The rest has been pretty ok, with 5 days out of 7 with brown carb instead of white at least once, 4 to 5 veggies servings, no coffee / alcohol / chocolate (nutella doesn't count!) & exercises in the morning.

I even managed to run 5km under the drizzle on Thursday and to hike up one of Kuala Lumpur hills on Saturday morning (a 9am to 1pm story).

So a bit more hectic than at the beginning, but should be able to stay on track

Success never comes easy!

Going to fill in my Daily Tasks soon! Have been MIA for that...

Thulemin · 01-10-2011 06:42 PM

Day 9 = beautiful Sunday

Yesterday was a good day, 21DHL-wise. Ok, that is if we forget that I didn't wake up on time... I understood why and I think I'll be able to work on it. First is obviously going to bed too late (someone said "Saturday night"?). Second is having a "snooze" option on my cell phone. While the 5 minutes more actually don't help much, they also lure you into thinking that you will be able to stay 5 more minutes AFTER the snooze without falling asleep again. Wrong. Just wrong. Wake up, snooze, and I'm sure to fall asleep again after the snooze. Better just get up right ahead. Urg...

Apart from that, we had the most amazing lunch with my flatmate... A mushroom-leek-potato soup, followed by a stir-fried mix of zucchini / pumpkin / french beans / onions and tofu. Afternoon was a simple spirulina - orange juice from Old Town White Coffee, with 2 kaya / butter toasts (was craving for carbs somehow...). Evening: 2 diced tomatoes and a teh tarik, and I was set for the day

Managed to meditate for once, and kept on doing the morning light work-out (keeps on being quite effortless, which really impresses me!). Followed by some tidying-up the room & helping at soup kitchen in the evening. Cool day

**********************************************

Week 1 review (late review...)

The only task I have trouble with is doing my ideal meal plan. Even on weekends, I'm not home often enough to manage the super cool meals I envisioned. Never mind, I do feel I'm adding more and more veggies to my diet, which rocks! I guess having a kitchen in my new place (moved 10 days ago) does help a lot

On scale 1-10, I would rate myself 6.5, because I still somehow feel too tired & my mind is still too cluttered. Plus I wish I could have run more often & eaten more fruits. But I'm really happy with the water intake, morning work-out & the 2 hikes I've done (especially the one on Saturday morning, 4 hours in the Kuala Lumpur hills in the suburbs).

[Image: 20110108_1210-DSC_0074.jpg]

Credits to Michael Thessel who was hiking with me

Failures of the week (not at many as it could be, but still too many for perfectionist-me

)

- Woke up late 2 days out of 7
- Didn't meditate 4 days out of 7. Need to wake up on time so that I have more time at the end of the afternoon...
- Didn't eat an apple 2 days, need to get more appealing ones

- Still need to improve the 5 servings of fruits / veggies...

Goals for Week 2!

- Keep on good tracks for the 2L-drinking, the morning workout and the overall higher number of veggies
- Improve my breakfast (feel hungry again at 9.30am...)
- Get down to meditation
- Go to bed earlier when I'm planning to run / parkour the next day
- Go grocery shopping twice (I'm starting to love that haha)

tperez330 · 01-10-2011 11:09 PM

Nice view! Sure beats the cold/snow I have here!

Thulemin · 01-11-2011 08:37 PM

Day 10 = So tired...

Ok, so I did wake up at 6.30am. But I do need to start sleeping earlier because I'm starting to feel the pinch. Somehow, being a 25 year-old girl in a city where everyone is so dynamic makes it hard to go to bed before midnight... Not that I'm complaining I have too many groups of friends and too many activities

Morning went slowly because of that. Took time to clean the house, clean clothes, take care of myself, do my exercises, cook my ideal lunch plan (YEAH, finally!) etc etc. Went working in the afternoon, did my job... and couldn't motivate myself to go running. Ah, never mind, I decided to do it on Wednesday (Tuesday was parkour plan)

Came back home, meditated 10 minutes, had a nice calming talk with my flatmate & then went off to have dinner with a friend. Long time since we had last caught up together. Was home at 10pm, checked mails & crashed in bed at 10.30pm. I think I fell asleep instantly... :o

*************************

I'm finding it easier & easier, as well as more & more appealing, to cook home instead of eating out at food stalls all the time as I used to. Somehow, Indian & Malaysian food still appeals to me a lot. Especially Indian food (I'm NOT having a butter-naan-craving right now...) but all the veggies in my fridge are kind of calling me. Pretty weird but I like that feeling

Planning to buy naan on the way home soon, so that I can combine the best of both worlds

I feel I need more sleep to find the motivation to exercise. Hopefully, after last night and tonight, I will feel much better! Plus there's another hike planned this Saturday :dance:

Anyone has a mantra to convince yourself to sleep earlier?

Thulemin · 01-14-2011 07:40 PM

Day 11 - 12 - 13 = Waiting for Week 3

Wow, so week 2 has been "down with the wave". Somehow I had too much going on, work to catch up with, rain to watch falling out of the window, and dinners to attend outside... and mainly a lot of excuses with a drop of motivation.

Somehow, I still manage to wake up more or less at 6.30am. More or less because I'm half-sleeping through till 7am most of the days lately... Not enough sleep. (Helping at Soup Kitchen sometimes, catching up with friends other days). I'm getting proud of my morning routine though, so that's my biggest achievement

Number of push-ups slowly increases, and rest of the work-out is not as much a chore as I feared it would be.

Water still getting strong too, avoiding fast food as always, but I had less time to cook those last few days. Expecting to go back to that during the weekend!

And meditation... Hum... I'll get back to it...

Anyway, I don't see any of this as failures as, overall, there is anyway an improvement compared to before. I knew I had lots of goals to reach & that some would drop off on the way, but the important is to get a few healthy habits set up at the end of the 21 days. I'll build up on them & add new ones during the rest of the year hopefully!

By the way, I'm not sure which work-out you people are doing but if you find usual sports boring, you might want to try out parkour. It's challenging & difficult, but after only 4 sessions I'm already finding it helps build up my confidence & reduce my fear of pain.

And I feel a fresh wave of enthusiasm for Week 3! Back to fighting!! :dance:

Jade · 01-15-2011 03:09 AM

Ong that video was amazing - good luck if you are doing that stuff!

Thulemin · 01-15-2011 07:40 PM

(01-15-2011 03:09 AM)Jade Wrote: Ong that video was amazing - good luck if you are doing that stuff!

Haha, I'm trying more than doing it

Had a morning practice session today with 3 friends (2 guys total beginners like me + 1 who has been doing it for 10+ years & is teaching us). You don't really have classes for parkour, it's more conditioning, so the difficulty is setting up a group of committed friends who will get together 2-3 days a week to practice. That was the 4th time we met, but once we're launched on a steady basis, it should be easy to keep on training :dance:

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Day 14 & 15 = transition

Yesterday was an ok day, with lots of water but diet was not that cool. Ate way too much carb & not enough veggies / fruits. Felt the lack of it... Plus I just received Christmas chocolate from my mother after 3 weeks in postal service... and my no-chocolate had to just drop away. Hum...

Apart from that, meditation & less-internet seem to contribute to my mind being less cluttered so that's a big plus

Today, apart from the fact that I lack of sleep, I'm doing pretty good. The parkour session was exhausting & I just had to sleep 2 hours at the beginning of the afternoon. Still, feels good! Cooked brown rice with mushrooms & tomatoes. And will drop by the grocery before going home tonight. I like that it's the week-end and I can finally read & relax...

But yep... Somehow I'm either following my diet OR my exercices... Feel craving for carbs (on the form of roti canai and butter naan -indian food) whenever I'm exercising...

But super pumped from this morning

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