This is Day 2 of the 21-Day Fitness Challenge held in Feb 2012. The challenge is now over but you can do the tasks in your own time. Visit the overview page for all the challenge tasks.
Hello and welcome to Day 2 (Feb 4) of the 21-Day Fitness Challenge! ;)
Sign Up First!
If you have not signed up yet, today is your last day to sign up (Update Feb 6: Sign ups are now closed). Head over to the announcement post, sign up there, do your pre-work (Day 0’s task), and get started on your fitness regime! It’s okay even if you’re starting 1 or 2 days late – simply join us on our latest day and go from there. In the long run, these 1-2 days don’t make any difference – but the successful cultivation of the habit to exercise will.
For the 255 of you who have officially signed up (refer to: official participants list), let’s get rolling now! ;)
Review of Day 1
Thank you to all of you who have posted your progress for Day 1! Looks like everyone is off to a great start, and I’m so proud of you. :D Keep up your momentum as you proceed to Day 2 today.
For those who have not posted your progress, do join us in the comments section whenever you are ready. :) If you missed your exercise for whatever reason, simply learn from it, share your lessons with the group via posting in the comments area for the day, and move on to the next day. (Remember the 21DFC Pledge you did in Day 0? “I shall report my progress on PE daily be it rain or shine … I shall not beat myself up if I were to miss my exercises – but instead learn what got me offtrack and not let it happen again.“)
Remember that no one is here to judge or berate anyone. No one is here to compete or see who exercised the most. This is simply about increasing the level of physical activity in our life, so we become healthier, fitter, and stronger. We do this not as self-punishment, but because we love ourselves and we treasure ourselves. And what better way to express our self-love than to become fitter, so our physical bodies can last longer. What better way than to improve our physique, so we achieve the ideal look we desire.
By the way, even though I don’t reply to all comments (it’s really not possible for me to do that and still have time to do other things in my life), I do make a point to read them. Also, I encourage all of you to read the other participants’ progress too, and interact freely with each other. Encourage each other, give kudos to those who have completed their physical activities for the day, and help anyone who may need help. We’re all doing this as one big community! :)
Last but not least, for those who have not read this yet, please do: 8 Tips To Succeed in 21DFC. Apply all those 8 tips – they will be essential for success in the 3 weeks ahead!
With that said, let’s kick off Day 2 now, shall we? ;)
My 21DFC Progress, Day 2
After the 5.5km run/jog and swimming 20 continuous laps (without goggles) yesterday morning (read my Day 1’s progress), I started feeling a bit woozy in the evening. I had a weird throbbing headache and my vision was somewhat blurry. I reckon it was probably one of my neck muscles that was strained from swimming with my head above water, and turned in early for the night.
On the early morning of Day 2, I woke up, and my body was SORE. SORE with a capital S-O-R-E. That wasn’t a surprise at all, considering I have not exercised in a while, and I did 2 exercise sessions in a day! But hey, the soreness to me is a good thing, because it meant my body is now becoming stronger, my muscles are being built, and my fats are rolling their way off my body!
Not only was my body sore, my headache was still there too. And I had a slight fever as well.
So what did I do? Did I go back into bed? Nooooo. Normally I would have snuggled under my covers, using these as convenient excuses not to exercise. I would have told myself a myriad of things, including: “My body is tired; it needs its rest.” “I worked so hard yesterday – I really should rest today.” “I should not push myself too hard or I might become sick/die.” “I still have 21 days to go, so I should go slow.”
But seriously, these were nothing more than the byproducts of not exercising after a long while. Rather than not exercise in the face of them, they were more indicators that I should be exercising more often now. Also, the human physical body may have limits, but these are not the limits. I was far, far from even touching the limits of the human body. Historic, world-class athletes of the past would be snorting and rolling about in their graves if someone even remotely suggested that idea to them.
Think Roger Bannister who broke the 4 minute a mile record in 1954, or Wilma Rudolph, who won 3 gold Olympic Medals in the 1960 Olympics – with a sprained ankle. Or about a million other athletes or regular people who have undergone grueling trainings of their own. What I did yesterday was paltry in comparison to the workouts others do on a daily basis.
So I got up, walked to my usual jogging route, and gave myself the option to brisk walk (vs. jog/run) as my physical activity for today. But I decided I felt like jogging/running still, and completed 3.6km (2.2 miles) at the end of it – again, without stopping to walk. A big yay for a personal victory! :D And interestingly, the headache subsided while I was jogging, and was gone at the end of it. (Go figure.)
Riding on yesterday’s momentum, I decided to go swim again today, after my morning jog. Believe it or not – after I got my stuff together, got dressed, and went to the washroom before heading out for my swim, I realized my period just started. *facepalms*
What does that mean? No swimming for today. But does it mean no exercising? Nope. (By now, you should be getting the drill that it’s really about mind over matter, and as long as the intention to exercise is there, there’s seriously nothing that can stop you.)
After some thought, I decided to go to the gym as the alternate choice.
Not the gym that I go to, but looks somewhat similar. I guess most gyms look the same anyway? o_O
Normally I would have taken the bus, but today I decided to walk instead. Hey, every little bit counts, right? ;) (By the way, I didn’t mention this at the start, but as of today, I’ll be taking the stairs over the elevator. I’ll be doing this for the rest of 21DFC, and probably integrating it as a habit from thereon. (I stay on the 5th floor.))
To be honest, part of my inspiration came from my friend Armen (from LA). He does some form of physical activity almost every day, and is 100% in shape and fit as a fiddle.
His ‘secret’? He opts for physical activity whenever he has the chance. When we met up while I was in Los Angeles, we went hiking, under his recommendation (we could have just met at a cafe and ate, or caught a movie, but hiking allowed us to socialize, workout, and enjoy nature’s beauty – all at the same time). Every Tuesdays and Thursdays, he plays basketball with a group of folks he barely knows. He goes hiking/trekking whenever he can. He’s just constantly on the move when he can, over sitting on his butt and letting it grow.
The important thing to take away from 21DFC is that it’s not just about increasing physical activity – it’s about integrating it into our lives.
So anyway, my walk to the gym turned out to be about 30 minutes (yay for movement!), after which I worked out continuously for 45 minutes in the gym via a series of machines (elliptical machine, stationary bike and indoor rower). And that marked my second and last exercise session for Day 2!
Oh, while I was at the community center (where the gym was), I signed up for the kickboxing class on Wednesday. They already started their first class 2 days ago so I missed that, but I’ll be joining in next Wednesday onwards. And the trainer is one of my favorites too – I went for his classes before and he’s always cracking jokes and taunting the students (in a good-natured way), hence making the classes more fun. Here’s to more variety in my exercise sessions! :D
That’s it for my Day 2 – Stay tuned for Day 3 tomorrow! ;)
How About YOUR Day 2? Share Your Progress!
How did YOUR 21DFC Day 2 go? Did you get to complete your scheduled activity? Did you achieve any personal victories? Did something unexpected crop up, which made you learn some valuable personal lessons?
Regardless of how your day went, I want to hear it all. 21DFC is not about sharing ‘flawless’ fitness progress, but about sharing everything our journey towards a healthier, fitter life – obstacles and all. Post your day’s journal in the comments section! If you have any images to share, simply upload them to Photo Bucket or Imgur first, then include the link(s) in your reply.
In your comment, feel free to share the following:
- What physical activity did you do (if any), and for how long?
- If you didn’t get to do any physical activity, why? And what can you do about it such that the same thing doesn’t happen again?
- What physical activity do you plan to do tomorrow?
Check out other participants’ responses and join in the discussions!
Looking forward to Day 3 tomorrow! ;)
(Images: Exercising, Sunrise over the horizon)
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