This is Day 3 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 3 (Feb 5) of the 21-Day Fitness Challenge! *dance*
Before we get to the challenge proper, here are some quick announcements!
Quick Announcements
1. Updates will only be sent to those who are signed up
I realized not all readers on the PE newsletter are participating in 21DFC, and there’s no reason to send the 21DFC updates to those not in the challenge. It’s just cluttering up others’ mailboxes with irrelevant material (to them, anyway – not us).
So as of Day 4’s update, I will only be sending the newsletter to the official participants of 21DFC. This means only 267 of you who are officially signed up will get the updates in your inbox. For those who don’t want to participate but you want to receive the updates, well – TOUGH LUCK! :p You need to be exercising together with us to be part of the loop. We’re working out as a community – bystanders are not allowed. ;)
If you still want to join in and rock your body to fitness land, today is your FINAL CHANCE. I’m closing sign-ups after today. Sign up now: 21-Day Fitness Challenge. (Update Feb 6: Sign ups are now closed).
2. Renaming of 21-Day Fitness Challenge to 21-Day Fitness Challenge
Some of you are probably reading the new 21DFC acronym and going “Huh? Isn’t it supposed to be 21DEC? Did Celes make a typo or what?”.
Nope, after some thought, I’ve officially renamed 21DEC / 21-Day Fitness Challenge to 21DFC – 21-Day Fitness Challenge. I’ve been reading the participants’ comments for Days 1 and 2, and felt that the word “fitness” better represented the message I want to drive with this challenge. It’s all about getting fit, being healthier and rocking a stronger body at the end of the 21-days – and increased physical activity, or exercising for some of us, is what’s going to get us there.
So yes, sorry if there’s been any confusion! All the references and links on the site have been duly updated to reflect the change.
If you are using soft copy for the pre-work, simply rename 21DEC to 21DFC, and change “Exercising” to “Fitness”. If you’re blogging about the challenge and linking back to 21DFC, update the links accordingly. If you’re tweeting about the challenge, use #21DFC instead of #21DEC. When commenting, please refer to the challenge as 21DFC and not 21DEC. From now on, we’re here to rock 21 days of fitness together! ;)
3. Post your updates in the respective day’s thread
As I shared in the 21DFC announcement, please share your day’s progress in the respective day’s thread. Meaning post your day 1 (Feb 3) updates on Day 1’s thread, Day 2 (Feb 4) updates on Day 2’s thread, and so on. Some of you are posting your updates in the wrong places (some even posting updates in the announcement thread – WHY?!), and it’s making it quite painful for me to administrate the course.
If you are a latecomer to the challenge and you’re only starting today (Feb 5), you can either start from Day 1’s thread, and play catch-up with all of us, or you can join us directly in today’s thread. Doing the former will probably cause you to be out of sync with the group since you’ll always be 2 days behind in your updates, while the latter means your challenge will only be 19 days, and not 21 days, long. It’s up to you!
For the other challenges in the future, I’ll strive to correspond the days with the dates, so it’s easier for everyone.
4. Check back your previous comments
Many of you have been duly sharing your progress in the days’ threads, which is fantastic! :D However, some of you seem to be posting your comments and neglecting them thereafter – not realizing that other participants are replying to your comments and trying to engage a discussion!
Please bookmark the comments section for each day’s thread, check back regularly, and reply to the other participants who have taken time out of their schedule to write to you. Or an easier way is to subscribe for notification of new comments (the option is there whenever you post a new comment – simply tick the checkbox below the comment box). While you’re at it, drop a kind word or two for a fellow participant. Remember, we’re here to support each other.
- Day 0 – Pre-Work: Create Your 21-Day Fitness Plan! | 71 Comments
- Day 1 – It All Begins! | 93 Comments
- Day 2 – Building Up the Momentum… | 67 Comments
Review of Day 2
Can I say I’m so proud of all of you who have duly filed your progress update for Day 1 (and Day 2, for those in faster time zones), as you have pledged in Day 0’s pre-work? Seriously, you guys are GOLD.
Whether you did any physical activity for the day, the fact that you logged on to post your update is a HUGE sign that YOU are committed to improving the fitness aspect of your life. Give yourselves a big pat on the back for staying true to yourself and sticking to the challenge, vs. hiding / doing the fade-away/disappearing act, or abandoning the challenge altogether.
You know, reading the comments, I feel worried for some of you. I really am. You see, some of you are so friggin’ hard on yourself. I’ve seen more than one participant beat him/herself up over not doing/completing his/her desired physical activity for the day. And then for some of you, your comments open up with full-blown, lengthy explanations on why your desired activity was not done for the day, even though no one asked for any explanations to begin with.
You know what? IT D-O-E-S-N-‘-T MATTER. We’re not here to police each other or laugh/scott at anyone who did not do/complete his/her desired physical activity for the day. We’re not here to play the blame game. We’re not here to cast judgment. This challenge is not about perfection. This challenge is not about competition (with each other). This challenge is about improving the fitness in our lives.
Scr*w it if you didn’t get to your desired physical activity today – simply learn why, and move on. Focus on understanding why, over justifying the occurrence. Focus on identifying the lessons learned, over turning a blind eye to the slip-up. Think in terms of how you can make it work out tomorrow onwards, over mulling “what if?” (Principle #10 of 10 Timeless Principles To Be Happy). Must I remind everyone of our 21DFC Pledge? “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.“
Let’s make the best out of our 19 days ahead, shall we? ;) With that said, here’s my progress for Day 3!
My 21DFC Progress, Day 3
Day 3 morning – I woke up at about 7:15am, and automatically thought – “It’s jogging time!” This was in spite of a sore body (still), from Day 1’s running/jogging and swimming, and Day 2’s jogging and workout at the gym. And normally I wouldn’t jog after 7am because the sun is coming up and it gets progressively warmer by the hour.
But for some reason, those didn’t seem to be of any concern to me. I just truly felt like getting my workout for my day. It almost felt like this is turning into a routine, even though it’s only Day 3! (I guess with the dual exercise sessions I’ve been doing, it feels more like today is Day 5, not Day 3!)
Again, I went to my usual jogging route, and gave myself the option to brisk walk if I wanted to. No forcing, no self-pressurizing, only a desire to increase physical activity in my life and to enjoy every moment. But nope, I felt like jogging, so off I went!
Off we go! Seems like others are already up and getting their morning exercise before me. Next time I will be earlier!
Enjoying the sights as I slowly jogged along the path
I bet the other joggers must be wondering, “Why is this person taking a camera with her for her morning jog?”
The sun rising over the horizon ♥
At the end of it, I completed 3.6km (2.2 miles) without walking, just like yesterday! Hurray for a personal victory – jogging when I could have walked the distance! :D
Oh, because I haven’t exercised for a long time prior to 21DFC, I got a couple of blisters from my 5.5km barefoot run/jog on Day 1. Hence, I decided to go jogging with my track shoes for the time being, until they get better. It’s also more jogging-friendly as it’s the rainy season now, and the tracks are partially wet whenever I jog.
Anyway, I could have called it a day where fitness is concerned, but I decided it wasn’t enough. I knew I could do more, even though my legs were aching from all the jogging/exercising I had done in the past 2.5 days alone.
So when the evening came, I decided to go for another jog. *dance* Am I on a roll or what?! I’m telling you, this fitness thing is addictive! Once you start, you can’t stop!
The park connector at night. It’s not as dangerous as it looks – there are people jogging/cycling/walking by me every 5-10 minutes
It was another 3.6km (2.2 miles) jog for me, without stopping to walk. I ended Day 3 on a fully satisfied note, knowing that I made the best of the day where fitness was concerned. :D A big “YES!” for exercising twice a day when I can only be exercising once!
For those attributing my 21DFC progress to a good fitness condition or background, I can assure you it’s definitely not. I have a non-existent fitness background. I was never an athlete in school. I hated exercise with a passion and I was so glad when I graduated from high school because it meant no more regimented exercise sessions. Prior to 21DFC, I have not exercised for 1 year (after my fast in February, I didn’t exercise since I wanted to focus on regulating my diet post-fast first, and then when I began traveling in June, it blew my fitness plans out of the water.)
If anything, this is the first time in my life I’m exercising so regularly/intensely! AND I’M LOVING IT! No self-pressurizing, just sheer enjoyment. I’m telling you, it feels awesome. I’m already seeing benefits from just a few days of proper workout, too – more on that in tomorrow (Day 4)’s update.
Also, I took the chance to link up with a friend today (whom I used to play badminton with) to let him know I’m back in Singapore. I suggested getting together/forming a group to play badminton again, like in the past. Turns out that he’s been playing badminton regularly with his work colleagues (they just played last Thursday, in fact), and he will invite me the next time they have a session (likely soon). Here’s another big “YES!” for combing fitness, fun and socializing all in one activity! :D
That’s it for my Day 3 – Stay tuned for Day 4 tomorrow! :D
How About YOUR Day 3? Share Your Progress!
How did YOUR 21DFC Day 3 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, we 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.
- 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 4 tomorrow! ;)
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I missed updating for day 3, so here is making up for lost time.
On this day instead of an intense aerobic workout i did chores around the house for 2+ hours. It was nice, and it does get you pretty pumped up. And you get a clean, tidy home too! :)
Day 3 was awesome for me! I got in a full day of skiing 9am-4pm as I planned, and I really pushed myself to excel. I conquered two new black diamond trails I hadn’t tried before, and I had a blast! It really got my adrenaline pumping and those endorphins flowing. All good things!
Question: How do you eat 2 carrots when they look like this!!!!! :!: :( They look blissful in their co-joining. :heart: :heart: Well, I left them until I had no more carrots in the house to eat. I confess, I’m munching on them right now as I write. Each bit is from both of them at once, to make sure it’s entirely fair on them. Poor little carrot-buddies… on the other hand, now they’re serving the purpose for which they were meant.
Today I went to an aqua-fit class and I worked really hard in it. The instructor acknowledged me 3 times during the class with “you’re doing great” type comments. I guess my enthusiasm was showing above the splashing. :dance:
Oops, I meant to give you the link to the portrait of the famous carrots: http://i.imgur.com/TTlfk.jpg
On 5th Feb, I did some basic stretching exercises and 30 minutes brisk walk.
Day 3: 404 Exercise cannot be found.
I didn’tdo any workouts on this day (unless baking for hours counts as an exercise??) because throughout the day, I would say to myself “I’ll exercise when I finish this”. I like to exercise so I presumed that exercising wouldn’t be an issue but turns out it takes more than “liking” exercise for me to actually exercise.
Precaution for next time: Make time (30 mins+) to exercise first thing in the morning – (Plan B) Squeeze 10 minutes of high impact exercise between other daily activities.
Sunday Funday. Took a two mile walk around my block. Got a chance to recooperate my back from Friday’s workout and took time to think about everything. It was nice. :)
Thinking about everything IS a truly wonderful activity, isn’t it. Maybe even more relaxing than trying to think about nothing (as in meditation).
Two miles of walking, great job Kevin! especially if you’re in recuperation mode. ;)
Oh my. Sunday became a weird day. I was sore, even tho I exercise daily at this level. But I kicked it up a notch y’day and felt the difference today.
My little girl (5) had a sleep over and I was the adult in charge. We played, made eggs, then watched a movie together.
My exercise got put on the back burner but I made sure I stayed tight on my calorie intake.
Day 3
Retrospective catch up. Couldn’t get on the site yesterday, Celes confirmed there was a bit of downtime so here’s a quick catch up.
After yesterday’s snow and family stop play,I decided to make up for it by covering Day 2 and Day 3 together and did both sessions planned! Went well, very hard work – lots of push ups squat thrusts and the like. Ate like a good boy, plenty of fruit and veg, lots of water!
Ian
Hi Ian! Sorry about the downtime. Not sure why, but it’s been happening more frequently nowadays. Hopefully it does not strike again. Great job on your push ups/work out by the way!! Sounds very intense = calories being burnt, muscles being built! :D
1.What physical activity did you do (if any), and for how long?
My day seemed to run away from me, but I stuck to my commitment to exercise by going for an evening walk. I also rode my exercise bike for 12 minutes after the walk. I found that an evening walk can be all right, as long as I start in enough time. And I do enjoy riding my exercise bike for short periods. I shall build this up.
Today I formally started my Fitness challenge. Went for brisk walk / running at 6pm.. Worked out for 40 mins.. overall it was tiring since it was done after a long time.. additionally, I am also preferring to use stairs for my room (located at 6th floor)
I got mixed experience.. I felt severe pain at my hamstrings and calves muscles.. on positive note, I had a good sleep. :)
Tomorrow, I will continue my exercise routine.. preferably at morning and evening hours..
Day 3 (yesterday) was another busy day! We were up by 7am and starting the long process of unpacking everything, since you really couldn’t see the livingroom at all, and getting from room to room was kind of tricky – there were literally boxes and furniture everywhere.
My husband and I were both extremely sore after moving the day before, but we both pushed on and got just about everything unpacked. I was definitely feeling it after a couple hours, and more than once wanted to collapse and not move anymore, but managed to find the strength to keep on going.
It definitely paid off – it looks like home again! Now I can focus on REAL exercising than days of continuous packing/ moving/ unpacking. Looking forward to a fitter me!
Congratulations on finishing up your home Kimberly :) And also on exercising both the body & mind! (I think that moving among boxes & other obstacles in your path is tricky business for sure, it’s like the wilderness, your brain can’t go on autopilot because it must be on constant alert to find the correct steps!)
Yoga breathing first thing, but no stretches or other yoga poses. Back is knotted on the right side, so it’s chiropractor tomorrow. BUT….we walked for an hour at the gem show, so that was a plus. We walked a lot two weekends ago in LA and want to continue just getting out and walking.
Discovered that I don’t like walking/strolling on uneven ground. We were both sore at the end of the hour, and yet in LA we walked for three-four hours with no problems – on cement or pavement – but certainly all even.
I am impressed at the way yoga seems to be helping my raging appetite…..I am eating much smaller portions, and sometimes it’s just a bowl of soup for a major meal. If I can continue to boost the fitness, than I might actually meet my goal of the first 20 pounds.
Tomorrow yoga breathing, but probably no exercises until the back and knee are looked at. THinking about how to incorporate exercise since I have a5-hour teaching gig. :love:
Day Three……
Celes your jogging route is beautiful! Love the scenery & the fact that you are separated from automobile traffic. I am not a runner, but do enjoy my daily hr long walks with my dog. I may have to start bringing my camera along also!
Well, today I woke to very depleted energy so backed off. I have a medical condition that I must acknowledge. Getting too tired will not be healthy for me at all. I recognized it, gave myself permission to have a rest day from the additional exercise I do on top of my daily walk.
I started off slow but felt much better once I got going! It was a beautiful day and I think I got caught up in it. Sadly it was too windy to go for my first paddle in my kayak in months, but hopefully soon! I did an extra 1/2 hr walk with the dog in the afternoon, made sure I ate very healthy and worked on feeling good about my accomplishments and not slagging myself for slowing down for a day. (this was a challenge for me in itself!)
I’m writing this on Day 4, so must get out there and get going. Walking my dog, & then hitting the gym! Excited!
Good luck everyone! Enjoy this day!
The Superbowl day was very busy and I didn’t get a chance to do my planned workout. But since it was a very active day, I’m ok accepting as a light workout.
I’m taking Celes’s advice to adress that I didn’t do my planned exercise, so that in the future this doesn’t happen (hopefully!).
Today is day 4 and I’m off to the gym! YAY!
My first day posting, I broke a real personal fitness challenge and achieved a huge goal yesterday :dance:
(Day 3) by climbing to the top of a neighborhood hill on my walk instead of sticking to the flat land. I’ve been battling a sinus infection for about a week and it was very difficult, I was sucking air by the time I reached the top but I made it! And waiting for me was a beautiful view of the ocean that I’d only ever seen from the car before! :angel:
Even though I spent about the next 2 hours with a headache and coughing (I’m in decent shape but the sinus infection is pretty hardcore) I didn’t push myself more than I could handle and this morning I actually woke up feeling better than I have in a week!
Cheers to day 4 – Bring it on!!
xoxoxox
Bridget
:heart:
Had a great 10 mile bike ride. Tomorrow is back to weights.
I didn’t think it would happen yesterday (day 3). I was SO tired, I just could barely function. Got up at 7am to go shopping, home at 11am. By noon, I was laying in bed watching my kids play the Wii I got to workout with. I laid there almost all day, and fell asleep around 3pm. Woke up at 6pm starving to death. Ate dinner, took a shower and laid back in bed. Suddenly I felt like I actually had some energy. Turned the Wii on at 9pm and did a fairly intense workout. Worked up a good sweat, sides and legs hurting, ended with some yoga and another shower. Went to bed again and slept like a baby until 6am today (an hour and a half ago). I’m really proud of myself for managing to get that workout in before bed. I’m sure if I hadn’t, I’d have been up all night tossing and turning. So, even though I was a lazy bum most of the day, I still managed to pass day 3! YEAH!
Whew. I’m late.
Yesterday I managed a 20 minutes swim at about 5pm. My father saw me swimming the front crawl and gave me the thumbs up. :D
it was my daughters 20th birthday today so I knew I woudn’t have much time for exercises on day 3. Still, managed a it of isometrics, stair walking and leg curls – probably about 10 – 15 mins worth but hey, better than not doing anything.
So, Monday I have planned to do more and I should have the time. It’s such a shame that I can’t jog due to an old ankle injury. I can only hobble for a short while!
I quickly signed up as I learned of this challenge. This is just what I need. I haven’t been doing any exercise at all for quite some time, and I need a nudge to get going.
As a latecomer this is my Day 1.
After I signed up, I went down to the nearby gym and had a 12 minute jog on the treadmill. Just going to the gym was a good thing, as I haven’t been there for a long time.
Tomorrow I will focus on small daily activities like walking instead of taking the bus, standing up working and taking the stairs.
:dance: Finally, I’m back to the world ( I mean the internet :lol: )
It’s been day 4 already but I haven’t posted my day 3 so….here it’s :)
I woke up quite late yesterday( very late to be exactly :p ) so my morning exercise became 20 mins in bafternoon. I didn’t go for any outdoor activities due to bad weather. And I ended my day with another exercise before bed. Well, I guess that’s all :)
What physical activity did you do (if any), and for how long?
Almost none.
Any reflections for today?
Woke up tired, was tired all day, and went to sleep tired. I stood up while working for a bit, but that was all I persuaded myself to do.
What physical activity do you plan to do tomorrow?
Something! Anything! For 30 minutes at least! :-)
did 45 minutes of cardio interval training on treadmill
and a little abs work after.
a little sore but feeling ok.
tomorrow will be a fitness class at gym followed by a swim
What physical activity did you do (if any), and for how long?
Jogging – 4kms in 27mins (not bad consisting I have not been jogging in weeks)
Arm Strengthening – 5mins
Yoga – 15mins
Any reflections for today?
It was good to get out and run again, I pushed myself during the workout. Although the rest of the day was not so great as I suffered from a headache most of the day but I did finish the day with a simple workout and did 5mins of meditation.
What physical activity do you plan to do tomorrow?
I will be sticking to my usual workouts as I feel it is just what my body needs.
No exercising today and no good reason. It was cold and rainy but I could have used Wii Fit. Tomorrow I will do that if I can’t walk.
So, Day Three.
I am behaving my way out of not wanting to exercise, or the mindset that I don’t want to exercise. That is, I actually look forward to the exercise, and how invigorated I feel after a work-out. I am realizing that this is the way that I want to live! Sometimes I even SING when I swim(backstroke)! And I do visualization and affirmations. It all helps to bring me closer and closer to my optimum health, and to my ideal weight that reflects that. :D
Like today, I made it to the ocean, and it was a very active ocean, and I swam/exercised in the water for about two hours…I just kept moving! It was late afternoon and the moon was rising, and I was part of the whole, delicious beach scene …ocean, birds, palm trees, big blue sky…it was beautiful, and I am glad to be alive and kicking in the wild surf!… and grateful to move forward. :heart:
Tomorrow I will work with my bands and land exercises. My body is sore tonight, and I am in the process of strengthening my body and my resolve to keep going! :dance: It’s SO worth it, and although it has taken a verrry long time to get to embracing this new mindset, I realize that I am SO worth it! ;)
Bette
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