The End of the July Challenge and What's up for August

Final Thoughts on July

Splits

I'm going to be honest. It didn't go well. I know I said last week that I was going to get back into the splits stretches but it just didn't happen. When I look back on it, I think I had 2 problems. The first one is, like I said, I have never really enjoyed stretching. So, finding the motivation to do it was a lot more difficult. The 2nd thing is, I would always leave the stretches until the evening, but towards the end of the month I started to get really busy and by the time I was home and had time to do the stretches, I was tired. Not really good excuses, but there you have it! Even though I sorta dropped the ball on the stretches towards the end, my flexibility has improved a lot! I can touch the ground from a standing position, which I could never do before. I can also kick up a lot higher in my cardio workouts than I used to be able to. So, I'm going to call it a small victory!

Ripped in 30

I finished week 4 of "Ripped" strong! I managed to get 6 workouts in in my last week. I started out pretty strong, and finished stronger so I was pretty happy about that! Week 3 was difficult. Really difficult. And fun, in a challenging way! However, even though Week 4 was also challenging, the step up from Week 3 to Week 4 was far easier than the step up from Week 2 to Week 3. All in all, I really enjoyed Week 4! You can really see everything that you worked for paying! My squats were lower and stronger. I could use heavier weights for a lot of the exercises. Also, my stamina for cardio was a lot better!

Also! The night before my last workout, I got less than 2 hours of sleep. Despite that, the fact that I  worked out in the morning, I was able to hit my last workout pretty hard! But, Bilbo was less into it than usual...

One final thought about 'Ripped in 30.' I know a lot of people are concerned about the space needed to do a workout at home. This workout series is a great one if you only have a limited amount of space.

This is where I workout!

August Challenge

Hello from Texas! It's layover time here in Dallas. I'm on route to Charleston, S. Carolina, which is where my epic 2 week road trip begins! I'm going to be in 6 states (not including the ones that are just driven through) in the next 2 weeks. I'm also going to be spending a lot of time in a car and a lot of time eating delicious local food. While traveling, it's tempting to disregard all exercise and diet projects... at least, I've always done it that way in the past! But, this time, I was determined to think of things I could do while traveling. So... for August, 3 challenges!

Challenge 1: Drink Water! I'm terrible at drinking water! So terrible in fact, that friend in the past have questioned how I'm still alive. There was a point in my life when I would only drink about a dixie-sized cup of water a day. I have improved from that, but I still don't drink enough. My water challenge is going to be, to drink at least 2 liters of water every day!

Challenge 2: Jump Rope Challenge! I'm going to do a 30 day jump rope challenge. Jump ropes are easily transportable, and I don't need a lot of room to jump rope. Jumping rope is also a crazy good cardio exercise. 

This is the jump rope challenge I've decided to do!

And, this is the jump rope I bought!

Challenge 3: 8fit! I downloaded an app called 8fit last month at the recommendation of a friend. Some days, last month when I was feeling a bit more ambitious, I did an 8fit workout along with the Jillian workouts I was doing. Most of the workouts are under 15 minutes and you can choose the level that you workout at. I know that I'm going to be traveling and moving around a lot. So, I'm going to start doing 8fit only 3 days a week, and when I return to Korea, I'll increase that to 5 days a week!

Until next time!

Week 3 down, 1 more to go!

With the heat, came the humidity. It was supposed to rain all week, but rather than the sweet relief of cooling rain, it's just been hot, thick and sticky. it seems like the humidity is particularly bad this year. However, it's probably just the fact that this time, the past 2 years in a row, I was enjoying a beautiful Washington State summer. Despite the predicted rain, and the actual humidity I managed to get 6 Jillian workouts in, in week 3 as well as average 17,000 steps per day!

Level 3 of Ripped in 30, like all the other levels, starts off with a warm-up. However, this in't an "ease our way into things" sort of warm-up. It's more a "pedal to the floor" sort of warm-up! Rather than the usual dynamic stretching exercises, level 3 begins with cardio and strength focused dynamic stretching.

Level 3 didn't just step it up for the warm-up. Even though weights are only used in less than 1/2 of the strength training workouts, Jillian really pushes you with her body weight exercises. The first circuit really killed my quads and hamstrings. Bear crawl (a crawl forward on your hands and toes with your knees and inch from the ground) followed by duck walk, is no joke!

I'm pretty good at core and leg strength, but significantly weaker in my arms and shoulders. It's as if someone whispered "torture her" into Jillian's ear because the strength training in circuit 3 pounds your shoulders with no remorse. 

In the end, I feel like I finished week 3 strong 'Ripped in 30' wise... but I struggled in other areas. I ended last week pretty resolute about focusing more time on flexibility. I started off the week doing just that, by trying to get at least 2 flexibility stretching routines in per day. However, towards the end of the week I was skipping the flexibility workouts. I need to get back into it for week 4! 

Not part of my July challenge specifically, but just a general change I've been trying to make is working on my diet. In week 3, I also slipped a little diet-wise. I definitely ate too much dessert, and too much in general during week 3. I'll definitely focus on that for week 4 as well!

Sweating so good!

Shoulders!

A definite victory this week is that I fit back into some bras that I had grown out of. I definitely did not want to buy new bras! So expensive! 

Next week I'm flying back to America for a visit! My next update will probably be made from the airport! I'm working on finalizing my August challenges now, which will be focused on workouts and health habits you can do while traveling!

And finally, some pictures of Bilbo who has started cuddling with my weights!

Until next week!

July Challenge - 1/2 way complete!

Monday was "Chobok" in Korea, which is the first official day of the hot season, and it arrived with a bang!The temperatures have certainly been heating up... and so have I! Ok, you can stop the eye roll now... Silliness aside, I haven't let the rising temperatures deter me from continuing my July challenge with enthusiasm! Ripped in 30 certainly ups its intensity in level 2... I mean, 2 minutes of cardio in plank is just ridiculous! But it feels so good when you finish, dripping with sweat and ready to take on the world.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Protein Shake

When do you workout in the day? Morning? Afternoon? Evening? I always have mixed feelings about when to workout. I always used to wake up early and workout before work. It's nice because it usually energizes me for the rest of my day. It's also done and I don't have to think about it for the rest of the day. However, the biggest positive about working out early for me is that, because I'm an extreme extrovert, it's really hard for me to say "No, I have to workout." when people ask me if I want to "hang out" or "have dinner" after work. Working out early eliminates that worry. I can get my workouts in, and still spend time with friends in the evenings! The downside is, I have significantly more energy when I work out in the afternoons or evenings. I always push my PM workouts harder. I get sweatier and I feel stronger. This last week, I was pretty good about working out in the mornings, because I knew that there were things that I wanted to do after work. However, the best workout I had all week was Thursday afternoon when I really killed the workout. Is there anything that I can do to push my morning workouts harder?

Look! I can put my forehead on my knees now!

The splits challenge... oh, the splits challenge. I was reading up a bit more on how to obtain your splits. It turns out... I'm still not stretching enough! I was doing about 12 mins of stretching per day... but I guess I need to at least double, if not triple that amount. Being able to do the splits is hard work! Definitely a lot more difficult for me than interval training! For some reason, I always though that you just had to stretch the muscles in your inner thighs to be able to do the splits. This is not true at all. You really have to stretch and be flexible in all the muscles in your legs. I'm especially tight in my shins so I really have to work on that! I have made progress, but not as much as I would like.

Action shot! (Bilbo is always a big help...)

Even though my focus this July has been on 'Ripped in 30' and stretching for splits, my biggest fitness accomplishment in week 2 had nothing to do with either! Back in June I was supposed to run the Kim Dae Jung peace marathon. (well, the 10 kilometer part of it) Along with my friend, Hana, I was running as part of a team called "Running 4 Resettlement." our team's purpose was to raise money to help support the resettlement of N. Korean refugees in S. Korea. Unfortunately, because of the MERS outbreak (overreaction), the race was postponed until Jul 12. I had been training for the 10K leading up to the original June date, but had basically stopped running for the month between the original date and the rescheduled date. Last week I ran once on Thursday to try to last-minute prepare but it was pretty discouraging. It was only about 4km, but it was so difficult! On race day I was a bit nervous. It had been near 100 degrees the day before and rain and thunderstorms were forecast for the 12th. However, in the end, I did well! The rain was a blessing in disguise! It rained lightly to moderately during the race time, but didn't start pouring until after. The result was a cool and refreshing run! Also, aside from a very short, "I'm drinking water," walk at the 5km mark, I ran the entire thing. I finished the 10K in 1:01:59. Less than 10 minute miles! Also, I came in 20th out of the 57 women who ran the 10K. Not bad for my first long-ish race!

Pre-race

Post-race! (The large reddish/purple mark on my forehead is from a mosquito bite I got a week previously!)

Trying to cover said mosquito bite.

Meat reward!

New shoes reward! I was tired of using my running shoes for my Jillian workouts
So... I got new shoes which are exclusively for working out indoors!
I didn't intend for my shoes to color coordinate with my workout gear, but it was a happy coincidence!

Post week 2!

I started week 3 of Jillian today... I'll leave most of the talking until next week, but prepare yourselves for duck walk and bear crawl talk!

Until then!

1 week down, 3 more to go!

Even though I worked out one less day than I had hoped to in the last week... I still accomplished my goal of at least 5 days of working out! I feel great!

After the Week 1, Day 3. Sometimes you gotta
get ugly to look good!

Protein Smoothie

The first couple days were really difficult! I was so sore after the Jillian Workout! It was really hard to motivate myself to do the 3rd day, but my muscles actually relaxed a lot more after that 3rd workout and I felt much better. I should always remember that the excuse, "I'm too sore to workout." is absolutely ridiculous! My soreness always improves after a workout! I was also happy with my 3rd day of Jillian because  I  totally killed it! Following the workout I made a 'Peanut Butter and Jelly' protein smoothie. You can find the recipe here! It's really delicious, filling, and has 25g of protein as well as BCAA's which help your muscles recover after a workout! The smoothie was such a success, that I think I'll definitely experiment more with different smoothie recipes in the future! There are some involving coffee that I definitely want to try out!

On Saturday I took a break because I traveled out to an island off of the cost of Incheon, Korea with some friends. I did spend quite a lot of time walking around in the sand, so I feel like that definitely counts for a workout of sorts, even if it doesn't fall into this current challenge! 

              

It was nice to have some time away from the city. And, although I didn't take any pictures... I felt great in my bathing suit and that certainly says something! Additionally, one of the new friends I met on the trip is very enthusiastic about giving others' massages! Since I was a little stiff from all of the workouts I had been doing, I took her up on her massage offer and certainly don't regret it! I felt so relaxed afterwards... even though I'm I terrible massage receiver; the kind of person who feels extremely ticklish or in pain, and never anywhere in between! 

The view from the yard of the pension,
where I worked out.

On Sunday I woke up fairly early. Another friend, Grace, happened to be a licensed fitness instructor so she offered to lead us through a yoga routine. I tried my best, but I'm still not the most flexible, so yoga is always a challenge! Grace had to push me into some of the positions, but the stretch felt good! After yoga, she decided to do a bit of interval training. Now, this, I could handle! (Thanks Jillian!) Lunges, push-ups, jumping jacks, sit-ups, no problemo! Grace was impressed by how well I handled the workout. All in all, I built up quite a sweat and really had a nice time working out in such a beautiful place! Although... I do wish I had worn some kind of bug repellent!

On Monday I intended to jump back into Ripped, but instead, laid on my bed when I got home and fell asleep immediately... until 10:30pm! I decided that I must need the sleep, so after getting up for a longish walk with Bilbo, I decided to go straight back to bed. 

On Tuesday I woke up totally rejuvenated. I had an awesomely productive day at work and then went home and destroyed the last level 1 workout! I felt really great after! Here are some progress pictures. The top 2 are the ones I took after I finished the ab challenge that I did in June. The bottom 2 are just a week later after finishing level 1, of 'Ripped in 30.' I can see a difference in toning! 

Now, don't think I've forgotten about the stretching/splits challenge! For the last week, I've been doing the same stretching for splits video that I posted in my last entry. There has definitely been an improvement, even if it hasn't been drastic! I'm sticking with it and will post pictures when I get around to taking them! 

For the next week... I'll continue my splits training while moving on to level 2 in 'Ripped in 30.' Also, on Sunday I'm running the Peace Marathon in Seoul. I signed up for the 10K portion as a fundraiser to raise money for North Korean refugees. The race was originally supposed to happen last month, but because of the MERS scare it was moved to Sunday, the 12th. Fingers crossed that I survive the July heat, the predicted rain and the run itself!

Until next time!

July Challenges!

Challenge 1

Towards the end of my 30 day ab challenge, I was thinking about what I could do next. I really enjoyed the ab challenge in part because I had recruited some friends to do it along with me. I think, for many people, having others keep you accountable for what you're supposed to be doing is really helpful! This is certainly true of me! 

With a July challenge in mind, I posted on Facebook asking if anyone was interested in doing a 30 day Jillian Michaels workout video challenge. I first thought of Jillian because we go pretty far back. I was familiar with Jillian because of 'The Biggest Loser.' and I had done one of her videos before but it had been a while. Then, in 2013 I went through a breakup. Recognizing that during a previous breakup, I self-sabotaged myself and my health (unconsciously at the time), I decided that rather than eat my way out of my sadness, I would exercise it out of me. I dove into Jillian Michael's videos  completing 2 of her workout programs ('30 Day Shred,' 'Ripped in 30').

Pre-Jillian... sorry for the photo quality. It's actually difficult to find photos of me at that time!

Post-Shred and Ripped,  Pre-Keto Diet
Also, the first time, in about 25 years, that I wore a bikini!

I really love Jillian's 3-2-1 interval system. In around 30 minutes I can get a high intensity workout in, which combines strength training, cardio and ab work. Whenever I do a Jillian Michaels workout video program, I always see good results! So, after I started the keto diet, I returned to Jillian doing her 'Body Revolution' series. 

Had recently started 'Body Revolution'

Totally beasted it this day!

After completing the 90 Day, 'Body Revolution,' program.

Some friends were interested in participating in  a Jillian challenge, but others responded that they were interested in participating in a workout challenge, but wanted to do something other than a Jillian video. I decided to just make it a "July Fitness Challenge." where everyone who wanted to join committed to working out out 5-6 days a week for the month of July! We're on day 3 in Korea (day 2 in the U.S.) and so far I've seen a great group of people, some of whom don't even know each other, really support each other! I'm pretty excited about it! 

I have stuck with the original Jillian Michaels plan... specifically 'Ripped in 30.' I've done it before so I know I like it and that I can make it through this month! However, even though I've done it before, and I'm pretty familiar with this workout and it's moves, I have made it more difficult by upping the weights I'm using. I used to do the workout with 1kg hand weights. Now I'm using 2 and 3 kg weights! It's definitely making a big difference! I'm really feeling it in my shoulder blades and thighs today! Days 1 and 2 are complete... doing day 3 tonight! 

Challenge 2

This picture is from high school... notice the sweatshirt!

I'm not flexible. I've never been flexible. In fact... I'm almost the worst person I know at flexibility. I think some people are probably naturally more flexible, and I'm not one of them. However, I have to also admit that I don't like stretching. I've never been much of a stretcher. Even after a workout the stretches that I do are pretty limited. 

Last week, Elle asked me how close I was to being able to do the splits. I responded with a very confident, "Not even a little close." To which she suggested, "Why don't we do a splits challenge?" 

So... the plan is simple. We're going to do some stretching exercises every day with the hope of being able to do the splits by the end of the month. I'm currently using the following video:

Elle started with this video, which was extremely intimidating (but impressive):

To be honest, I'm not sure how confident I am about being able to do it by the end of the month, but I'm absolutely going to put in my time every day to get there, or as close as I can get! If I don't make it this month, I'm going to try my hardest to complete it as soon as possible!

I'll leave you with a photo of me on day 1, before having done the splits stretch video... but after 'Ripped': 

Check back soon for updates! Until then!

Weighed Down by Weight

“Big fat Chinese girl!” he said as he rode past me on his bike. I was 8 and it was the first time anyone had every commented on my size. I ran home and jumped into my mom’s lap, crying and too ashamed to tell her the reason why. Later I thought, “I’m not Chinese…” but allowed the “fat” comment to add weight to my body image (issues). No one said anything else about my size until I was 10, and at that time, it was the people I loved.

5th Grade

“Don’t you want to wear this dress someday?”

“You can’t buy that t-shirt, it shows the lines on your back.”

“I’ll pay you $100 if you can lose 10lbs by the end of the summer.”

“You don’t want to play softball. You’re not athletic.”

“You would be so pretty if…”

Freshman year of college... still in the
sweatshirt phase!

I know that the comments were made out of love and concern but they continued to chip away at my confidence. Because of them, I felt discouraged about my ability to get healthy. In middle school, I never pushed myself in P.E. class. In high school I wore sweatshirts every day, no matter the temperature. (“Aren’t you hot?” they said. With sweat running down my face, I lied, “No, I’m not.”)

In college, free from all of those comments and in spite of being a prime example of “the freshman 15,” I started to rebuild my confidence. I began taking PE classes for fun! I sometimes went to the gym, and I got involved with a Scottish Country Dance Group. By the end of college I was feeling pretty good about myself then…

They couldn't find one that fit and ended up
awkwardly pinning this one.

I moved to S. Korea where the average woman is significantly smaller in size and build compared to the average American woman. I am certainly aware of the pressure in America to be thin. In Korea that pressure is multiplied 10 fold! So, although  the pressure to lose weight wasn't coming from my loved ones this time, it was everywhere around me. It was completely inescapable. For a year I avoided scales knowing that the number on the scale was getting higher and higher every day. The confidence I had built in college didn't stand a chance because by the time I finally did weigh myself, I was the heaviest I had ever been. Here was that weight, weighing me down again. Eventually, at the very end of my first year in Korea, a friend convinced me to to go the gym with her. It was a small gym full of middle-aged Korean ladies wearing scandalous aerobics costumes. I loved it! Who wouldn't? So, I continued to go there through my second year. However no amount of being at the gym was going to do anything without clear goals. 

Every New Years, I would make the resolution to “lose weight.” Or, “exercise more.” Or “eat less.” And every year, I failed. I realize in hindsight that my goals were too vague! What I mean by that is, if your goal is to “eat less.” What does that mean exactly and how will you know that you achieved it? If I can say, concretely “I did it!” on the exact moment I achieved something, I feel accomplished! My second year in Korea I set my first achievable fitness goal which was to “Run a 10 minute mile before the end of my 2^nd year in Korea.” On that last day, of my 2^nd year, I did it and it felt great! Since then, I have set and achieved multiple fitness goals!

“Run 5 miles in less than 55mins.”

“Get a gym membership.”

“Finish season 1 of Zombies, Run!”

I learned how to cook!

Keto Results!

2 years ago I made the goal to try a ketogenic diet (extremely low carb, 

high fat) for 1 month. It was hard at first, but by the middle of the month I was really in the swing of it, and by the end of the month I knew that I wanted to continue eating keto. I ended up sticking with keto until last autumn when I realized that while I had lost a lot of weight, my fitness ability was lacking. I didn’t have the workout stamina that I used to have. It was disappointing because I was never aiming for skinny; my aim was always to be athletic!

Last fall I worked on reintroducing carbs while watching my portion sizes. I also walking a lot and went running a couple times a week. It worked! I kept the weight off and felt stronger! Until... 

Post run sun absorption! 

     

Bilbo, not being a good
exercise supporter!

Winter. Oh winter… so many wonderful things. Baked goods, holidays, cozy warm apartments and my cuddly cocker spaniel… these things are not conducive to weight loss or maintenance or better overall fitness! It was difficult to find the motivation to push myself during those cold months. 

When spring began, I made some small changes. I started bringing my lunch to work and I walked my dog more often. In June, I stumbled upon a 30 day ab challenge event on facebook. I decided to give it a go and actually, completed it yesterday! On time even! This really reminded me of what it’s like to set a goal and achieve it! This feeling of success inspired me to continue setting myself monthly health goals. When talking with my friend Elle about my July goals, she suggested that I make a blog about making health goals and trying to achieve them. So, here we are! 

Front and side comparisons of before and after the
ab challenge

Also, please excuse the mess!
My friend was packing!

The relationship I have with  my body image has always been complicated. I'm sure that I will always have that chubby little girl inside of me, whispering that I'm still not quite there yet. However, I'm learning to recognize when she's affecting me. I hope that this health challenge helps me form a lot of healthy habits and gives me a healthier body image. 

Soon, I will post the details of the two health challenges I have given myself for the month of July! 

Until then!