October - The First Half...

Sorry for the lack of an update after the first week! Things at work got a bit busier than I expected! I also had a stressful personal situation last week that took over a lot of my mental time. (a break in) It eventually got to the point where I might as well just wait and bundle the first 2 weeks into one post! The time has also gone by so quickly. It honestly doesn't feel like it's already been 2 weeks!

No School Lunch - Success!

I have not caved to eating the school lunch even once! I'm trying to pack healthy, mostly balanced lunches. I have not been very good about taking photos of what I'm eating, but perhaps I'll try to be better about that for the future. Luckily, the boyfriend is really wonderful and often prepares lunch for me... or he makes enough dinner to have leftovers for lunch. This has made it a lot easier. However, maybe for the next 2 weeks in addition to not eating the school lunch, I'll also try to be more proactive about preparing lunch! (unless it's leftovers! I really am a big fan of leftovers! haha)

Example 1 of a leftover lunch! A vegetable noodle soup that has a lot of pickled and spicy flavor. Delicious!

Example 2 of a leftover lunch! A chicken and chickpea curry with mixed grain rice! Oh, plus an egg, because after eating them every day last month, I'm still not tired of them!

Workout 4 Days a Week - Success!

I did join Body and Seoul the first week. I signed up for 4 classes a week and so far I haven't wasted my money by skipping a class! As I expected, I've mostly focused on the Fight Fit classes. The 3 trainers I've had for fight fit have also all be great. It's nice to take classes from a variety of people because obviously, they offer variety! I hadn't done any strength training since my July challenge so my muscles were definitely out of practice. The first couple lessons were a real shock to my system. Honestly, I could barely move after the 2nd session I did and couldn't even straighten my legs all the way. I took a needed rest day and then jumped right back into it! The body is so interesting though! Even if I'm crazy sore before a workout, exercising seems to blast the soreness away... even if it's just temporarily. I can't wait to get stronger! Specifically, I can't wait to build up my upper body strength!

Try Yoga and/or Pilates - Success!

Last Friday, the 9th, I did a pilates class. It was very legs focused and really intense but I enjoyed it! It was more of a calming intense... if that makes any sense at all! Unfortunately the pilates classes at Body and Seoul are rarely scheduled for times that I can attend them. The only reason I was able to attend the class was because last Friday was a holiday and I was able to go there in the late morning.

I was talking to a lady after Fight Fit on Tuesday and she said I should stay for Yoga after a Fight Fit class, so I think I'll try that next week! She thinks it really helps to stretch out the muscles after such an intense workout! 

Practice Guitar Everyday - Fail :(

Well... technically a failure because I didn't practice every day... but also a victory because I practiced a heck of a lot more than I ever have before! I'm actually starting to build some calluses on my fingers! I really like Yousician, but of course, because I'm using the free version there are some limitations to how long I can use the app for and there are also advertisements trying to convince you to pay for it. It might be something worth considering later. But at the moment, the free version is working out just fine. 

To wrap things up... I'm happy about how October has gone so far and I'm looking forward to continuing through the rest of the month and beyond! Even though it's only been about a week and a 1/2 of actual classes at Body & Seoul, I'm already seeing changes in my body. Things are difinitely getting firmer and stronger. Also, after so long working out solo in my living room, it's nice to work out in a group again! It's also been nice eating my own meals at school. Finally... I'm excited about the progress I've made with the guitar so far and am looking forward to continuing it and improving! Maybe one day soon, I'll even be able to play an entire song! haha

Until next time!

September Wrap up and October Challenges

Hello October! It's kind of hard to look back when I'm already looking forward! October 1st certainly brought the autumn weather. It was a miserably rainy and blustery day... and I loved it! Today, on the other hand, is beautiful. The sky is clear. The morning was cool, but the afternoon will be warm. And, it's these kinds of contrasts, from day to day and morning to afternoon, that make autumn really special! 

Even though I'm excited about October already... let's start by wrapping up September... 

Egg Challenge

Although I didn't get as creative as I planned to be for the egg challenge, I am pleased with how it turned out because I did eat eggs every September morning! It was nice to set aside some time most mornings (when I wasn't picking up convenience store eggs) and have a nice breakfast. It's a good way to have some down time, rather than springing out of bed and rushing around until you get to work.

Sept. 22 - Andrew (the boyfriend) is really good at making super fluffy scrambled eggs without adding milk or cream! They're amazing and so tasty. Here are some of his scrambled eggs with a 1/2 slice of toast, salad and plain yogurt with kiwi.

Sept. 23 - Andrew's scrambled eggs again with bacon/olive/cheese toast

Sept. 24 - Fried eggs with the same bacon/olive/cheese toast

Sept. 25 - Same convenience store eggs and Tuna triangle kimbap

Sept. 26 - I was so enthusiastic about eating breakfast I forgot to take a photo until the very last minute! Andrew's scrambled eggs and peanut butter toast... I think there was more, but I can't remember!

Sept. 27 - I made Shakshuka again. this time with a side of toasted baguette pieces

Sept. 28 - Fried eggs and garlic sweet potatoes

Sept. 29 - An egg sandwich from The Beastro. This was a really "egg"cellent egg sandwich!

Sept. 30 - My eggs aren't as fluffy as Andrews (even though mine are plus milk!), but here are my scrambled eggs with 2 slices of bacon and yogurt and granola!

Walking, Week 4

Unfortunately I didn't hit my walking goal the final week. Aside from the final day, when I was feeling miserably sick, I don't know what happened. I guess I didn't make much extra effort to get my steps in and wasn't being as mindful of how it was all adding up together. For all 9 days I only got 105,641 steps in, which averages out to 11,738 steps per day. 

It makes a nice color pattern though, right?

October!

I'll be honest, a couple days into October and I'm kind of at a mediocre start. I did suddenly get pretty sick the final day of September, which stayed through the first day of October. It must have been a 24 hour bug though because I'm feeling pretty good now. 

Anywho... for October, 4 new challenges...

Challenge 1: No School Lunch!

When I was keto dieting I couldn't eat the school lunch, so I gave it up completely. When I stopped keto I mostly continued to bring lunch to school, but when I was feeling too lazy to make lunch, I would just eat the school lunch... this was once or twice a week. For September, with all the life changes and stresses that were happening, in order to relieve one burden, I just ate the school lunch every day. 

Now, let me be clear. The school lunch in Korea is in no way unhealthy compared to the school lunches in America, which are disgraceful for the most part as far as I'm concerned. However, there are 2 big problems with school lunch at my school for me. Number 1, because I don't make it, I don't know what's in it. This makes tracking my calories really difficult. Number 2, my school lunch is served buffet style, and it's really delicious! Therefore, I have a lot of trouble controlling my portion sizes! 

Here are some examples of lunch: 

Challenge 2: Workout 4 Days a Week!

Related to this... join a gym. I've already polled some people and have decided on Body & Seoul, which is located not far from my house. It's actually a martial arts center, offering classes in Muay Thai, Grappling, MMA, and Women's self defense. However, the class that I'm most interested in is called "Fight Fit." It looks like intense interval training, which is what I usually enjoy! One thing I like about the gym is that you pay for how many classes a week you would like to attend and you can attend any class you want. So, I can try a lot of different things and if I'm busy at a time that I usually attend class, I can just attend a class at a different date or time. 

Challenge 3: Try Yoga and/or Pilates

Like I said before... I've never really be interested in stretching and with that... yoga. However, I've never really done a yoga class before. Body & Seoul also offers class in Yoga and Pilates. I've decided that I should at least give one, or both of them a try before I pass such harsh judgement. I really want to work on toning, and they're probably really good for that! Also... I still want to be a more flexible person and that's not going to just magically happen on it's own, haha! And, finally. My posture in universally acknowledged as terrible. It's something that I really need to work on, and perhaps yoga/pilates will help!

Challenge 4: Practice Guitar Everyday! 

Ok... this isn't exactly a physical health or fitness challenge... but it is a mental health challenge! 

I had a guitar but the action was really high so it was extremely difficult to learn on as a beginner and discouraging! Luckily a friend (thanks Yi!) has given me her guitar. This guitar is a lot easier to play so I'm out of excuses! It's been a goal of mine to learn guitar for a long time. I played clarinet when I was younger, but I've always wanted to be able to play an instrument that I could sing along to. Andrew heard of an app called Yousician from a friend and told me about it. I've gone through a couple of the lessons on it and so far it's been really helpful! Partially because it feels like I'm playing a game! If I can dedicate a little time to playing guitar every day, I'm sure I'll improve quickly!

Like July, I've started up another health challenge for October among some friends on facebook. The ides is to support each other, keep each other accountable and cheer each other on! This was really successful in July so I'm looking forward to it for October.

Excited to write about my first week! Until then!