Failures, Big Changes and Looking Forward

August Challenge Results

When planning for my August challenges I thought that the hardest part of the challenges would be accomplishing them on my vacation and that things would get easier when I returned to Korea. It actually ended up being the opposite!

The water challenge was never really a problem. I re-downloaded an app that I used to use called Plant Nanny for ios, which encourages you to drink water by way of watering your virtual plant. If I haven't watered your plant (had some water) for a while, the app will send me a message saying it's thirsty, which is a great reminder to drink more water! You raise the plants until they're full grown, then you start over with a new plant! I've also started using a reusable straw cup at my desk. As I said in my previous post, using a straw really helps me drink more water!

Might as well be a cute cup, right?

Now... the jump rope challenge. Upon returning to Korea, I made a pretty strong effort at first but being busy and stress really got the better of me. I've returned to a full work schedule and on top of that I've had a lot on my plate with moving. First, my boyfriend finished his contract with his old place, so we moved him into my place. However, my lease is also up soon so we set to work on finding a new place to live. Moving is stressful. Moving in a country where you don't speak the language fluently is even more stressful! We ended up finding some good real estate agents and found a great place. I'm excited to move. However, now we're dealing with all the logistics of moving! Hiring a moving company... selling off things we don't need anymore... changing billing addresses and car registration information... wah!!! I usually power through stressful times with exercise, but it has been hard. I think I got up to doing 800 jumps and then just stopped. I do regret not finishing... but, I also recognize that there are times you have to give yourself a bit of leeway.

8fit... yeah... that never really happened. Perhaps I'll revisit it at a later date! 

September Challenges

Now for the part I'm really excited about! Despite still being busy with moving logistics, I'm feeling good about September. As the month has already started, I've already been hard at work on them, and so far so good! Next week I will update! I've decided on 3 achievable challenges for September. Here they are:

Eggs!

In the past few months I've been eating a lot of carbs for breakfast. In fact, since I've been back at school, I've gotten into the bad habit of choosing 10 more minutes of sleep over getting up and making breakfast. Rather than preparing my own breakfast, I've been opting to stop at the student store and buy sugar and preservative packed pastries. I'm always hungry soon after and I've felt noticeably more sluggish in the morning.

Back when I was keto-dieting I ate eggs for breakfast most mornings and I loved it! Eggs always keep me full longer than other breakfast options. I also have more energy in my morning when I eat eggs. Unfortunately, eggs have been given a bad reputation in the past. Nutritionists used to say they were too high in fat and would raise your cholesterol, leading to heart disease. However, more modern research says that while eggs do raise cholesterol, they actually raise HDL cholesterol, which is the good kind for you. Eggs also turn dense LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) into large LDL cholesterol, which is benign. In addition to having a positive effect on your cholesterol, eggs are high in antioxidants, as wells as phosphorous, choline, and many vitamins! Another positive for me is that eggs do not raise your insulin levels, while other carb focused breakfasts would! Finally, eggs also rank high on the satiety index, which means that eating eggs will keep you full longer. A study from 2008 concluded that when 2 groups of people were given the same amount of calories for breakfast in the morning, but one group was given eggs and the other a bagel, that the people who ate eggs would eat less throughout the day, which resulted in better weight and fat loss results. No wonder they call eggs a superfood! 

Image courtesy of winnond at freedigitalphotos.net

So, the challenge is simple! Eat an egg-centered breakfast every morning of September!

Walking

Those who know me well, know that I've had a Fitbit for about a year now. Over the year, it has really inspired me to get more walking in during my everyday life. For example, sometimes I get up a little earlier and walk the 4km to work, rather than driving. Or, instead of taking the bus a few stops, I'll walk it. Or... I'll take Bilbo on extra long walks rather than quick bathroom breaks. I started off by setting my goal at 10,000 steps which is what many recommend to lead a healthy active life. After a few months I set my goal to 11,000 steps and it's remained there since then. For my walking challenge I've decided to make a weekly goal of 84,000 steps. This means I should be averaging around 12,000 steps per day. Luckily it's a wonderful time of year in Korea to get walking in! As long as it's not raining, the weather is really pleasant!

Running

When weighing positives and negatives about different neighborhoods in Seoul to live in, one major positive for staying in my current neighborhood was all of the parks and places to run I have near me. Ultimately, we chose a different neighborhood, which will have new and exciting running places to discover... but I'm still going to miss my usual running spots! So, my final challenge is, before the big move (in 9 days!) I'm going to run in each of my 3 favorite running spots one last time.

Challenges in America

I dragged my heavy laptop through all 9 states of my American trip with the intention of updating this blog whilst traveling. Unfortunately, an update was not meant to be. Between eating 5 meals a day, sightseeing and meeting family and friends, there wasn't a lot of time to sit down and focus on a blog post. Honestly, I think I was a little too ambitious with my challenges while traveling as well. I managed to do pretty well on my water drinking challenge, an jump rope challenge, but it was really difficult to get 8fit in.

The sky is so blue in America!

Hard to find the Reuben around all this pastrami...

Just chillin... on a tree!

Chicago

So far so good on the water challenge! I've been hitting at least 2L of water a day. It's funny... the more water I drink, the thirstier I seem to get. I think my body has adapted to drinking so little water over time that it had sort of accepted it. Now that I'm giving it more water, it just wants more and more! In a silly way, I miss not having to use the bathroom as often... but I guess my health is worth it!

Just kept refilling this 1L bottle on the road!

While driving it was useful to use this cup with a straw! Much safer! Also... I drink water a lot faster when I'm using a straw!

Jumping rope has actually been really fun! The first day I walked out of my hostel in Charleston at 6am and did all 100 jumps in one go without having to stop at all. Most days I was waking up early to get my jumps in before the day really got going. It has definitely gotten significantly more difficult as the month has gone on, and I had taken a couple days break with the flight and the jet lag... but I can do this! Today was a rest day on the calendar but I got 600 jumps in. Tomorrow I'll continue!

Getting your jumps in and watching the sun rise... there are worse ways to start you day!

Even got the boyfriend in on the jump rope action sometimes!

Now that I'm home in Korea the weather is crazy humid... even late at night and in the evening. I remembered that  my jump rope came with these balls that would simulate using a full rope. It's difficult to jump rope in the house with a full rope because I don't have very high ceilings, but these ball ropes have worked out really well for jumping in the house!

Expect my next entry to come in a lot let time than this one did! Until then!