This Is How A Perfectionist/Procrastinator Goes Back to Exercising

I probably had my mouth agape while sleeping last night. And I probably was snoring. And it seems like I was stuck in place like an immobile statue to the bed. And I am aching all over. It’s especially brutal when I go down the stairs.

Whatever!

I’ve put it off for long enough …

I am finally exercising again! (Squeal!)  🤗 🤗 🤗

I didn’t think it would be such a feat, but now that I think about it, my worrying about what to wear, where to exercise, how to exercise, how long to exercise, how often … that was just the perfectionist me procrastinating. I didn’t get it at first because I love to exercise. And I have no problem doing it at home. But I guess the body is a sneaky little thing, it likes to be lazy.

Well, lazy won’t get rid of my kangaroo pouch 😤 I’ve lost some post-baby weight already but, this pouch out front that’s just ruining my silhouette, it won’t go away without some deliberate physical activity.

First I had to get me a drill sergeant whose role was to tell me motivation started with getting off my fat ass 💥 (she actually said it like that!) and that, if it’s proving to be such a gargantuan effort to do something, that I should just start with blocking off the time. It didn’t matter if all I did was walk in place. Just honor that time as exercise time. Rinse and repeat until momentum builds up.

Well that’s what I did but the standing in place was a 5 min warm-up video by my favorite exercise team Daniel & Kelli, because as I stood there I thought “might as well”. And I followed that with a 5 minute cool down video because, having already warmed up I thought, “might as well”.

I allowed the first couple of days to not be perfect. To spend time tweaking stuff including creating a routine that would include feeding time for my baby. By Friday I had it down pat 👏 Which brings us to today’s glorious muscle soreness 🤩, proof that all I needed was to start where I was and improve from there.

So what’s the lesson here?

For fellow perfectionists/procrastinators it is this:

1. Get a coach/cheerleader/drill sergeant (whatever works) to motivate you because it really starts with your head. And if there’s nobody in your life that fits the bill (or you don’t want to spend the money) there are podcasts. I first had to sift through a few podcasts before I found Corinne, and her no-bs style of telling it like it is was just the kick in the arse I needed.
2. If necessary, start ridiculously small. So small that you tell yourself, “Oh what the heck, I can do more than that”.
3. Keep doing it and build on from there. You’re looking good, sexy thing! 🤩

Go Outside

I remember having listened to a health podcast last Friday where a well-renowned MD was sharing a story about how he almost lost his young son due to Vit D deficiency. And since Vit D is something you get from sunlight, it immediately reminded me of one of the pillars of keeping sane while being a SAHM – go outside.

Fortunately for me, there’s a temporarily re-purposed (still vacant for many years now) residential area within walking distance from where we live which I’ve taken to calling “the oval”. This was our destination last Friday.

So off I take the girls for what we expected to be a pleasant & relaxing afternoon stroll.

Unfortunately, the walk to the oval was anything but pleasant & relaxing. It was basically an obstacle course 😱

Yes, I went back just to snap this picture of a beautiful work of art 😤😤 The dried palm frond does unmistakably call to mind the letter “L” for the loser who did all this 🤬

You do see there is ample space for the garbage along the sides of the footpath, don’t you?

Then why place all the garbage ON the footpath? Whyyyyy??? 😖

All this navigating around trash was annoying, not to mention really tiring with a stroller, and I was truly irked at the lack of common sense by whoever did this.

But we somehow made it.

Aaaaah, finally!

But we were SO tired that we needed to rest.

Never mind the itchy, dry grass, I was tired 😫

Riri and mom ❤️

All was right again in paradise until 2 rowdy boys decided to kick around a ball in the same space we were in 🤯🤯🤯 I kept looking at them in the hopes they’d get the message – I’m with a baby for goodness’ sakes! – but noooo, they remained oblivious to me and my eldest’ worried glances. It reminded me of author Elizabeth Pisani’s comment in her historical fiction about Indonesia that Indonesian children are misbehaved. Well, I certainly wasn’t going to put up an argument considering what was just happening 😤😤

My thoughts were escalating from upset to murderous so we decided to hit the asphalt and try to get a decent walk out of it before we went through the obstacle course again on our way home.

Cotton candy on the horizon.

Holy sh*t, I was tired, sore and miffed upon arriving home. I am so out of shape that the walk and all that navigating around obstacles with a stroller really made my abdominal muscles sore. I might have gotten us some Vit D but I sure need to do something about my lack of fitness!

Okay, I had good intentions and, at least I tried. For the sake of sanity 😉

Flat Belly Made Easier 😉

Happy Monday beautiful people! ☺️

Sometimes (because most times I use music💃💃💃), when I need to get myself motivated to exercise, I scour the net for nutrition or fitness infographics. A few days ago I found this and thought you’d find it interesting too – might not be new information but a little reminder can’t hurt, right? ❤️ 😀

Oh and, I’m all for the dark chocolate advice. You too?! XD XD

Have a strong start to your week, peeps!

Why SAHMs Should Exercise 💃💪🏃

Several days ago I confessed to feeling bored and that, because I’m also a SAHM, this has triggered some sort of specific research into this notion  of ‘housewife boredom’.

I’ve since discovered that housewives’ schedules run the gamut from not having enough time to even comb one’s hair to just twiddling thumbs until it’s time to prepare dinner I found out as well that ‘housewife boredom’ also stems from a need to occupy time with something productive, challenging and self- nurturing ❤

Every housewife will have her own preferred solution to this predicament, but one that I (and obviously a lot of other health and wellness proponents) strongly recommend is ⭐ exercise ⭐ ❤

Exercise has given me a wealth of benefits, more so as a SAHM, and I cannot imagine life without it 😀 😀 Here are my reasons:

flaviliciousfitness.com

1. It gives you something to do ⭐

If the lack of structure and/or the abundance of idle time is the culprit, then establishing a regular exercise schedule is a life-saver.  This solution is furthermore scalable in terms of time, effort and interest required:  you can join a gym, take a walk, jump rope at home, do 15 minutes of flexibility stretches in your PJs or start with a plank for 1 minute each day if this is all you can do.

      2.  It releases feel-good endorphins ⭐

Being cooped up at home for most of the time and the lack of adult conversion can get us SAHMs into a funk We therefore need a readily available source of feel-good hormones handy – exercise!  It’s not a secret how exercise can make you feel good.  Read more about this here, here and here.

      3.  It gives you confidence ⭐

While I exercise I am constantly reminded of how awesome the human body is 🙂 I appreciate my body all the more when I notice it is responding to all that strength training I am doing (hello, toned midsection!), how much more flexible I have become and how much longer I can do dance fitness videos.

As you get better at your choice of physical activity, you come to appreciate your body more and more and cannot help but feel gratitude and pride for everything it is doing and can do for you.

At appearance level, exercise will make you walk taller and straighter as lethargy will no longer weigh you down. In its place will be ease of movement and vitality.  And that’s confidence boosting. And sexy! 😉 😉

      4.  It is self-nurturing.

Exercise time is ‘your time’.  It turns the focus back on us, we’re doing something for ourselves that will enhance the quality of our lives and by association, our family’s too.  It takes away stress and anxiety and puts sparkle and energy in its place.  That’s exciting, isn’t it? 🙂

fitbodybuzz.com

It’s actually quite easy to establish an exercise routine once you’ve set your mind to it.  My tips are – find something that you enjoy doing, start small, and do it at the same time each day.

Know that in the beginning your old self will do everything it can to stop you from doing it, and it is very good at doing so! But just remember that a few days is all it takes to change your internal dialogue and just 3 weeks to establish the habit.  Before you know it, you’ll be signing up for an organized run, or a Zumba master class! 🙂

Now log off and go! 💃❤️‍💃

Gotta Make Up for Yesterday! 😃 😄

Hello beautiful people! 😘

This post should’ve gone out yesterday, but I totes forgot that yesterday was Monday (this is a blatant lie, but you can’t blame me for trying)! 🤣

Seriously though, I owe you an update on my 3rd weekly challenge and the revelation of my 4th and final weekly challenge for the month.

So here we go …

… but before that, let’s warm-up to my favorite exercise video. I guarantee we’ll have fun 😁😁

 

 

 

Okay, are we warmed up now? 😀

So my 3rd weekly challenge is to eliminate mindless snacking. I picked this as a challenge because I’m trying to be vigilant about weight creep … wait, what is weight creep, I hear you ask? Well, that’s when our weight slowly creeps up, usually inadvertently on our part, due to certain repeated counterproductive behaviors that often become habits. Mindless snacking being one of them.

Snacking mindlessly has got to be one of a SAHM’s bane, because the circumstances are just so conducive for it. In my case, the fridge is always loaded because we are a family that L❤️‍VE sweets!

To me mindless snacking is like weeds in your garden. They grow back, so you have to be watchful and ready to remove them so the garden remains pretty.

When I decided to take this up as a weekly challenge last week what I had in mind was to understand my natural rhythm so I could manage cravings and make better food choices without feeling deprived & miserable.

The steps I took:

1.  I first identified the times I felt naturally hungry.

There’s no point working against natural hunger, especially when like me, you’re exercising on most days. Trying to deny it just makes us focus on food all the more.

I was able to identify that I was naturally hungry at 9AM (breakfast), anywhere between 12N-1PM (lunchtime), then again at around 3-4PM (big snack), and around 7PM (light dinner).

2. I also took note of what I liked to eat during these times.

I don’t know about you, but denying myself something because it’s high on the Glycemic index even if it’s what I want at that particular moment leads to baaaaaad, uncontrolable  cravings later on. I’ve experienced this SO many times already that I’m now schooled in honoring my tastebuds. I found out I needed simple carbs (like rice, bread, pasta) and protein in most meals or else I just wouldn’t be satisfied.

Oh and, a sweet treat from time to time is also a secret to success. (Ladies don’t be in denial, when that PMS rears its stubborn head, hell knows no fury …. Am just keeping it real!) 😄

3. Plan accordingly without sacrifice.

With information on when and what, I am able to plan my meals accordingly. Eating at designated times, even if I wasn’t really that hungry (but adjusting to my level of hunger), kept most cravings, mindless snacking & even over-eating at bay.

I noticed in the past that if I didn’t eat at regular intervals and just waited for my stomach to snap at me, I’d graze on readily available convenience food. I would end up eating too much empty calories and still over-eat at the next meal 😢

So that was my 3rd weekly challenge for April. How about you, do you ever take on a self-imposed weekly or monthly challenge? Tell me about it! 😃

And now the 4th weekly challenge is a blogging challenge; a 3-day Quote Challenge which I shall begin tomorrow.

I hope! 😉

But before I let you go, places everyone! All that talk about meal planning has gotten me in the mood to dance – let’s get our money now, shall we? 😄

 

April’s Weekly Challenge #1

Hi-ho sexy warriors! It’s Monday and are you wearing something that makes you look and feel good? Ok, great! Just checking 😉

(P.S. Something red is always a good choice for Mondays especially).

It’s the first week of April and as I sat in front of the laptop pondering what to blog about it hit me – 1st Mondays of the month are always great for challenges. I mean, think about it. Mondays are great for starting something new, generally speaking, but 1st Mondays of the month are more … errr, what shall I say … like it begs/commands/entices you to take up something new for the month. Well that’s how I feel at least 😀

So without further ado, I’m declaring a weekly challenge for the whole month of April. Every week I’ll pick up something new to learn/improve (or maybe undo) so that by month-end I’ll have 4 shiny new feathers of sexiness to add to my bohemian-inspired cap.

Squeal! XD

This week’s challenge is to inch closer to being able to do a proper wheel pose.

yogabycandace.com

I’ve always had a soft spot for the wheel pose. I can do an awkward beginner version of it (see second example in picture) but I want to improve because I want to keep my spine long and strong 🙂

Okay so that is it for this week’s challenge. I’ll let you know how it turns out next Monday and by then I’ll also introduce the second weekly challenge of the month. Wish me luck! 🙂

Make it a great week, y’all! ❤

Something New In My Exercise Department

 

Hello everyone 🙂 Happy Lunar New Year!

For this Monday’s fitness post I’d like to share about something new I’ve taken on to shake up my home exercise routine.

As you probably know by now I’ve been doing mostly cardio from Zumba and Dance Fitness. Lately though I’ve been feeling the need to level up by way of taking on a structured strength training program.

A good structured training program ensures you’re doing the right amount of the right things in the right order and frequency. I like that it gives you focus, and the satisfaction of completing one is motivating.

And so last week I finally purchased and started one from my favorite online trainers Kelli and Daniel of Fitness Blender.

 

As a home exerciser, Fitness Blender has been and still is my go-to for online workout videos that are effective without doubt. The videos are 100% free on YouTube and they even teach you how to create a program for yourself here and here.

However, if like me you want the pros to take care of that for you, then purchasing one of their structured workout programs is a great way to go. (And it’s not even expensive, by the way).

Although Fitness Blender programs are mostly drawn up for 5 days a week, I still wanted room to do my body rolls and twerks XD (We gotta keep it fun, right?!) Good thing they have the 8-Week Maintenance/Cross-Training program which only requires doing their workouts 3 days a week.

And so since last week I’ve been on the program and it’s been great. I have all bases covered as far as working out all muscle groups are concerned and I still have room for variety 🙂

How about you, what’s new in your exercise department?