Providence Moved Already!

Hello sexy wordpressers! 💗 Rise and sparkle/smoulder! 🔅

I feel awesome this morning because I just finished a 30-minute HIIT and lower body strength combo workout and … it’s only 8AM 😀

So as I’m enjoying my morning cuppa, I am reflecting on the amazing fact that I am doing HIIT + strength workouts. It wasn’t too long ago when I truly thought I wouldn’t be able to do them again because … well because post baby I really had a hard time getting back into the workout zone. I tried several times, each time starting slow and having had to adjust my pace even slower … I tell you even a 20-min lower body Pilates workout would leave me sore for days. Pilates! 😭  (And my baby turns 2 this month 🤨).

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.

But now let’s talk about this post’s title because it really is amazing what happens when you articulate your goals. Here’s the backstory in case you guys are interested.

So after the said post/backstory I sat my lazy arse down and proceeded to crochet, unconsciously adopting the mindset that I was gonna start working on my goals in January (because I’m a perfectionist and I’m fond of clean starts).

But then I thought … but it’s only September! 🤔 Why waste all that precious time? What can I do NOW to make sure I hit the ground running in January. (Because we all know there’s usually a lot of hemming and hawing at the start of something 😴).

All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.

Soooo …

Goal #4 is to find an outside interest that I could do regularly at least once a week. Preferably with a good chance of socializing.

Well, 2 Sundays ago I [finally] found a good Christian church that my family can attend every week. Mind you, this is no small feat considering we were looking for an English-speaking church. What’s even more awesome for me is that this church is made up of foreigners (like, 9 out of 10), so we have something in common right away.

Plus, they have Bible study classes for kids of all ages 😀 Score!!!

Goal #3 has something to do with my crochet & knitting hobby. It’s been a goal for almost a year now and I knew “something” was preventing me from moving forward.

Well, I finally understood what was standing in the way and it’s not what you think! 🤗 But it’s a long story and it’s about my chosen artforms so I’ve decided to talk about it in a separate post.

And as for goal #1? Well, I seriously & excitedly believe that my (sudden comeback) ability to do higher intensity cardio & strength training will help me achieve this in time. Maybe I’ll talk about this in another post too because getting to this place has been a real journey that I struggled both physically and mentally with.

I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets:
Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it!”

In any case sexy people, my message to you is this: start now. Don’t wait for January (but you can wait until Monday because I believe Mondays are perfect for starting something 😁 😁).

The start of something can be slow, filled with additional challenges & roadblocks that are usually unexpected and can undermine your efforts. I’m beginning to think it’s good to start something at the tail-end of the current year if you want to see real results by the following year. I don’t know 😏 maybe that’s just me 🤪.  But sometimes we start something in January expecting to see results in March and are frustrated that we didn’t meet our deadline. I think it’s because starts can be messy and you just have to account for it depending on your goal.

~~ oOo ~~

So okay, I’ve blabbed enough for today.

Thank you for visiting and reading and you can always give me warm fussy feelings by sharing your thoughts below 👇

Have a sexy one! 💋

My Brain’s Abuzz With 2019

Blame it on the ambivalent & un-inspiring goals I set for myself in 2018 (though I can’t be too hard on myself, I had recently given birth you know 😊), but my brain’s been abuzz with goals for 2019.

My episode of painful gastritis really did help me clarify things, one of them was realizing that I can’t really do “loose weight” as a goal again. I mean, yes, I could do with some weight loss, but I want this to be a side-effect of something bigger (and healthier!). Like fasting, because weight-loss is just one of the many effects of it and it isn’t even the best or most noteworthy.

Anyhow, I realized that I am galvanized into action by level-up goals that are fun and exciting but are also a bit scary and outside my comfort zone. I mean, I guess all of us are like this, no? In my case the more thought I gave to it the more it started to look like this:

goal: make life in Batam fun & engaging <- learn Indonesian <- make local friends (I only have fellow expat wives as friends so far) <- use my craft as a springboard <- sell my creations for fun <- learn all about social & online selling

Now this is really starting to look like a decent party 🤩

Already, because these goals are that exciting to me, I’ve taken some relevant action. I got friendly with my next-door neighbor. Now at least I’m friendly with someone local and hopefully she knows of a church that has English service (next action item).

I also made good on something I’ve wanted for some time, a dedicated craft site (fifiandriri.com). I also opened an IG account to serve as a portfolio of my creations. I’m finishing up all my crochet/knitting WIP’s at the moment so that I can start clean asap, with an eye on social selling this time.

I’m reading up about the handmade business, and my brain is lit with ideas and more to-do’s like learning product photography and opening up an FB for biz account.

So exciting! 🤪

How is all this going to help me with learning Indonesian? Simple, language is best learned though interaction & immersion. I’ve tried cooping myself up indoors facing my computer, the results are minimal and I’m not having any fun at all while at it. So I need to be out there and talk!

And how is this gonna force me into loosing weight? Well, lemme tell ya: I love to crochet lacy pieces of clothing. Clothing need to be modeled by a real person. You do the rest of the math 😁 😁

Share Your World – November 27, 2017

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Hola! 🙌

It’s the weekly SYW again which is always fun and a great reason to stay blogging ❤️ You can join anytime by going 👉 here.

Here are my answers to this week’s questions:

Would you prefer a reading nook or an art, craft, photography studio?

Oh definitely a craft studio 😍 How wonderful to walk into an entire room and be greeted with things that represent and inspire your creative side. I mean, merely walking into the space would probably be enough to lift your mood, you don’t even have to create. Over here would be my knitting and crochet corner, over there would be my aromatherapy stuff (I’d make it look medieval because it’s kinda like mixing magic potions & such 😁).  And there’d be my potted plants strategically positioned here and there …

Tell how you are feeling today in the form of a weather report. (For example, partly cloudy, sunny with a chance for showers, etc.)

I’m partly cloudy but sunshine is breaking through.  I want to be completely sunny, but I’m sleep-deprived and flabby, so … Just keepin’ it real 🙄 Oh and there’s definitely a chance for showers because I also feel weepy, they call it post-partum blues and it just sneaks up on me out of nowhere 😭

If you could witness or physically attend any event past, present or future, what would it be?

Hmmm .. I’m stumped on this one 🤔 Sorry but right now all I can think of is a date in the (hopefully) near future when everyone is sleeping beautifully through the night and I no longer look like a cloud 😁

What inspired you or what did you appreciate this past week?  Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination. 

I’ve been feeling down about my shape recently. When the husband takes pictures of the baby I always want to be out of it because I look so … round 😟 I mean, I expected this of course but I’m like, dear God, will I ever get my former glory back? And when?

On the local E! channel, I saw a snippet of an interview with an Asian celebrity/model. She was talking about her life and stuff but I wasn’t really paying attention because I was noticing instead that she still looked flabby in spite of giving birth about 2 years ago. She was wearing a lot of make-up to contour her face to look slimmer, she was still very beautiful, but her face was undoubtedly plump. She wore black and hid her arms with strategically placed jackets, and throughout the interview there wasn’t a full shot of her, it was always just from the waist up.

And seeing her that way, knowing that she gave birth about 2 years ago already, put me in a better mood. I mean, she’s practically living in the spotlight and she’s still carrying excess lbs. So why be so hard on myself?

I felt so good I gobbled up 2 McDonald’s apple pies immediately, in one sitting! 🤣

😬 😬😬

I need a plan!

~ oOo ~

~ oOo ~

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?

Coffee. Love it or hate it?

There once was a time not too long ago when I had crystal clear vision and even levels of relatively high energy throughout the day.  Absolutely no trouble sleeping, and no trouble waking up. This is me on no coffee.

But you see, my mornings are never complete without a cuppa, so this state of ‘perfection’ is really not sustainable for extended periods of time.  Believe me, I’ve tried.

However my sleeping pattern has been really wacky as of late and along with that comes a fuzzy brain and a roller coaster of cravings + energy highs/lows throughout the day. This is me on coffee. Even if it’s just one cup a day 😥

So I’m switching to plain old Lipton tea this week until I get my zen back.  (Decaf just makes me sad).

Here’s an infographic I found about the pros and cons of coffee.  The pros are quite amazing as you can see but I’m taking those with a grain of salt.  I’ve read before that studies like these are funded by coffee makers as a marketing strategy.

What do you think? Are you team coffee?

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Hilarious (Creepy?) Dance Fitness Instructor 😛 😄 😉

I just had to! LOL!

One more?

He must truly be A LOT of fun though because, look at the size of that class! And nobody seems to be complaining 😀

I’m going to take this guy’s class! Who’s with me? 🙂

Zumba Is Addictive (You don’t say?!)

I want to start this post by saying I’ve made it official 🙄

Amidst cheerful encouragement from my fitness-classmates, I finally bought my first pair of Zumba uniform*.  Voila (sorry for the creases, they’re fresh out of their plastic wrapping):

The Case For Fancy Clothing

I thought I could stick to your average black workout capris and plain, body fit tank tops. But no, those are just too ‘meh’ for Zumba. You should observe my fitness pals ~ notwithstanding what they have on at the time, they still crowd around the instructress like moths to a flame, gushing and carefully inspecting whatever new Zumba gear she wore to class that day XD 😛

Secretly, I thought they were all being silly. You don’t need to wear that in order to dance!!! 🙄 I came here to exercise, not for a fashion show!!! 🙄 🙄 🙄

But now I carefully retract those thoughts. Which would you rather dance in, I ask? This or this?

I know, right? 😀

 

Loca Over Anything Zumba

Here’s another proof of Zumba insanity – one day we noticed our instructress drove this ‘mobil’. Can you guess what happened before AND after class?

Right! We took pictures with the car like the car was Beto Perez himself! XD

 

Fevah!

So anyways, I know I caught the Zumba fever myself when I created my first playlist on YouTube over the weekend – to use in the pleasure of my own home on days where there’s no Zumba class. In short, I now Zumba Mondays to Fridays, for at least one hour.

And then I lift weights.

But back to Zumba.

 

A Different High

It’s not that I was oblivious to Zumba in my previous life, I just never gave much thought to cardio exercises in general. You jog, brisk walk, skip rope, do jumping jacks, a few (too-complicated-for-a-non dancer) dance vids here and there, whatever – just get your heart rate up. (No wonder I couldn’t do cardio for more than 20-30 minutes)!

Now with Zumba an hour can go by and you don’t even notice it. Because dancing to infectious beats is so much fun. And learning the easy-to-follow choreography is so engaging that by the time you’re done you feel some sort of accomplishment at having memorized the steps to an entire song 😀

And so I leave you with my favorite at the moment. Give it a try. Be warned, it’s addictive! ❤

 

* must be the same as with other ladies in the class, excluding color & size 😉