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a year of exercising consistently

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Happy 1 year (and 2 months) of consistent exercising to me! 🥳 What a year!


I know. I should've written this last March which was my exact anniversary of exercising constantly (yay!) but... I didn't 😜, so here it is!


Wow. Just wow. Whenever I see past photos, I still get surprised of how much I've changed, not only with the obvious which is physically, but overall--motivation, strength of will and mind, how I accept challenges, my view of myself, my self-esteem, confidence, how I see things I can't control and so much more!

If you want to read on what pushed me to start this journey and how I did it that made it sustainable, please feel free to visit the links above and at the end of this post! 😊




Continuing from my previous posts, here are the no-equipment monthly challenges I did. Find out why I wanted my face fats back after. 😜



January



The Challenge: 28 day Flat Stomach Challenge

I tried something different and did a #ChloeTingChallenge! It's her 28-day Flat Stomach Challenge and it was a definite killer. It had warm-ups, HIIT, toning, and I usually did it for an hour or more. I only finished 22 out of 28 days cos I felt sore and tired the whole time, I felt like I wasn't resting during recovery days.

I kept my 8AM-4PM eating schedule, no special meals, just what we normally eat at home.

All throughout the month, I was balancing to maintain my weight at 50kg, but in the end I lost a kilo and I was down to 49kg.

February 



The Challenge: Fitness February

Missing the workouts I was familiar with, I went back to Amanda Bisk (whom I've also missed!! 🤪) and joined Fitness February. As with all her challenges, it was complete—it had the right amount of cardio for me, toning, YogaSculpt, now with pilates and yoga stretches. The balance of exercises was good I think for my body type, and I gained kilos. By month-end I was 52kg but I'd like to think it was because of muscles. 😆

I also started eating beyond 4PM but not regularly.



March



The Challenge: Self-mixed workouts

So I figured, I had been following and learning different workouts, so why not try and create my own mix of workouts for the month. So I did! I mixed cardio, toning, YogaSculpt, pilates, and yoga throughout the week and it was good. Though it wasn't as intense as the challenges in January and February, but at least after this I learned I can do a workout program on my own. I maintained weight at 52kg.

I still ate beyond 4PM occasionally. I wasn't that strict with the 8AM-4PM schedule I did before.

April



The Challenge: 4 week YogaSculpt

Ah, April. The "languishing" month. The meh month. At first I was excited with the YogaSculpt challenge cos it killed me before in October. Of all the monthly challenges last year from August til December, this was the one that got me. The slow, deliberate, and controlled movements grip deep within muscles. And as before, it left me more flexible and balanced too, but then this time, I think it lacked intensity for me, so looking back I should've added maybe cardio sessions weekly. I maintained weight at 52kg but with the frequency and maybe intensity of the classes weekly (2x classes, 1x rest, then 2x classes again, then 2x rest), it wasn't enough for me at this point. My whole body seemed softer than the past months, but the deep muscles are still there.

Same here, I still ate beyond 4PM occasionally.

May



The Challenge: May Madness

The revenge month, ha! As with the monthly challenges, it's complete with HIIT cardio, toning, YogaSculpt, pilates, and yoga all targeting the whole body or by parts. I switch and mix day exercises and catch up when I miss a day, but overall I finished it! Weight is at 52kg though I can say the added 2 kilos are muscles.

I tried sticking to my 8AM-4PM eating window but there were I think 2-3 times I ate beyond.




All throughout these months, I've observed and learned some things.

Darling, I want my face fats back

I'd always go for a 52kg body with a slight bulk but definitely with face cheeks rather than a 50kg body trimmed but without face cheeks. I never wanted to be skinny—I want to be huggable when this pandemic is over (and forever). 🤪

My January to February exercises really left me fit and trimmed but when I observed my face with eyes bigger and my nose protruding more than usual and without having much face fat, I noted I kinda looked tired and haggard (which we don't want, right?). I didn't like it. And yes the muscle-fat ratio seemed amazing but I felt tired. 49kg on me didn't really look and feel good.

So I went easy on the cardio by March and April and have been 52kg since then. And the 2kg is visible—I got my cheeks back, BUT at the same time, my arms got a bit bulkier, my belly pooch (that I'll have forever 😆) got bigger of course, and I got some more hips—in other words I got thicker. It got me worried at first, but then by May, they turned out to be just muscles needed a bit more toning.

Things you can't see in the mirror

It just doesn't really translate in looks most of the time, but the strength, endurance, body coordination, and flexibility just develop overtime. I've always got the feeling that I'm stronger now than the past months and that is a good thing. I can do planks and lift my own body easier and longer than I've ever had. Hopefully, though, I can do the bird of paradise pose one day. 😜 

Hello, Aunt Flo

Since I started exercising, I've always paid attention to my cycle. One thing I've observed is the less I moved throughout the month, the higher the pain level during periods. However, that said, I still keep on listening closely to my body and resting when it craves for it especially before the week. It still depends, PMS and periods are weird things. Sometimes it doesn't care to make itself known, other times it rages like it wants to get revenge for the other times 😆🤷🏻‍♀️. But overall, pain levels are very much lesser than when I didn't exercise. So this is always a win for me!

I actually have no idea what will happen or how my body would change as I continue to do different home workouts and challenges without equipment, but excited to be surprised and learn more!

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