This post was last updated and completed on 1/1/2021.
Oh my goodness. It’s happening. In fact, it’s already happened. I have once again committed to a #chloetingchallenge.
This time is different, though. This time, I am doing this challenge with 30+ people. I haven’t felt this motivated in a long time, and a quick look at the rest of this blog and it’s fairly obvious I haven’t been exercising regularly in a while now, so it’s really exciting for me.
I’m still following Natacha Oceané’s 10min Warm Up video before every single session so I’m not going to be listing it under the daily completed videos list. It’s still my favourite warm up so I’m not going to stop following it any time soon.
Originally I was thinking of doing the same sort of format as my initial challenge posts but my mindset about fitness has changed so much I really don’t care about the numbers at all anymore. Still, here are some updated photos that I hastily took after my morning coffee, that can potentially be used for comparison later.
I am not expecting weight loss or even cm’s lost. I’m just really excited to be exercising again, and with a gigantic group of online friends, no less. So, without further ado…
Week One
12/18 – Day 1: Completed 14:51.
Videos completed: Chloe Ting Ep 1. Full Body, Chloe Ting Ep 2. Abs, Chloe Ting Legs & Glutes, MadFit 15min Cool Down.
Today I was originally going to workout with some people as a group, but early afternoon I realised that my period was starting, so I rushed to get my workout done before my cramps could descend in full on my body. I originally was going to replace Chloe’s Ep 1. Full Body with her most recently released 15min Full Body, but since my period was starting I didn’t want to be using equipment, so I stuck with the original schedule.
I’m really glad I did, because I liked the video a lot. I did a higher impact version of lower impact moves (i.e. if it’s a simple squat, I’d do squat then go up onto my tiptoes and back down again) to make it marginally harder for myself, and my heart rate was in the 160-170bpm range for the majority of it. I felt like I got a really good workout from it, and because I did lower impact moves I still had enough energy to complete all the videos for the day.
I have done the abs video a few times for MOVE-mber and also during the Get Peachy Challenge, so it wasn’t as daunting. The lower body video was a new one for me, and I enjoyed it too. This video had optional banded moves but, although I had been looking forward to trying out Chloe’s resistance bands, I decided it was going to be a hard no today thanks to monthly bleeding.
I’m glad I didn’t try it banded because it was my first time doing this video so it’s always better to get to know the moves as-is first. Plus, honestly, my glutes were dying enough. I ended the set with a full 15min full body stretch & cool down, which my crackling joints desperately needed. I ended up feeling super energised afterwards and went to clean the kitchen etc. before the cramps kicked in and crippled me for a few hours.
In general I thoroughly enjoyed today’s videos and I’m so happy I started this challenge. I am so impressed that I was able to do all the moves and only paused to take a few longer breaks where Chloe had already planned them in. I definitely did not have this kind of strength when I was doing the 2019 2 Week Shred back in May. I’m so proud of how much stronger my body has grown.
Usually on my period day 1 I’m just so exhausted I can’t do anything and I use it as an excuse to not workout. I probably could have done that today too, but doing this challenge with so many others just ended up being so encouraging I was desperate to not miss out. We have a spreadsheet that we’re updating progress on so I wake up to see a bunch of their notes that are a mix of hilarious and supportive at the same time.
Super excited to continue working out with everyone tomorrow!
12/19 – Day 2: Completed 19:20.
Videos completed: Chloe Ting Ep 1. Full Body, Chloe Ting Ep 2. Abs, Chloe Ting Ep 3. Upper Body, MadFit 5min Cool Down.
Today I woke up and was barely sore, which I’d consider a giant win. It was only my glutes and hamstrings that were sore but they were mostly fine by the time I came to do my workout. I was feeling pretty tired today because I hadn’t slept well, so I almost took a nap instead of working out. However, a quick look at the spreadsheet and a little nudge from Discord was all I needed to bang out the workout.
I don’t think I did as well as yesterday because I was tired to begin with, but I did the best I could. I did higher impact versions of the low impact moves again, but I was pretty exhausted by the 3rd video so I did quite a few modifications, including simply holding plank when I didn’t have enough energy to move.
I will say, though, I think my pushups have improved significantly! I’m still doing them on my knees but I know my form is solid and it just feels different when I push up, you know? I didn’t struggle to push up properly as much as I did before, and I know that in the past I would never have been able to do a proper form knee pushup 2.5 videos in.
As sleepy as I was before starting the workout, I felt more energised as I went on. I was pretty exhausted by the end, though, but I feel like I pushed myself harder than last time and I’m really proud of that. At the same time, I don’t know if my actual output was greater because I probably only perceived it was harder due to being tired and a little sore to begin with.
Tomorrow is Sunday. Typically I do not exercise on Sundays and we will probably need to go to Costco. I’ll see if I’m up for exercising, if not I’ll be moving Monday’s rest day to tomorrow instead. I prefer to exercise on Mondays anyway – it makes me feel accomplished at the start of the week haha.
On another note, I purchased another pair of Lululemon Align Dupes that I tried out today. I’m trying to decide if I like these more or the other pair I bought. The material is different – softer, in a way – and the new pair has a pocket in the waistband, which was what I was looking for. Buuut… I dunno. I almost prefer the other pair. These make my lower body look great though. I’ll maybe do a review at some point if I really like them :D
12/20 – Day 3: Rest.
I decided to take day 4’s rest day today after all :D We did not go to Costco though – that’s still on the to-do list.
12/21 – Day 4: Completed 17:23.
Videos completed: Chloe Ting 15min Weighted Full Body, Chloe Ting Ep 4. Lower Body, Chloe Ting Ep 2. Abs, Pamela Reif 15min Daily Stretch.
Today I almost didn’t do my workout again, but a quick little nudge from a friend on Discord and I was off and running… well, squatting, rather.
I switched up the regular 15min full body workout for Chloe’s newest 15min weighted full body workout that she released as part of MOVE-mber. It’s a workout I have enjoyed every time I tried it and this time was no different, I love that video haha. I used 5lb dumbbells for the most part, switching to 3lb ones only for moves that required lateral raises.
Originally I thought today’s lower body workout was the same video as day 1’s, but when I took a closer look and realised it wasn’t, I became more excited to try it out. I also decided to try out my new Chloe Ting resistance band for the leg workout, so I chose to do the lower body video before the abs video while I still had more energy left in me.
I only tried the light band but had to give up on using it half way through the video, since I decided I actually still wanted to be able to walk tomorrow, ha. The video was new for me so it was a little foolish to go into it with bands immediately to be honest. For some reason I thought I’d done it before as part of MOVE-mber, but it turns out that I hadn’t.
I’m very glad I did the rest of the video without bands because my butt was burning enough already. By the time I got to her abs video, I was pretty tired. I had to hold plank for a few moves where I simply had no energy left to do the move, but the important thing is that I kept going! Pamela Reif’s stretch video focuses more on lower body and spine mobility stretches so it was the perfect cool down to end today’s set.
Please enjoy this photo of my half-dead, sweat-soaked, messy-haired, can-barely-keep-my-eyes-open, I’m-so-done state:
I know, so attractive.
12/22 – Day 5: Completed 17:37.
Videos completed: Chloe Ting Plank Challenge.
Yep. Just one video for the day. I didn’t even bother doing my warm up or cool down. It’s been a bit of a stressful day and the thought of doing 4 videos was so overwhelming I almost didn’t bother. But again I cannot stress how amazingly motivating it’s been to have friends on Discord encouraging me to keep going.
So, I figured I’d just do one video but do my best. This one was the absolute beastliest of the lot, so this one it was! I really did push myself hard, and held high knee plank when I couldn’t do anymore. I’m super proud of at least getting this one done. I’ve never been able to do it before.
Also, since it is such a beast, I’m 100% going to do this one first for day 10 as well, otherwise there’s just no way I’ll have enough energy to do it after the other two videos. Looking forward to lower body tomorrow and then rest day!
12/23 – Day 6: Rest.
Technically day 7 is the rest day but it’s been such a busy day that I’ve had no time or energy to get it done, not to mention running on limited sleep has made it even more difficult to function.
I’ll be aiming to do day 6’s work out tomorrow instead, but we’ll see. It’s a busy time for everyone so if I can’t do it, I’ll just accept I haven’t been able to do it.
12/24 – Day 7: Rest.
I ended up taking today as a rest day after all. It’s been a very busy and yet rewarding and joyful day. I was preparing to be our church’s Chinese to English translator for our joint Christmas Eve-ning service and between practice for that, nerves and not enough sleep I just didn’t have energy to do a workout.
I’ve been feeling like I’m coming down with something the past couple of days so I took a nap in the afternoon to make sure I’d have enough energy for the service. It went by without a hitch – thank God – and my internet remained stable throughout the message, which was a prayer answered. Yay!
Week Two
12/25 – Day 8: Rest.
Merry Christmas! Today I had originally wanted to work out, but I woke up with a headache and have been nursing my weak body all day. We called my family and had some family game time over Zoom in the morning, then I took a nap in the afternoon before hauling myself out of bed and taking a painkiller to make dinner. I had planned for it to be a little more elaborate but given my feeling unwell we agreed I should just roast everything haha.
We still had a lovely Christmas dinner in the end.
It was a lovely, relaxing, peaceful Christmas for us this year.
12/26 – Day 11: Rest.
No real excuse here – I was tired and lazy and still kind of nursing my slightly sick body, as well as just spending some quality time with my hubs :) I’m swapping out day 11’s rest day here, and will aim to do the program from day 9 tomorrow.
Day 9’s videos are basically the same as day 6 except with one fewer video so I may try to add that one in. We’ll see how I’m feeling.
12/27 – Day 9/Day 6: Completed 16:41.
Videos completed: Chloe Ting 15min Weighted Full Body, Chloe Ting Ep 2. Abs, Chloe Ting Ep 4. Lower Body, Chloe Ting Hip Dips, MadFit 15min Cool Down.
Wow! After a 4 day workout break and seeing so many ppl had still been keeping up with the challenge on Discord, I felt very motivated to continue. The days off was much needed and helpful for me, so I’m glad I took those days off, but today I was excited to get back into it.
Today I substituted the 15min Full Body with Chloe’s newest weighted Full Body video again, and since day 9’s videos are basically the same videos as day 6 minus the Hip Dips video, which I’d previously skipped, I decided to add in the extra video and call it day 9 & 6 complete.
Jacky wanted to exercise with me so he actually did the warm up and the first video with me. However, he was pretty wiped out by the time we got to the second video. He pushed through as best as he could and then decided to call it a day. I’m proud of him for exercising with me though! He hasn’t worked out in quite a while.
For me, I used my standard 3-5lb dumbbells/ankle weights for the weighted full body and felt like I’d become stronger. In fact I just remembered that I actually added my 3lb ankle weight to my 5lb dumbbell to make an 8lb dumbbell for the staggered deadlift move. Previously I’ve just used a single 5lb dumbbell.
The weights didn’t feel as heavy and I was able to push through more of the ab workout video without taking extra breaks (except for watching through ads). I used a 5lb dumbbell for a couple of the exercises in the lower body video but didn’t use my resistance bands. I wasn’t sure if my body would be able to handle it, and at one point I was beginning to lose motivation to keep going after Jacky stopped.
However, because I had all the videos in a playlist, when the lower body video ended and the hip dips video played, I got so hyped by the music in the hip dips video that I just went for it. Also Chloe was talking about her resistance bands in the intro, which I have!! Of course I’d have to continue with the video and use them hehe. I used Chloe’s light resistance band until the 3/4 circle + extension move. Chloe said that one would burn, and oooohhh boy did it burn. I was in pain.
I pushed through that move with the band in the end but I wasn’t able to do the move for the entire 40sec each side. My glutes were on fire. I stopped using the band for the rainbows because I felt like my legs would fall off, but got all hyped up again for the banded glute bridge abductions and used the band for the rest of the workout.
I really, really enjoyed today’s workout. I felt so energised afterwards, and I loved the Hip Dips video. The music totally hyped me up and I loved the burn and the exercises. It’s a shame that video is only included once in this challenge because I’d totally love to do it again. 10/10 loved today’s workout.
12/28 – Day 10: Completed 16:20.
Videos completed: Chloe Ting Plank Challenge, Chloe Ting Ep 5. Full Body Burn, Chloe Ting 10min Standing Abs, MadFit 5min Cool Down.
Today was a good workout day. Today has been a pretty good day in general, actually. I slept well though woke up later than I would have liked, but afterwards Jacky and I shifted a few things around the house and I did a little bit of cleaning up. I felt much better after that already.
Workout-wise, I definitely felt motivated. I did the plank challenge video first after my warm up so that I’d have enough strength to get through it and the first thing I noticed was that I was able to do proper Spiderman to cross-body planks with good form for the full duration. That is something I have never been able to do before.
Even more amazing was that I was actually able to go straight into the plank scorpions and do them with good form for the full duration too. I did need to do a few modifications for lower impact but I still pushed harder than last time and I am already thrilled by the improvement I’m seeing in my strength, especially since I only needed to take one extra short break during that video to wipe down my sweat.
Speaking of sweat, I pretty much soaked through my sweat towel during the 25min full body video. I did really enjoy it and did higher impact modifications for her lower impact moves, but I am still awaiting the day where I can also consider pushup clap to squat ‘easier’. Obviously I didn’t do the clap part. And I did the pushups on my knees.
I did still need a longer rest time plus water break before starting that video though, going from plank challenge to… well, more planking, was… difficult haha. But I only needed 2 extra breaks during the full body video, and that was it for the rest of the workout. I noticed that my knee pushup form improved further, as well as the number of knee pushups I was able to do with excellent form before feeling the burn. SO happy about that.
Surprisingly, I do enjoy the exercises in the full body video. It pushes me hard in a good way. I guess it’s also more doable for me because I do higher impact variations of her low impact moves, rather than the jumping moves, but that’s exactly why it’s a good level of difficulty for me – challenging, but still bearable, and can still be made more difficult once I get stronger.
Some random thoughts I had during the video that I’d like to share with you:
> I was wondering why I couldn’t remember some of these exercises despite having done this workout before and as soon as we hit the 180 degree burpees with pushup I realised I must have simply erased it from my memory.
> Chloe: Focus on your breathing and let’s smash this. Me: Bold of you to assume I was still breathing.
> I have never been so excited for jumping lunges before in my entire life.
There were a lot of high knees for me since I can’t do the jumping moves and also chose to replace the regular ab video with Chloe’s standing abs video per a Discord friend’s suggestion. I’m surprised by how much I felt my abs working to be honest, because I’d tried a standing abs video before and felt it more in my legs. I guess that means my abs got stronger so they were able to do more of the lifting :)
I woke up feeling somewhat sore but the soreness was quickly forgotten when I started exercising. I ended the workout on a shorter MadFit cool down video but also did extra stretches myself where I felt my body needed the stretch. I’m feeling a little more sore after today’s workout actually but we’ll see what happens tomorrow. I should still be able to do it. We only have 3 days left!!
12/29 – Day 12: Completed 17:04.
Videos completed: Chloe Ting Ep 4. Lower Body, Chloe Ting Ep 5. Full Body Burn, Chloe Ting 10min Standing Abs, MadFit 5min Cool Down.
Ah I really enjoyed today’s workout as well. Though it was almost the same as yesterday’s videos, I must have had more energy today so was able to get through the workout with less difficulty. I also just typically like the lower body workout anyway. It was especially fun because I had some Discord friends exercising with me.
I used Chloe’s light resistance band for most of the exercises in the lower body video to challenge myself. I wanted to get the lower body vid out of the way first because I knew I’d need strength to do the strength moves with a band, so I really liked the order that I did the videos in. It felt great, but the lunges at the end of the 25min full body video hurt a lot more after that haha.
I woke up fairly sore this morning but the soreness was quickly forgotten when I started the workout. I felt like I’d become a lot stronger today because I was able to do more of the regular moves during the 25min vid with fewer rests, and my form improved too. Again I did higher impact versions of the low impact moves for ones that required a jump.
Honestly I was just so impressed I managed to get through the mountain climbers, but I think it was because I hadn’t yet exhausted my arm strength from a plank challenge haha. For the standing abs video, I used 3lb ankle weights and appreciated feeling the extra burn. Like yesterday, I ended the workout on MatFit’s cool down but also added some extra stretches of my own.
Overall, loved the workout, excited to continue tomorrow! Hopefully I won’t be too sore. I’ll probably do the upper body workout vid first before doing the full body because that upper body workout is painful.
12/30 – Day 13: Completed 15:18.
Videos completed: Chloe Tings Ep 3. Upper Body, Chloe Ting Lower Abs, Chloe Ting Ep 1. Full Body, MadFit 15min Cool Down.
I was a bit more tired today I think. Overall it was great though – I slept earlier last night and woke up earlier this morning. My entire schedule shifted up and I was able to finish my workout earlier than usual. I had originally planned to do the full body video second, but I wanted to do the lower abs video with a discord friend so shifted the order again.
I was pretty pooped by the time I got to the full body workout though, and a few of the moves were repeated, by which time I didn’t have enough energy to go as hard as I initially had. I felt exhausted even though my heart rate was only in the 150-160’s, where usually it’d float around high 160’s-170bpm and I’d still be okay.
Looking back on footage of my workout though, all I can say is I am still so impressed by how much my knee pushup form has improved. I can now get my chest down to the floor for my elbows-in knee pushups with my head and body in a straight line throughout. I will try to move on to incline pushups and then proper pushups soon!
I think if I were to do this day/challenge again I would still do the upper body first, but do the full body second. The lower abs video wasn’t too much of a struggle. Initially I was thinking I should maybe add some weights but half way through I realised weights were definitely not necessary. It was a great challenge yet still doable :)
The difference in how I look just after I finished the workout vs after I finished my cool down is pretty substantial haha. Also amazing that my arm flab has tightened significantly it seems, or maybe that’s just the photo. Either way, I’m still very happy with it haha.
12/31 – Day 14: Completed 15:35.
Videos completed: MadFit 5min Warm Up, Chloe Ting Ep 4. Lower Body, Chloe Ting Ep 5. Full Body Burn, Chloe Ting Ep 2. Abs (partial), Chloe Ting 6 Pack Abs, MadFit 15min Cool Down.
WE DID IT!!! YESSSSS!!! Wow. I’m still slightly in shock that I managed to complete this challenge. It feels like it flew by, especially when doing the challenge with all my Discord friends. We’d update each other on a daily basis and seeing their updates and words of encouragement totally motivated me and kept me wanting to continue this challenge.
It was also incredibly encouraging to see how much stronger I’d grown since first attempting Chloe’s challenges in May. This challenge was supposedly harder than the 2019 2 Week Shred but I was able to do so much more and still keep going. I think actually being able to do the moves in the first place with good form was also incredibly encouraging.
Jacky attempted to do the workout with me today but he wasn’t able to get much farther than the warm up plus first video. I decided that because today’s workout was longer, I’d do a shorter warm up. I quite liked doing MadFit’s warm up instead of Natacha’s today and it was sufficient to get me warmed up.
I used Chloe’s light resistance band again for the booty workout for a majority of the moves again. I liked doing the full body workout second today, I was once again able to hit my high 160’s heart rate and still be fine (or at least still be able to continue exercising as opposed to entirely out of breath), though I did myself longer rests between each set today.
I must admit when Jacky gave up half way through set 1 of the full body it was a little demotivating for me but I still kept going and enjoyed the rest of the full body video. I even copied Chloe’s little dance towards the end haha. However, I wasn’t feeling up for doing the regular ab video by myself, but I was excited to do the 6 pack ab video again, so I only did the first few moves of Ep 2 before moving on.
For the 6 pack video, I used 3lb ankle weights on each leg and ohhh boy that was painful. I was very impressed at how much I was able to do even with the weights on though. I hope this really strengthens my lower abs at least haha. I really enjoyed it overall and I like the order that I did today’s videos in too.
I’ll put some final thoughts and maybe update photos tomorrow, but YAY! Challenge complete! So happy.
Completion Thoughts
Happy New Year! I am so happy that 2020 ended so strongly with this challenge. I thoroughly loved this challenge. It had been a while since I’d worked out properly, but muscle memory is such a thing – it didn’t take long for my body to get back to my previous strength level, and throughout this challenge I could feel my body getting even stronger.
I loved that I was able to complete the exercises and see improvement in my form, my stamina, my strength… my health in general. It’s so encouraging. I do owe much – if not, most – of my motivation to my Discord friends who caught up with me daily to chat about it. It really made such a big difference.
I do think this is harder than the 2019 2 Week Shred (of course!! That plank challenge video is no joke…) so if you’re new to working out, I would recommend starting with that one instead. However, this one I found a lot more fun overall. I especially like the modifications I made with switching out the videos on certain days, as well as switching up the video order.
This morning I put on the same clothes as day 1 and took some updated physique pics:
I won’t do side-by-side comparisons to ‘before’ because I don’t want to build up any potential obsession with before/afters. You may not notice much of a difference from two weeks ago, but that is also a very good thing. I ate like a beast over the past two weeks and you can barely tell. If anything, I actually think my body toned up a little more.
It’s also very unlikely to see any drastic changes in two weeks, especially since I didn’t even complete all of the days. I just love how this challenge made me feel and how much stronger it made me.
Chloe is releasing a new Flat Stomach Challenge that officially starts on Jan 4th. I had a look at the program schedule and I cannot express how excited I am for it. The program looks to have been thoughtfully put together and I can’t wait to see all the new videos that are launching. I also love that the main exercise videos will only be 20-40min, which is very doable. It also includes some of my favourite workout videos overall.
I’ll be resting for the rest of this week I think, and then embarking on a 28 day challenge with my Discord friends haha. It’ll be intense, but it’ll be worth it I’m sure ;) I’ll be aiming to document my journey on my blog as well, of course!
Muchos love,