Now that I’m finally no longer feeling paralysed over life, I finally put together a little design for a weekly March spread. It’s spring so I just drew with that in mind.
I really like how it turned out :) The ink materials I used are pictured. The Mildliner Brush pens I got from Amazon.com are still on sale for $22.98 so if you’re interested, now is still the best time to buy them. The Paper Mate pens I used are these ones but they’re very much optional.
I used my favourite Muji ball point pen for the calendar dates, and this is also the pen I use for writing all my tasks and the weekly contents of my bullet journal too. I didn’t even use a pencil for this one, or have any particular designs in mind, so I’m really glad it just worked out.
I realise that most people put their bullet journal designs up in advance, but… ah well. I’m not a trend-setter anyway lol.
This post will be updated daily for days 8 – 14 of this challenge. Click here for week one’s updates of this challenge.
It’s week two already! Wow, it feels like last week passed so quickly and yet so slowly at the same time, and now we’re 1/3 of the way through the challenge already. I still think 3 weeks is my sweet spot – I remain excited to exercise although with the understanding that I’ll make whatever adjustments I need to suit my schedule and fitness level, but at the same time I’ll still be able to push myself to keep going because the end is near.
I really enjoyed the new videos from last week and I’m enjoying this challenge so far. I think this is the first challenge I’ve ever done that does not include HIIT workouts so it feels a little foreign, but I’m not complaining. I’m still getting a good workout and I am most likely working muscles that I haven’t worked before since I was sore for almost the entirety of last week.
There are some new moves that I’ve loved doing – they’re incredibly challenging and I’ve appreciated the challenge. I feel especially accomplished when I’m able to do a move that I wasn’t previously able to, or do it with better form than before. Onwards, we go!
This post will be updated daily for days 1 – 7 of this challenge.
So it begins… Honestly until today I wasn’t certain I’d be committing to this challenge because I’d previously been interested in trying Chloe’s Get Fit Challenge for quite some time. However, I realise at this point that I don’t really have enough strength to use equipment, neither am I interested in overall muscle growth as a focus. Plus, this Hourglass challenge is only 21 days. That is literally my sweet spot, so I can’t really say no to it right now. I’m committed now.
In terms of what I’m looking for: again, just to keep working out. If there are any physical changes, fantastic. If there aren’t, that’s totally fine too because I’m just enjoying exercising. Supposedly this one isn’t as challenging, which I appreciate as I’m fairly sure I’ve lost a little strength, or haven’t been engaging some of the right muscles in the past.
In case you’re interested in before photos, you can see them in my Flat Stomach Challenge Results post. I took those photos this morning, so they would be the best indication for ‘before’ this challenge.
This challenge is 3 weeks long, so I’ll be creating a new update post each week to avoid a single post getting too long and thus intimidating to read. I did the same with the Flat Stomach Challenge and I liked that format a lot. As before, dates will be written in US format since I live here now.
Alrighty, I wasn’t expecting to do this, because I wasn’t expecting any major (or any, full stop) changes in my body. My weight did not change whatsoever, which is nice because it looks like my weight has settled comfortably, and is something I’m currently easily able to maintain.
I took update photos today, and you can definitely see a difference before / after the flat stomach challenge, especially in my legs. My waist measurement remains the same, but I know that I’ve slimmed down because I’ve had to tighten the straps of my sports bra and my pants now sit higher on my waist. I’m wearing the same clothes to alleviate one more degree of inaccuracy when looking at before/after.
I’ve just realised you can also see more definition in my upper abs too. And that thigh gap that I wasn’t even aiming for has become pretty prominent. Apologies for the mess in the background, we’re due to clean the apt today.
Wow, am I posting this spread on the first day of the month for once? Goodness me, it has been a productive start to the month! You may notice a couple of new pens below… that’s right! Last week the Zebra 15ct Mildiner Brush Pens that I’d been eyeing for months went on sale (still on sale right now for only $23+tax; they used to be $42) so I took the plunge and purchased them.
It’ll take me some time to get accustomed to using them I’m sure, but so far I’m liking them. The red colour isn’t as vibrant as I was expecting/hoping but it’s fine. I probably should have tested it before just going ahead and drawing but what’s life without a few risks.
I really enjoyed setting this up actually. I didn’t really have anything planned when I drew it out and it looks a little empty from the above picture, but I’ve already almost filled the two pages to the max with the things I want to accomplish during this period.
Essentially on the left side I have my monthly to-dos, which are just high-level things I want to accomplish at some point this month, and on the right I have a weekly spread.
I’m still using the rolling task list I learned from Plant Based Bride here to track my weekly tasks. This will be to assign my monthly to-dos to a specific day of the week, and also break down high-level tasks into smaller action steps where necessary. When I complete them all of the action items for that task, I’ll also tick it off my monthly to-do.
I date some of my monthly to-dos if I know they need to be accomplished within a certain week so that I can make sure I assign it when that week comes along.
Finally, my February mini-resolution tracker will be done on a weekly basis, since I plan to post weekly updates on my blog, so I’ll track them on my weekly spread.
I’m probably making a pig’s ear out of this description, but I know what I mean and it works for me haha. Sorry if it’s really confusing, but it is basic and I really like it. It’s been a while since I had to break down my monthly to-dos to a weekly task list, so this is kind of exciting for me.
