diet – Page 3 – Bobbieness

Week 38 runs from Monday 14th September — Sunday 20th September, 2020.

For more information on what, why and how I’m tracking everything, including my health & fitness goals, please click here. To skip to the end of week summary, please click here.

The Week in Fitness & Food

9/14 – Monday. Completed 16:53.
Videos completed: MadFit 5min Warm Up, MadFit 15min Love Handle & Muffin Top Abs, MadFit 30min Low Impact HIIT, MadFit 5min Cool Down.

Today’s set was hard. Well, the abs workout was really challenging for me. I definitely felt the burn, but I also felt myself taking shortcuts and losing form because it was so difficult. There are no breaks. I think this video is probably too advanced for my fitness level right now, but I would like to keep at it to see how much I can get through next time.

The low impact HIIT wasn’t too bad, but I could still see that my form wasn’t great. It could be because I was already tired from the previous set, and before that I also did my weekly pushup test for my end of previous week pushup update, so that wore me out even more. Or, it could be because Jacky joined me today and so we were limited on space and trying not to bump into one another.

That’s right! Jacky joined me haha. He did well! It really is surprising to see just how much my endurance has improved in the month that I’ve continued exercising where he’d stopped. He struggled hard, but I’m super proud of us!

I must have been really tired in general though because within 30min of completing the workout I walked myself over to the daybed and fell asleep for 1.5hrs.

Last night I, again, slept late and also woke up once to use the bathroom. Having sleep disruptions really messes with my energy levels. I promised myself I’d sleep earlier so I can be well rested! Come on, Crystina. Sort yourself out.

On another note, I took some proper physique update photos at last, yey! I think the difference is really noticeable, even with the bad lighting. It is really cool to see these changes in my body and see my muscle definition become more pronounced as my body fat decreases. Please ignore the circle shaped bruise on my left leg; I’m ridiculously clumsy so I ran into furniture… again.

Weight-wise, I dropped down to the 120’s again, which is very cool. I’m aiming to have my median weight be around 120.8-121lbs this week – that’s the pattern I’m seeing at present and it’s something I’m very happy with :)

Sleep Time	Wake Time	Hrs Slept	Restful Sleep	Disruptions	Awoke Feeling	Weight
01:45	09:30	7hr 40min	4hrs	1x	Somewhat rested but tired	120.8lbs

Hello! I figured I could try to do one of these posts so, if you’re interested, you can see what my diet looks like these days. I do seem to be consistently losing a little weight every week right now while eating these foods — that was the goal, after all — and what I’m eating is definitely a little different from what I was eating before. I am really not used to doing these so I kinda forgot to take photos half the time (gah!) but at least I can write down what I ate.

I try to switch up my meals daily but keep them healthy and balanced as best as I can. I also like to have at least one of Coach Greg’s recipes every day. What I eat really varies a lot, but here’s a snapshot of one day!

Date: 8th September 2020

Meal 1: greek yoghurt, figs, berries, oat milk latte.

I did not add honey to my bowl because the figs were sweet enough for me. The latte in the tall glass was for Jacky. I am lactose intolerant but it seems that no-fat milk is actually acceptable for my stomach.

I don’t love the taste of greek yoghurt though, and my yoghurt-to-fruit ratio was a bit high for my liking, so I actually gave some of my spoonful to Jacky because I felt like it was too much for me. I definitely enjoyed it. I loved the fruit, and I’m glad I ate the greek yoghurt for the health benefits.

Week 37 runs from Monday 7th September — Sunday 13th September, 2020.

For more information on what, why and how I’m tracking everything, including my health & fitness goals, please click here. To skip to the end of week summary, please click here.

The Week in Fitness & Food

9/7 – Monday. Rest (ish).

Today was Labour Day in the US so Jacky had the day off. Because he had the day off we just lazed around and had a leisurely breakfast this morning instead of exercising. I was also feeling a little tired and sluggish, probably because it’s been so hot lately, but also because I slept late last night.

In the afternoon we decided to go to a nearby mall to walk around, be outside but not actually outside, and — more importantly — get me Cinnabon. Haha. There were loads of sales going on but I was just interested in the Cinnabon buy-one-plus-a-drink-and-get-one deal. I ate half of one and am saving the rest for another day.

I didn’t exercise today, so I took a random photo just now. The top I’m wearing looks a little large for me and the bat wings under my arms look to have shrunk significantly, both of which are perfectly fine by me haha.

To be honest, I’m very not used to not exercising two days in a row anymore, especially if one of those days is on Monday. Or maybe it’s just I’m really not used to not exercising on a Monday (I did walk a lot more than usual but it was only 6,000 steps). I feel a bit bleurgh and want to work out. It’s too late now because it’s bedtime, but I cannot wait to get back to challenging my body again tomorrow.

I’m taking that as a good sign because I’ve learned that exercise is a reward and it is a joy and pleasure to take care of my body by pushing it to grow stronger. I love working out now; I love working hard during a workout, I love the feeling of accomplishment when I’m able to do one more rep than last time, I love the challenge of keeping good form, I love how energised I feel afterwards.

I did do my weekly pushup test today though!! I did 10 elbows-out knee pushups with actual good form (Jacky was very impressed) plus 3 more where my form was getting increasingly poorer. I then did 1 elbows-in knee pushup with good form (I think?) before I collapsed. I rested for a few minutes and was able to do 5 more elbows-out knee pushups. Result!

There was no change in my weight, but that’ll probably go up tomorrow given my Cinnabon and lack of exercise heh heh.

Sleep Time	Wake Time	Hrs Slept	Restful Sleep	Disruptions	Awoke Feeling	Weight
01:25	09:25	8hrs	4hr 45min	None	Somewhat rested	122.4lbs

Week 36 runs from Monday 31st August — Sunday 6th September, 2020.

For more information on what, why and how I’m tracking everything, including my health & fitness goals, please click here. To skip to the end of week summary, please click here.

The Week in Fitness & Food

8/31 – Monday. Completed 11:21.
Videos completed: Natacha Oceane 10min Warm Up, Natacha Oceane 20min Full Body Workout, MadFit 15min Folklore Dance Workout, MadFit Ariana Grande 7 Rings Workout, MadFit 15min Stretch & Cooldown.

Today was really cool! I managed to get through the entire workout without taking breaks outside of the ones that were built in/letting the video play til completion. I have been recording myself to watch my form and um, looks like there’s a lot to be desired at times. But for many of the movements, my form was really not bad at all.

I realised that my pushup form is actually poor. Despite how much it hurts and kills to get back up, it turns out watching my form in the mirror was one thing, but actually recording it to see how it looks is an entirely different beast. I will probably have to reset my pushup count, sigh.

I do think I was able to do one arm-in, knee pushup with good form though. Natacha’s video has them built in, so I was able to watch back the footage and see how poorly I’d been doing.

I’m really glad I added in Natacha’s 10min warm up to this set because (aside from no longer being weak from PMS) it really helped to prepare my body for her actual workout. She said in the video that she used the first movement as a workout, but she is 10 different levels of athlete above me, so my poor body definitely needed a proper warm up.

Flora was amazed I was able to keep going (to be honest, I was too) because she was really struggling, and her fitness level is typically way above mine. I also struggled hard the first time for Natacha’s video because my body was just not used to moving that way (see last week Thursday).

But today, my body was more familiar with the movements so it was a matter of stamina. Flora wasn’t feeling her best anyway so that probably made it harder. I imagine next time she does the video it will be no problem for her!

I didn’t manage to sleep well last night unfortunately. Technically there were no sleep disruptions and I suppose the restful sleep figure is great, but I had vivid dreams that kept me from sleeping soundly. I was also in bed by 00:30 but I just could not sleep.

I kept trying to figure out what it could have been because I literally did not remember drinking any coffee in the afternoon, but then I realised it must have been the 2 diet cokes I had after our Costco run, one of which I had at like 9pm. Lesson learned.

Thus, I’m even more pleased that I managed to have a really good workout today! Yay for getting stronger. My average heart rate for Natacha’s video was 148bpm, and for the two MadFit videos it was 162bpm! SO pleased with that because I think it means I am now able to go harder by maintaining that higher heart rate for a longer period of time.

I took the photo above just now. If I look healthy, it’s because I really feel it too. Yay!

Sleep Time	Wake Time	Hrs Slept	Restful Sleep	Disruptions	Awoke Feeling	Weight
01:30	09:15	7hr 45min	4hr 20min	None	Groggy but decently rested	122.8lbs

Week 35 runs from Monday 24th August — Sunday 30th August, 2020.

I really liked the format last week so I’ll keep it for now! For more information on what, why and how I’m tracking everything, including my health & fitness goals, please click here.

The Week in Fitness & Food

8/24 – Monday. Completed 10:43.
Videos completed: MadFit 5min Warm Up, MadFit 30min Full Body Dancer Sculpt, MadFit 10min Beginner Lower Abs, MadFit 5min Cool Down

Today’s schedule was almost exactly the same as last Monday’s, except I swapped out the Cardio Abs video for the Beginner Lower Ab video I really liked last week.

Flora and I exercised together again, and I would have to say that I think today’s workout was average, but really not bad. I started off having had a very good night’s sleep, though my sleep tracker app says I woke up once during the night. I don’t recall that happening at all so I overwrote it.

To be fair, I could have gotten up much sooner but I kept on trying to put myself back to sleep after waking up at 8:25, failing, then deciding to just get up at 8:50. I don’t know if that meant I ‘overslept’ or what. I felt decently rested when I woke up at least.

The only thing I would change is that I was pretty hungry part-way through the workout. Flora really wanted to exercise early so I didn’t have time to eat beforehand, so it’s possible that I wasn’t able to exert myself as much as I could have had I eaten. However, I really went all-out for the 30min Dancer Sculpt video. I did not drop my arms during the arms part and ohmygosh it hurt like crazy. I had to pause the video to drink water and breathe for a few minutes after.

I couldn’t really do the bird-dog crunch move properly because my arms were still shaking because of that, though, and by the time the ab moves came along I was starting to get hungry. On the bright side, my arms had recovered decently by that point and my legs weren’t shaking nearly as much as they were last week.

I actually managed to do the entirety of that video and still have energy left despite being hungry (plus I managed to not drop my arms at all on the arms bit!!), so if that’s not a sign that my body is getting stronger, I don’t know what is. I’m very happy with that.

I wasn’t able to go all out for the Lower Abs video though. I did what I can, but I think I tired my body out from the intensity of the first video. That one felt like HIIT to me so it’s unsurprising that I didn’t have energy to do strength training afterwards. My bad, I should have started with the strength video (and now I understand why Chloe did that in her schedule for her Flat Belly challenge).

My weight has decreased again today, and I think it really has shown physically. Flora, Noah and I were chatting on video call last night and they joked that I only got my perfect body after my wedding, lol.

I can definitely see where they’re coming from – my physique has improved; I am slimmer. But right now, my ideal body is one that can do 10 real pushups, which I have not yet achieved. Once I’ve achieve that, I’ll decide what would constitute my perfect body next ;)

In terms of my body shape, I’m not gonna lie – I’m very happy with the changes I’m seeing. But more than that, I’m really happy with the energy that I feel from pushing my body to improve and fuelling it with yummy, healthy, satiating foods. Jacky also comments that I look so much healthier these days.

Sleep Time	Wake Time	Hrs Slept	Restful Sleep	Disruptions	Awoke Feeling	Weight
23:55	08:50	8hr 55min	5hr 50min	None	Rested	122.4lbs