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Hi friends! It's been soooo long. I started a challenge in the beginning of the year and I stopped again. For some reason I couldn't follow through. But I'm back again. I missed you guys. I have been keeping up with fitness and nutrition (with varying success), but a little accountability couldn't hurt 😅 So without further ado, here are my goals for this challenge: Nutrition I've been on Noom for a bit now, following their course. I know, there are many people who say it's not good for you. And I see their point (I really don't like their color system). But there is also a lot on there that IS good for me. I've been learning a lot about the psychology side of eating. I've had quite a few aha moments. So my first nutrition goal is to continue the noom course, maybe I can even finish it within this challenge as I am over half way. Noom has been talking about different eating strategies. Like paleo, keto, and intermittent fasting (IF). I've had lots of success with IF in the past, until I hadn't. When researching how to do IF when you got a female body I stumbled across the book "Fast like a girl". And it talks on how to do fasting in sync with your monthly cycle. This should take care of the side effects I was having when trying it in the past (hair loss, irregular period etc.), and should even help fix some issues I've been having for ages but my doctor can't help me with like stiff muscles, fatigue and painfull periods. There are 2 versions: a beginner one and an advanced one. I'm going to try the advanced one, but will fall back to the beginner one if necessary. (The beginner one is in parenthesis) So this is going to be my fasting schedule according to my cycle. Day 1 is the first day of my period, and I have a 28 day cycle (more or less). Day 1-5: 15 (13) hour fast Day 6: 24 (15) hour fast Day 7-10: 17 (17) hour fast Day 11-15: 15 (13) hour fast Day 16: 24 (15)hour fast Day 17-19: 17 (15) hour fast Day 20-28: 13 hour fast (no fasting) Fitness I found a zumba class that's a 5 minute walk from my house! So I'm going there once a week. I even got a punch card instead of a subscription, which is so perfect for me. I'm never leaving there. Next to this I've been trying so many different workout schedules and styles. Now I'm doing ringfit (nintendo switch) for an hour twice a week. I had been having trouble with hitting a wall 30 minute into my workout. Then I came across a video about pre-workout. I thought that was just for body builders, but apparently it's for when you want to workout longer. I found one without cafeïne or other stimulants, because I can't sleep if I have more than 3 cups of coffee a week (yes, a week you heard me right). And the stuff is epic! No more wall. Sure, I get tired and sore from the workout, but there is no block that makes it feel I'm standing in quick sand while trying to workout. I have no side effects. I researched the ingredients and everything I found says the stuff is save and you won't develop a dependence on it. Enrichment I should read more. I want to. But my phone and pc are such an easy distraction. So my goal this challenge is to read 10 pages a day. Of any book. I think that's it. I'm going to find some Doodlies now to say hi to. If they're still around here that is. And if you want to be friends, just drop a message below. It's fun meeting new people here 🙂

Welcome back to a new challenge! After going through many restriction/binge cycles I stumbled onto intuitive eating last October. I went through the steps, read "Brain over Binge" and now I'm completely binge free, and have a much better relationship with food and my body. But now I have to figure out what "normal eating" means for me. Two challenges ago I tried to count kcal again, but that caused binge thoughts, so I quickly stopped (after about 2/3 weeks). BUT all that counting did made one thing clear: my protein intake was really low. So last challenge I focused on eating more protein rich foods. I didn't count, didn't restrict, just made sure I added protein wherever I could. This made me feel a lot better during the day: more stable energy, less cravings. I also started intermittent fasting (IE) again. Intermittently that is When I was really hungry I ate. When I thought I could go on for a bit, I fasted. I never want to go back to binging, so I made it a point to listen to my body as best as I could. IE makes my asthma go away, and with that improves my energy and makes my digestion feel a lot better. It's also good for my mental health: knowing that I don't HAVE TO eat when I'm not hungry, or when nothing sounds good to me. I won't die from starvation, or faint from lack of food :p So this challenge I'm going to play around with my macro's even more. I've always been used to a high carb, low protein, moderate/low fat diet. I'm curious to see what will happen if I change this completely. So I'm going to start with a complete 180: high fat/moderate protein/low carb. Not counting anything, just winging it. I've counted long enough to know what foods are high in carbs, and I can read labels if I'm unfamiliar with a certain food. But I'm not going to let food interfere with life: parties, family get togethers, and just family dinner (although that's pretty healthy and not too carb heavy already). Just trying to keep a healthy balance Let's see how this will make me feel and move on from there. I want to do this for the length of this challenge, but if I start to feel like crap I will adjust sooner. This challenge I'm keeping up my fitness routine: dance twice a week and lift twice a week. Last challenge I toyed with circuit style workouts. It reduced the time of the workout, but it also reduced the weight I could use. So last week I tried to watch netflix on my laptop while lifting. So far it works. Workouts are about 30 minutes (including warming up and stretching afterwards), and rests aren't that boring. I'm going to keep this up until it get's boring again and then I'm sure I find something else to make it more interesting

After year of getting ready mentally, I'm finally able to lose the weight I need to lose to get healthy. Last challenge I finally got my BMI below 30. This is a great step towards being healthy. Food as always be a comfort to me, a way to relax. Now I see I don't need food to do this. Yes, sometimes I get thoughts like "I'm so stressed, I need to eat something to calm down" or "I worked so hard today, I deserve this food" or "I feel so bad, some food will make me feel better". But that's just wat they are: thoughts. I see now that I don't need to act on them. I am in charge, not the random thoughts that pop in my head. Enough talk, lets dive in Quest 1: Nutrition I will eat 1200 kcal combined with intermittent fasting (18/6'ish) for 5 days a week. And eat normally (aka around 2000 kcal a day, no fasting) for 2 days a week. This way I will prevent my body adapting to the lower kcal, so I will still be able to eat normally once I reached my goal weight. Besides that: it will prevent me from going crazy Usually the normal days will be on Wednesday and Sunday, but if I have a birthday to go to for example, I will switch it around. This plan should fit my life, not the other way around. Quest 2: Fitness Body weight training 3 times a week. I've been doing the sessions on fitbit coach. It tailors the workouts to your goals and capabilities. It never asks me to do a regular push up for example And off course zumba and dancehall classes! Like I am able to skip those There will be a showcase on July 1st, and I need to train for that. So I will attempt to go to all extra trainingsessions, and go the the regular ones (2 hours on Tuesday, 1 on Thursday and 1 on Friday). BUT, and this is important: if I feel my body needs to recharge I will skip a workout, or at least postpone it. I will not over-train my body, and I will rest when I need to rest. Quest 3: Keep sane To adhere to these goals I need to be mindful. I need to be aware of my thoughts and why I do what I do. To keep on track I will either watch 1 masterclass a week or read a blogpost on Life on Tellus, or I will read a chapter in "the little book of big change" or "mind over binge". And to provide extra motivation I'm participating in DietBets. And to make things even better. Here is a Spreadsheet for my accountability and your entertainment

I'm back! I had a dream about you guys last night, and I realized how I've missed you. I just sort of dropped out last challenges. No excuses, just life. I've learned a lot the past few months. I've previously mentioned "Life on Tellus". I've follwed her courses, participated in masterclasses and was active on her facebook forum. And the best part: I've succesfully implemented her techniques into my life: bye bye binges Using her techniques I've been able to actually stick to a diet I believe is healthy for me. I've also entered a Diet Bet to give myself extra motivation. So here goes Challenge #1: Eat 1200 kcal a day During PMS- and sharkweek I'm allowed to add the kcal my fitbit told me I burned by walking around. I need to keep listening to my body. If my energy gets too low, if I can't do stuff I normally could I need to re-evaluate this goal. Challenge #2: Intermittend fasting I start my fast after dinner, and break my fast at lunchtime. Again: while listening to my body. I've found I can eat this way pretty much all the time and have TONS of energy, but a few days a month my body needs breakfast. Challenge #3: Do strengt training 2/3 times a week I've got the fitbit coach app, which gives me workouts based on my fitness level. It is really great. It never askes me to do an actual pushup for example The workouts are between 20 and 30 minutes, so easy to fit into my schedule. And off course: I'll listen to my body. I will skip a workout if needed Exception: I get 1 day a week off of these goals. Just to keep my sanity. So if I really, really want icecream/fries/chocolate or other stuff that doesn't fit my kcal, I can have those that day. Let's do this!