Yet Another Battle Log

[Chewy]

Hi, I'm Beka. I'm 25, originally from New Zealand, now living in Yangon, Myanmar. (Curious? Feel free to ask me about it!)

 

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that although I've been a member since 2013, I have never been fully active on the forums. Classic case of the 'tried something for a week, couldn't stick to it'. It's a little bit the story of my life.

 

So why am I here? 

 

Because I want to be more than average! I have got by all my life by doing the bare minimum, and that has worked for me. But it's hardly a way to live. Each day should be an adventure, and we should be trying to get the most out of it. But I have been spending most days waiting for it to be over so I could get back to my couch, my fridge, my terrible addicition to Pretty Little Liars. 

 

I am suddenly feeling jealous of those people who can't wait to get to their sports practice, or their yoga class, or gym session. I want to be able to walk into a clothes store and buy the things I want to buy, not the things that make me look smaller than I really am. I want to be able to feel healthy and walk tall, and shake off my shadow of self-doubt. It's about feeling content and happy in your own skin. 

 

So, how will I do it? 

 

I've already started, which is why I'm here. I didn't want to start a battle log only to give up after 3 days.

 

For the last two weeks, I have:

- Stopped eating sugar and processed foods. (I've gone from eating chocolate and drinking red bull on a daily basis, to only eating fruit for breakfast.) 

- Completed a yoga session daily. (and oh man, my butt muscles hurt!).

- Cycled to work and back every day.

- Stopped drinking alcohol, started drinking 3 litres of water a day. (It may not sound like much, but I used to only drink coffee!) 

 

Next Steps?

 

Continue as above for one more week.

After week 3, introduce beginner body weight routine on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons. 

 

Feels good to be finally joining the ranks for real. 

 

 

[Chewy]

Feeling proud of myself after the work function last night.
- Only had water to drink (turned down multiple offers of wine and beer)

- Only had one serving of the buffet - salad, and a tofu spring roll (felt a little guilty about the spring roll to be honest).

- Left the function after a reasonable time to cycle home and complete yoga for the day (usually I'm one of the last stragglers to leave!)

 

Found my Fitbit gathering dust in my house.

Charged it up, and 1,000 steps into my day. 

 

Rode to school this morning in epic time, mainly due to running extremely late... Punctuality is one of those slow-burning goals of mine. 

 

Tonight will be more challenging - a birthday party in one of my favourite cocktail bars... they make this insane cocktail that's ingredients include jam, condensed milk, honey, marmite, kahlua and vanilla liqueur. So good, but so off limits!

 

Plan to survive tonight

- Complete yoga when I first get home, so I don't put it off.

- Eat a healthy, filling dinner before I leave.

- Stick to water (switch to soda water if people ask what gives - people are less likely to interrogate you about not drinking if your drink is carbonated)

- Limit the amount of money I take so I am not tempted to buy the expensive, mouth-watering cocktails...

[Chewy]

The weekend has passed, and it was not as fun as I hoped.

 

The Pros

I started my Burmese language classes again, which was starting to get very rusty. 

I had a great night out with a friend I hadn't talked to in a while.

I completed my yoga session on Saturday, and also fit in a half hour walk.

 

The Cons

I did end up drinking, not on Friday, but Saturday night.

Having not had alcohol in a long time, my body didn't like it much.

Was sick most of yesterday, and didn't do yoga. 

Now it's Monday, and I have Burma Belly - the frequent, third world germ-induced, food poisoning. 

 

On a different note, I am starting to see changes in my body. My measurements 2 weeks ago were:

Bust: 36
Waist: 26

Hips: 40

 

As of yesterday, my measurements were:

Bust: 34
Waist: 26
Hips: 38

 

So my bust took most of the damage (sob!), but I'm stoked to see changes in my hip measurements. My waist probably isn't going to get much smaller, and I'm more focused on my hips, thighs and upper arms anyway.

 

Goals for this week:

- Up water intake to 4 litres a day. 

- Stop drinking coffee, and every time I want it, drink green tea instead.

- Wash hands thoroughly before every meal (this may seem like a no-brainer, but herein Myanmar it needs to be a deep clean before every meal. I think this is why I got so sick!)

- Yoga every day.

[Chewy]

And the first real hurdle of my journey has been overcome - with a few regrets involved.

 

I got sick. Super sick. I said on Monday I had Burma Belly - it usually lasts 12 hours. I had it for 30 hours straight, having to leave work early on Monday, catching a taxi home and crawling into bed.

 

I stayed there until 8 pm last night (Tuesday night), unable to eat, or drink anything without extreme nausea. When I finally could stomach something, it ended up being the only carbs in the house - some sugary cream wafers. 

 

I'm disappointed that I ended up turning to sugar, but my friends tell me that my body was craving the energy after not eating for two days straight. 

 

I'm exhausted now, but able to eat and back to making good decisions. The hardest part will be getting back into routines again. But I have had plenty of water to drink this morning, well only my way to 4 litres, and I plan to do yoga when I get home this afternoon. 

 

I was contemplating buying coffee as 'get well treat' from the cafeteria, but then talked myself out of it - I know that coffee won't make me feel better!

[Chewy]

Argh it's been almost a week since my last post! But I'm not giving up.

 

I started my new goal this week - Bodyweight workout 3 times weekly. Oh man, my legs hurt. I cycled home yesterday and had to go the whole way in second gear because I felt like if I pushed my legs any further I would puke. 

 

But I felt so productive when I did get home - I got so many jobs done, and getting to work this morning was so much easier because I prepared the night before. This is a big deal for me because usually I sit on the couch as soon as I get home, and I eat until I'm full. Not to mention every morning is hell for me because waking up is the worst thing in the world. 

 

One goal I want to work towards this week is putting down all my devices at least an hour before bed. I don't sleep well, and I think it's because I stay on my phone/laptop until I'm exhausted. This is partly because if my brain isn't exhausted when I finally turn out the lights, I start thinking about really morbid things - my friends and family's inevitable deaths, how we are all just one of several billion people on this earth, space (man, thinking about space is scary!).

 

But I can't do that forever. Last night, instead of frying my brain on Buzzfeed, I turned out the lights and played as much of the 2005 Pride and Prejudice movie in my head until I fell asleep. I know that movie scene for scene, word for word, so it works well!