Monday 27 January 2014

Detoxified's 30 Days Of Hope (Day 27)

My entry in 30 Days Of Hope sessions run by a very talented blogger, who I admire from afar (ish). You can follow him on twitter @0Toxic and his blog http://olatoxic.wordpress.com
Day 27: Nimi 
I’ve never pegged myself as the writing down hopes and dreams type of woman.  For work, definitely, when I was in school for studying without doubt it makes sense, but for life...never really thought about it. I just know what I want to happen and try to make it so.  Always figured there’s a certain vulnerability to writing it all, like it brings to light  (and the universe) how much I want it which increases the likelihood  of me not getting it which will hurt (so optimistic, aren’t I?). Plus it reminds me of the church of my youth...writing down what you want and praying on it. Speaking of church, I guess that a good place to start (yes I can be a bit of a rambler when trying to get to something).

The church was part of the reason I actually sent the message I was up for writing this. I saw the blog post as I was getting ready for a church service (4th attendance of the year, whole other conversation), I smiled and wondered if I should put myself for it. Was still thinking about it when the teaching began and of course much of it centered on the New Year.  A lot of what was spoken about was ‘hope’ and ‘dreams’,  now that was a sign if I needed one.  I’m not a ‘signs’ person (I sound fun, don’t I?), I consider myself a realist. I have optimistic moments and pessimistic moments but ultimately I stay grounded in realism.  So all hopes and dreams are always undercut in realism but for 2014 my philosophy is ‘what is the point of dreams if they don’t get to fly as high as they can’.  So the condensed version of some of mine

Facing my spirituality head on, away from the standard trappings of religion.  I am so far removed from who I was taught to be as a teenager it’s crazy to compare. To blindly follow stopped being me forever ago but the problem is that I stopped moving all together; I read different things and listen to different things but remain stagnant. It’s time to make a choice on the direction I want to go and I can’t lie, that is actually scary.  Things like this is when I think I may have that commitment issue folks talk about.

Write more, go for every writing opportunity available to me, improve, create variety, and put myself out there.  I already started this last year and I intend to do more this year. I always hesitate with this simply because what I have chosen as (most of) my writing subject isn't exactly the wholesome stuff for the masses.  That has me wondering how I would be received in certain situations which is unlike me.  So the plan is to carry my life attitude into my writing, to carve out time to write more, to look seriously into self-publishing but in the meantime to blog more and study more. This is what I want to do, so I need to do it.

“Dear Body, you have served me incredibly well. I should treat you better”. That was the message to my body I had yesterday. Considering my propensity is inclined towards hedonism and decadence this can be a little difficult. However, I focus on the me in 30 years and I imagine her cussing me for not making small improvements here and now that would make her life better. Vanity aside (I let the dream of six-pack go, eba and ogbonno won that fight), I want to avoid the issues that my current elders have by just taking a little more care.

Be as good to those around me as they are to me. The last year or so has made me realise how lucky I have been with the people around me, family, friends, colleagues and even romantic entanglements. I have some of the most amazing people around and my hope is for better things for them, my desire to make life better for them every time. It all sounds very Pollyanna-ish, doesn’t it? That’s my optimism in play and it is also the truth.

“Stop enjoying life and go get married” are the words of mummy. I’m sure she doesn't mean enjoyment stops when marriage comes (although sometimes I do wonder when I see some folks), more like it’s time to settle down. And for a change I do agree, the idea appeals a little bit more, even though I am worried that the fact I thoroughly enjoy my life right now may be a bit of a hindrance.  So I guess I’ll put it down as a hope; to be in a situation that will encourage that special one on one partnership.

To keep challenging myself to step out of my comfort zone. I chose today because it was going to be after my bungee jump and I was curious as to how I will feel after, if there was going to be some kind of deep and meaningful enlightenment sort of thing. I will say that it felt like the physical manifestation of taking an actual leap of faith and letting the fates do their thing.  It had me feeling like I can do anything and with that feeling, I will try to do everything...errr, maybe within reason of course.

So there it is and much longer than I expected.  My hopes and dreams written down, the things I want put out there in the universe. I will now go and do my thing and try to make it happen. However it goes down, I intend to have a lot of fun on the way.
http://olatoxic.wordpress.com/2014/01/27/day-27-nimi/

Monday 13 January 2014

30 Day Plank & Squat/Lunge Challenge: Day 12



Early to bed, early to rise was suppose to be my motto. That didn't quite work out as it should have, I was late to bed and early to rise so a little tired for the workout. Hot water/chili pepper/lemon combo perked me up a little bit so the JM workout went relatively well. I faltered on a couple of exercises that I know I can do better on, so tomorrow is a new day. Squats & lunges went well. I set out to do 1min 40secs on the plank but only managed 1min 30secs (the actual time I was suppose to do), again tomorrow is a new day.
As of writing this, I've had 1.5ltr of water (excluding the 2 cups of herbal tea) and contemplating bedtime before 11pm...we'll see how that goes.

See you tomorrow!xx


































Sunday 12 January 2014

30 Day Plank & Squat/Lunge Challenge: Day 10 & 11

I'll try not to make sipping days a habit but sometimes life gets in the way. Yesterday it was my first ever ice hockey game....kinda cool. There were a few scuffles but no fights, I'm not embarrassed to say I was a little disappointed by that. I expected it to be like the American movies & tv shows...you know a bit of extra excitement dagnamit!! Anyway missed posting yesterday so I'll do day 10 and 11 in one post.

Day 10: I decided to level up today. It's 5 days earlier than the original plan but I figured why not; it's a Saturday and if I need extra recovery I have time for it.

So level 3 of Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. Errr..it was difficult. The cardio had a lot of resistance stuff mixed in; doing shadow boxing, butt kicks, jumping jacks with weights is....something (my dumbbells are only 3kgs right now but still...). All in all I was very pleased with myself.
Squat and lunge challenge all good, lunges were a tad harder after 25 but could be cos there are quite a few lunges in the JM workout. Plank was all good but 1min 10secs could not come quick enough...Lord help me when I get to the 2 minute week.
By the end of the workout I'd had 1 litre of water so I thought the second will be a breeze. Urrmm...that was not the case (I blame the lucozade I had at the game *shifty eye*) so by the end of day 10 I'd only consumed about 1.5ltr (including my standard hot water/lemon/pepper mix)

Day 11: For some reason my body was a tad tighter today than yesterday but I'm sticking to level 3 of the JM workouts for as long as I can.  My shoulders were indeed burning; the combination of travelling push-ups an walking planks straight after..kai! It is something. I do prefer this level (yeah, this may be where my masochism comes through ;) )....could be cos I feel like I'm pushing myself or because I really do like the resistance/strength stuff which level 3 has more of (although I prefer the ab work of level 2).
Squats and lunges challenge went quite well. I find lunges more challenging that squats so I tend to do them first. Today's challenge had 40 lunges, I did them in batches of 20 (20 lunges on one leg then swap to other leg and swap back for another 20)
Plank challenge was interesting (read: I misread the thing). Tomorrow's time is 1.5mins, I read that as 1min 50secs so today I decided to prepare myself by doing 1min 40secs!! Unfortunately I didn't do the full time, at 1min 22 secs I wondered why time was moving so bloody slow. Ended at 1min 22secs...I was a little sad I couldn't last another 7 seconds (nah, not really). All in all, a good workout was had.
At some point I'm going to do a food challenge but I'd rather not have too many at once which could cause me to lose focus (plus I need to prepare myself for than one...having restrictions on foods is an emotional thing! The opposite of my live and let live attitude to enjoyment!lol)
As of writing this I've had 1.5ltrs of water...will definitely try and get the 2 done by bedtime.

See you tomorrow!xx






Friday 10 January 2014

30 Day Plank & Squat/Lunge Challenge: Day 7, 8 & 9

I didn't realize my last post was day 6. How time flies! I was in a foul mood day 7 so that may be why I didn't update & day 8 was just a busy one. I updated in the Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/thirtyafterthirty/  (which is essentially my check-in) so I'll put the 3 days in one post.


Day 7:  Today was a little difficult. My head was not in it & my body was following suit. My first thought was that I need to change things up, the monotony is getting to me and the thought of exercise does not appeal even a little. My next thought as I tried to get off the bed was what exactly is going on from my legs to ankles. My calves felt so tight and ankles a little tender. I test things out with a couple of jumps, not so good which led me to the (much needed) change.
I decide on a Jillian Michael's yoga workout. It's called Yoga Meltdown and it is a little more dynamic that the traditional yoga practice. I remember doing it sometime ago and sweating buckets...it's a tough one. It definitely showed me I need to do a lot more stretching with the workouts, my body feels better already. And it helped with the squats and lunges...plank also went without incident.
Succeeded in drinking 2 litres of water


Day 8: Back to 30 Day Shred today. The change up was definitely a good idea. I felt better today.made all the difference. Watching the ankle a little but it's not too much high impact cardio & I tried to land softly on some exercise. Squat & lunges all good and I added an extra 10secs to the plank challenge.
Had 2ltrs of water but I think I should have had more due to alcohol consumption.... *whispers* I may have had a whole bottle of wine :)


Day 9: While I wouldn't go as far as saying I was excited to begin exercise, I will say I wasn't dreading it (unlike day 7). I have committed (read: resigned) to do this so I've told myself to stop whinging (in my head) & just get on with it.
Started off a little slow today but I think its the combo of alcohol last night and not enough sleep. I had 0.5ltr of water before I even attempted to do anything, and couple with my lemon and pepper tea it's helped quite a bit.
30 Day Shred was not bad. I feel stronger on quite a number of exercise sets. Lunges were not easy ans squats were quite alright. 1min 5secs of plank....not ad at all. I'll tell you of my tears when we get to the 2 minutes mark :)
As of writing this I've had 1.5ltrs of water....all in all, I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself all round today. could be that Friday feeling too. See you tomorrow!xx





















Tuesday 7 January 2014

30 Day Plank & Squat/Lunge Challenge: Day 6

Day 6: It's all going well so will so I'll write a little about the things I'm not doing well to compare it to how I'll do in day 15 (I want to level up from day 16).
So, JM 30 Day Shred squat thrusts: I don't like them, it may be the impact or that I'm not sure my form is correct so I keep switching to mountain climbers. The goal is to stop doing that & do the full sets of squats.
Military press & leg extensions: I'm pretty strong in these but I have lost balance a couple of times so don't want to do that anymore & I'd like to extend my leg even higher for a straight/level line.
Chair Squats with V-fly: This ones comes up at the end of the strength workouts so I know at this point my shoulders tend to be burning from the weights but I'd like to do all the weights lifts without pauses.
All in all there, is general improvements.

Plank rest day today. Squats were all good, but lunges were not so easy today (& we're only on 15!!). Music was brought to you by Bunny Mack's Let Me Love You (My Sweetie, My Sugar)

At this point I've had 1.25lts of water & I'm celebrating 30 days without coffee (though I'm now back in an office....may not be so easy to avoid!).

Hoping to keep up this pace (no rest days) for the entire 30 days....wish me luck and see you tomorrow :)!x






















Monday 6 January 2014

30 Day Plank & Squat/Lunge Challenge: Day 5

Procrastinated a little today but soon remembered that I'll soon be back in an office (after about 4 years), so need to learn/remember how to just get up and go if I want to have daily workouts in the morning.
Jillian Michaels workout was pretty good, recognizing better strength in some areas but I'm still disappointed in couple of bits that I believe I should be doing better on. No issues with the knee so that's all good.

The 50 squats were not bad at all but I'm thinking I may split them to morning and evening when they get up to 75 next week...we shall see. The 10 lunges were a breeze but this is how they lull you into a false sense of security!! Tricksters!!
Today's music was David Guetta & Estelle's One Love.

As of writing this I'm finishing up the 2ltrs of water. Have I mentioned how much I hate this constant peeing.....my very first thought everywhere I go to now is, "where is the toilet?", frustrating!!

Tomorrow will be a little trickier as I start in the office...the plan is to be up and exercised up very early....we'll see how that goes. I'm already exhausted writing it....it does mean a very early night for me, early to bed, early to rise & all that!! See you then :)


Sunday 5 January 2014

30 Day Plank & Squat/Lunge Challenge: Day 4

I procrastinated and wanted a rest day for no reason other than a very late night/morning leaning to a late morning/afternoon. Hot water with lemon and a dash of pepper is a great perk up drink, I've discovered!!

The Jillian Michaels work out went well, I have more balance on some things and muscles seem to be more comfortable in others. something in my knee seemed to 'crack' and give way in the squat thrusts which made me wary but I just switched to mountain climbers instead (spent a little more time stretching).
Breezed through squats with the help of NERD's Lapdance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoI7xnZZ_Aw. Did not breeze through the lunges quite as easily and I was a little more conscious of my knee at this point. I decided not to stop though, followed the Jillian Michaels mantra of "you can make it easier....just do not stop"!!

As of writing this I just downed the last 0.5ltr of water to make sure I'm done by bed time :)

So same time tomorrow? Well...maybe not same time but you know what I mean!xx


Saturday 4 January 2014

30 Day Plank & Squat/Lunge Challenge: Day 3

Feeling better today, much more than I did yesterday so while I wouldn't go as as to say I raring to go...I'm much more enthusiastic than I was yesterday.

My back seemed to be trying to send me some messages so I did some stretches before I started (with the mental note to start the yoga I said I was going to do day 1).
There's a part of me that's thinking I should level up on the Jillian Michaels workout after the weekend, but I'll see how next week goes. Not because it's easy now (it really isn't, honestly!) but because I think I can force myself to push harder. Anyway, we'll see how it goes...I'm also still deciding if I should have a rest day.  The squat/lunge challenge doesn't have rest day scheduled so I'm considering doing the same for JM workouts...again I'll see how next week goes, I am still only on day 3.
Squat/Lunge challenge goes well, I'm not a lunges fan....only 25 and I'm already wondering how I'll do 70 (day 31). 30secs plank goes without incident (I'd have been worried if there was an issue)...Kolom by Buk Bak helped me breeze through http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPyqZ5Dub-Q

As of writing this I've had 1.5ltrs of water (& several cup of  lemon and green tea). I prefer to keep track with my bottles but I'm claiming 2ltrs ;)

 So.....same time tomorrow, right?!x




































*To know more about the amazing ThirtyAfterThirty, please check out http://thirtyafterthirty.com/ and follow/tweet @30after30*

Friday 3 January 2014

30 Day Plank & Squat/Lunge Challenge: Day 2

This morning I woke up in a bad mood, coupled up with a phone call I'd rather have avoided I was not in the mood to exercise at all. Infact I actually wanted a cup of coffee, some cake and my duvet which would have made my day but alas I had none of that (bar duvet) at home and the rain stopped me. So I wallowed in my misery a little which further annoyed me as I like to think I'm not the wallowing sort *cough, cough*. Problem was I kept thinking about the fact that I would not have written anything and it's only bloody day 2. How can I be demotivated on the second day? Ridiculous. It took me thinking about the potential lack of update and the fact that it'll just keep bugging me the whole day when there is not actual reason not to do it other than my own mental state. So off my ass I got!

Didn't stretch yesterday so was a little stiff but got into the swing of it halfway through. I expected it to be easier today than yesterday...it wasn't (though I was less winded thank goodness).
I added an extra 10 seconds to the plank challenge, that wasn't as much of a breeze as I would have liked. Squats & lunges were all as expected, I just made a mental note to not stop halfway through the squats. I keep looking at the numbers for upcoming weeks *shudders*
As of writing this I have drank 1.5ltrs of water....that final 0.5 seems to be a bit of a problem but I shall conquer!!



Oh yeah....so, I couldn't really get away with my 30 day blogging challenge being me blogging about my exercise challenges so err...I have to revisit that one :)!!

See you tomorrow!

Thursday 2 January 2014

30 Day Plank & Squat/Lunge Challenge: Day 1

Happy New Year and all that good stuff!!

As you may have read (if you haven't errr.....why not??), I did a 30 day abs challenge last summer in support of my beautiful friend at http://thirtyafterthirty.com (I should mention we're going bungee jumping as part of our something new challenge).  I had a lot of fun with that and blogging about it enhanced the experience a little and helped keep me motivated when I would have gotten bored with things.

So in the spirit of the new year and the Thirtyafterthirty philosophy, I am doing a few challenges for 30 days and will be documenting my progress (part of the challenge) as I go along. I'm on a couple of exercise challenges (see below pictures) as well as getting back into the regular fitness/training track with the (conveniently titled) Jillian Micheals' 30-day shred. It's a quick 20-30 minute workout which is very good in conjunction with the pictured challenges (& any others I may come across in the course of the 30 days).
Another challenge is my water intake; I plan on having at least 2ltrs of water per day. I am currently on day 25 of no coffee (those that know me well enough know it's a little tough, on a positive note at this point  no longer feel like stabbing people I see enjoying coffee when I can't.so yeah, progress and all that) which has increased how much water I drink but it's still no where near as much as I should. This challenge should help.
I am also on a 30 day blogging challenge, writing a blog per day (writing about the exercise challenges daily should cover it, 2 birds 1 stone ;) ).
As time goes on  I will be adding challenges I think suit me & I'd enjoy but for now, the plank and squats/lunges challenge:




























Day 1: I chose the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred because it's been a while since I have done a proper work out...trying to ease myself back into things slowly. I've previously done the workout up to level 3 (and some days I've done all 3 levels when I'm feeling fancy) so I figure level 2 will be the right balance between easy and challenging. Err...well it goes to show just how long it's been since proper exercise, I got a little winded but not entirely terrible...feels good to be doing somethin after a few months. The plank challenge wasn't difficult which I expected, had a brief moment of wanting to go beyond time set but think I'll pace myself and stick to the times (at the moment). Squat and lunges challenge was quite good. I'm not a fan of either but it's great for the core, pelvic muscles and a great ass....all things one should look forward too ;). I did 15 lunges on each leg which is fine for now, but then I look at day 31 (yes, this is the point I noticed it's a 31 day challenge and there are no rest days..I should have paid more attention) and  see 70 lunges....God help me!

So sit here at 1am of day 1 (which technically puts us in day 2, but I've never been one to worry too much about technicalities), trying to quickly down my last 0.5ltr of water cos  can't have failed this one from the gate. Exercise done, blogging done (as you will see) & water almost done!!

See you tomorrow!