The Essentials

Posted by: Camille, February 7, 2012

Join me on my ‘getting healthier’ journey!

Thanks for coming to my page. Previously I posted a blog called “Project Be” a blog written to explain my plan of how to feel better and healthier! Well here’s the continuation I guess to it, but one that actually documents how I am going to do this, not just talk (or shall I say writing) but me trying to follow it to the best of my ability.

With our upcoming wedding in November, my partner and I decided to get fit together, over the past year I’ve gained a lot of weight that I don’t want to have as we start the rest of our lives together. I want to start on the right foot.

You don’t have to have a wedding coming up to join me on this journey. Anyone who has goals to be a healthier person can follow these blog posts.

So here’s the plan:

Over the next few weeks I’m going to post a blog once or twice week about my progress and new tools I’ve found that are helpful in aiding my way to a better me. I’ll also post links to websites and videos that you can watch and read along with me. Let me know if you find the same sort of results as I do. I promise to be as honest as I can be. Even on days where I feel like I’ve pretty much failed this exercise. But I am determined, and want to do this not only for me but for you guys too. So keep reading on for today’s first blog post!

First things first:

Check out my previous blog Project Be to read what started this all. You might get some cool ideas and write down your own ideas of what ‘guidelines’ you’d like to follow in your quest to the healthiest you’ve ever been

I guess the key to all this health business is staying motivated, keeping track of what you eat and do and pretty much learn or understand what’s really going on inside your body and your head. To kick this off, start a diary.

On the first page of your diary, write down “SMART-ER” goals, here’s mind:

Specific – toned body, more energy when I wake up, improved flexibility, self confidence
Measurable – lose 10kgs or target weight of 50kgs OR fit into my clothes from last year! Now that is a great measurement!
Achievable – slow but steady, get my body back, it is achievable because I had it last year, I can have it again! (use something relatable to you, if you haven’t been the size you wanted before you can still do this, think of what a healthier you would be, but don’t go so drastic that you’re bordering on being disproportionate or not healthy in terms of getting the nutrients your body needs)
Realistic – follow proper nutrition and exercise routines (it’s going to be hard work, I’m aware of this and I accept this)
Timely – at least 1 kilo per week
Evaluate – keep a diary
Re-evaluate – instead of always looking at the weight machine, look for how my clothes fit after so many weeks, sometimes counting the kilos means little because some fat has now become muscle.

On the next page, I write down the things that I can take from Project Be as a basis:

Drink only Green Tea, Water and Apple Cider Vinegar with Honey
Drink at least 2L of water per day
Take MultiVits – Calcium and Vit B most especially
NO junk food, fast food, softdrinks, alcohol
Going Vegan or Pescetarian

Initial Exercise Notes:

On the third page, I brainstorm some specific Ideas for exercise that I can do, try doing the same you may find you have alot more opportunity for exercise than you think, lots of peoples reason is because they’re not near a pool or a gym but there are alternatives. Here’s my list for things near me:

Swimming – at least 45minutes – 20 laps (our pool is 27m long)
Badminton – at least 30mintues really pushing myself
Running – on the treadmill or at my local running track (Capitol Track Dumaguete)
Gym Session – Figure out a work out that can last an hour including cardio like on the bike or something
Yoga – for rest days, a lighter form of exercise to increase my flexibility – which is one of my goals
Visit BodyRock.tv to follow some awesome at-home Workouts (I found this one recently and will share with you my experience with this website in an upcoming ‘Bridal BootCamp’ blog. To start off our journey together, try to memorize this video to start off your next work out. Watch: Hot Blooded Warm Up (BodyRock.tv on YouTube)
Workout DVDs – visit my other blog post – Exercise DVD Picks . On this page I list my favourite work out DVDs, work out with me! To work out, I am going to put the video on and workout for at least an hour each session, have a bottle of water, and a towel ready, and let’s do it!

Initial Nutrition Notes:

When it comes to food, I found a helpful diagram to go shopping with. Especially with a chronic illness like mine it’ll be really helpful to stick to these anti-inflammatory kinds of foods:

For this week, I’d like to introduce you to the first online tool I’ve come across:

Visit the ShapeSmart website .You can sign up for your own account so that you can get newsletters and such, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to, you can still use all the tools on the website. Click on ShapeSmart Tools and download the 12 Week Exercise Plan ,there are 3 pdfs to download. If you’re like me, I’m sure you already know your BMI but if not there’s also a tool on this page to help calculate this. As of today I am 60 kilos and 158cm (or 5’2”). I am like this close to being overweight but I am still in the healthy zone. My BMI is 23.6.

Next, download your own Food and Moods Diary. What I did is I printed it out once, and then photocopied it 11 more times, so I had 12 copies for the next 12 weeks.

Here’s my first entry following the 12 week exercise plan:

Upcoming Blogs:

Tune in to see my progress and let me know yours too. If you have any recommendations of your own, I’d love to hear them! Tomorrow I’ll be talking about better sleeping patterns and some stretches you can do when you wake up for a fresher start and when you go to sleep for a less agitated sleep. Hopefully they actually work lol, but I shall be reporting in with my results.