Between January 11th and March 7th 2021, I did an 8 week wellness challenge that I put together myself.
Here is my attempt at vlogging the experience:
The ‘rules’ of the challenge
Table of Contents
Physical Fitness
- Do the BEGIN AT HOME workout program from Thrive by Mitchelle Adagala.
This is a bodyweight 8 week home workout program that I have talked about before. I have started it twice in the past but never got past week 5 for different reasons so I was hoping that three times is a charm.
- One 15 minute jump rope workout a week.
My love for jump rope is something I have mentioned here. Alongside this challenge, I have a 2021 goal to work on one jump rope move each month.
- One active rest day a week.
With this goal, I could choose to take a walk or do a light mobility and flexibility routine.
Nutrition
- Drink 2 liters of water a day.
- Log all my meals.
I was to do this on a simple spreadsheet to bring awareness to the meals I eat on a daily basis so that I know what I can work on.
- Eat vegetables at all meals
I borrowed this idea from a popular nutrition program that I did back in October 2020. One of the cornerstones of Coach Roseanne’s ‘Hey Sugar’ program involves eating vegetables at every meal and they should take up half of your plate.
I had a good experience with this program but my personal life got in the way of me seeing it through to completion.
Soul work
- Daily meditation using an app called Insight TImer
- Daily journaling
- Twenty minutes of Tranquility (ToT)
This is a term I coined though the principle itself is simply unguided meditation. The idea is to spend at least 20 minutes everyday without receiving any external input (music,books, TV, podcasts etc). I have a pen and paper with me to jot down anything worth noting. I spend that time allowing thoughts to flow in and out of my mind and practice observation.
The Results
Habits
| Habit | Percentage |
| BEGIN AT HOME program | 100% |
| Meditation | 94.6% |
| 2L of water | 85% |
| Journaling | 69% |
| Twenty Minutes of Tranquility | 62.5% |
| Food log | 60% |
| Active Rest 1x a week | 50% |
| Jump Rope 1x a week | 50% |
| Vegetables at every meal | 38% |
The average comes to 67% . Woohoo!
Measurements
I feel very conflicted about this section. I am writing this post well after the challenge and I’ve been going back and forth about my stance.
To be totally honest, I did gain weight and my inches went up over the eight weeks. Even if the results were different, I don’t want to use inches, kilograms and pictures on my fitness journey.
I do not want to tie my appearance to my health because this has negatively impacted my relationship with my body in the past. It has also made me feel as though there is a lot I cannot do or achieve because of these very metrics.
This is how I feel about it right now and it may change in the future.
My sinking funD
During the second week of the challenge, I created a sinking fund to gift myself at the end of it for being consistent. Initially, I thought that this money would go to a thrifted workout outfit or two. Later on, I decided to stretch the fund out till the end of November 2021 with a savings rate of KES 1000 per week. So far , I have saved KES 6500. With this fund, I have my eye on the Galaxy Active Watch 2 which will streamline my fitness tracking in the future. In the event that I decide to buy something else, I’m happy that I have some cash for it.
Key takeaways and next steps
- I love working out. Its impact on my life is almost immediate. It boosts my mood, energy levels and self confidence. Working out 3-4x a week is a non-negotiable habit moving forward.
- The combination of ToT, journaling and meditation is powerful. These three habits all create a sense of inner calm and awareness that has been much needed. I will definitely keep doing all of them.
- I like planning my life in 8-12 week blocks. It’s long enough to make a lasting impact on my habits but short enough to feel doable.
- I have a tendency to eat my feelings. For this reason, simply working on what I eat hasn’t created a permanent solution for me. I decided to read a book called Breaking Free From Emotional Eating by Geneen Roth. The hope is that it can help me deal with my relationship with food at a deeper level. I will share more about this on a future post.
Thanks for stopping by!
‘Always remember that your hair is your crown and your body is a temple; embrace it, love it and take care of it.’