2012 New Year's Witchy Fitness Challenge Check In: Week 2 (15/01/12)

I was surprisingly good this week... until Saturday night :( Friday was my day for intense yoga and I felt so good afterwards! The next night however I took a break from revising and decided to treat myself to watching LOTR The Two Towers (it's my favourite!) In doing so I managed to nearly munch my way through a whole box of pringles and a jar of salsa. (I deserve a slap on the wrist for that!) I know I said I wouldn't deny myself some treats but that was waaaaay too much. So this week I plan to be healthier than usual.
  
Week 2 Challenge was about figuring out what other health issues you have and how they effect your fitness and quality of life. These can be physical or mental including stress levels and comment on how you can improve these.


As someone who's missed a year out of school due to illness, it plays a big role in my life. Although I try to grin and bare it most of the time it can take over and make me unable to do anything. If you haven't read any of my other posts, I had a chronic dry cough for 8 months due to stress (ie coughing like a 40 year old on 60 a day every two minutes, and that is no exaggeration.) I was very good at dealing with stress when I was younger but being a typical Aquarius I can't express my feelings and I'm used to giving others advice rather than asking for help myself. and so ended up very ill. While I was ill many people though there was nothing wrong with me, thinking a cough can't be serious which made me feel even worse. It's true that people don't get a three dimensional view of long term illness until they've experienced it for themselves. It was also around the time when swine flu was gripping everyone so I was started at a lot in hospitals.



What made my cough worse was the fact that two years prior I fell off a horse, landed on my hip and moved all my vertebrae from the top of my neck to the base of my spine out of place, my hip was rolled forward and trapped with a nerve in my leg and the bottom of my spine. I went to the hospital the next day and they said I just had muscle damage so I didn't go to an osteopath until a year or more after when I learned what was really wrong. He wasn't sure how I managed to go on for a year but most of the time I didn't notice the pain as it was constant. It's safe to say I have a high pain threshold but am now prone to getting trapped nerves and tense muscles in my back as well as my hip rolling forward every so often.


My cough has impacted all aspects of my life; my voice changed due to the damage of my vocal chords so I can't sing as high which is quite annoying as I'm in the choir and liked doing the soprano 1 pieces. I've been left with hyper sensitive airways similar to an asthmatic's so I have to take an inhaler. I also physically can't breathe when I walk past someone smoking or if deodorant has been sprayed. My immune system got a serious battering and I get awful migraines. Although my chronic cough has been cured for nearly two years I still get a horrible barking cough when I'm ill and take a long time to recover. My health has also made me have to reconsider what job I want to have in the future.



My exercise plan has been improving my core muscle strength so I should be less likely to have problems with my back. I also want to go back to horse riding soon as I have gone for 10 years but have only been three times in the last two years. I will continue to take vitamins and herbal remedies to strengthen my immune system although I try not to let illness get in the way of me enjoying my life. A major thing I need to do more is learn to relax and have more me time. Most of the time I consider things like doing word searches or researching topics of interest relaxing but in truth my brain is still going mad. I'm going to take even five minutes out of each day to do some breathing exercises or meditation. As far as migraines and my airways go there isn't much I can do. I take preventative medication for my migraines which works amazingly but I'm not sure if there are any herbal alternatives? My airways just have a mind of their own so I just try to stay away from triggers but I'm so glad they aren't affected by incense. The main thing I can do again is exercises to help relax my throat and vocal chords.

2012 New Year's Witchy Fitness Challenge Check In: Week 1

So it's been a week and I have to say I'm surprised that I have already lost about half an inch almost everywhere! I wasn't really good on what I was eating but portion sizes were definitely down and I've been drinking as much water as possible. I've been sticking to my exercise plans making sure I did stretches everyday but I didn't get a chance to jog so I'm off to do my intense yoga session (this will be fun :/)

Current Measurements (last weeks measurements in brackets)

Weight  9.12st  (10.0st)
Waist 29.5in (30 in)
Hips 35.5in (36 in)
Bust 35.5in (36in)
Widest Part 39in (39in)
Thighs 21.5in (22in)

I really wasn't expecting this result after only a week but it has encouraged me to continue on my quest to becoming the fittest and healthiest me possible :)

A short post but I've too much studying to do!

2012 New Year's Witchy Fitness Challenge Begins

So, it has arrived at last, and as you would guess the first requirement is to take your starting measurements.

Weight 10.0st (138.8lbs)
Waist 30 in
Hips 36 in
Bust 36in
Widest Part 39in
Thighs 22in

Another requirement was to take a before photo, I'll take one later but I don't think I'll put it up as I don't own a bikini (yet!)

Next is goals. As this is a fitness challenge I'm not interested in losing lots of weight (although it would be nice!) My main goal is to improve my strength and posture, and tone up my curves. I don't want rid of them but I do want them to be tighter. I've been to countless physiotherapists, osteopaths and Chinese therapy acupressure sessions about the whole of my back that I know I need to start doing something myself about it.

Finally is the plan. This is probably the hardest thing to make and stick to but I'm going to give it my best. It's best to put it into two sections; a diet plan and an exercise plan.

Diet Plan

1 Drink at least 2 litres of water. I can become a little dehydrated when I have my cough but this should be easy enough when I get back to school as I always fill a bottle up in the morning and have it drank before the end of the school day. I'm going to bring an extra one and make sure to fill it back up when I get home.

2 Stick to the Meatless Monday Campaign. I'm beginning this today as it is Monday as I've recently purchased the River Cottage Veg Cookbook after watching the programme. This will not only improve my health but the environment too!

3 Stop grazing when I don't need to. I have a habit of eating whatever is in the house when I'm not even hungry, or even worse I eat while waiting for something else to cook!

4 Cut down on portion sizes. I don't really eat that unhealthily but I know that my portion sizes are waaaay too big for one person. I can eat quite quickly too so my body doesn't have time to tell me it's full before I've finished my plate.

5 Stop having I NEED THE MOST UNHEALTHY THING I CAN THINK OF phases. Like I mentioned above my diet isn't that unhealthy but when I crave something sweet or savoury that is loaded with calories and not much else I go mad eating as much as I can. I'm not going to deny myself a treat once in a while, I already do try to limit the amount of buns I bake, but no more nights of  milk chocolate that I don't even like! (I do however like dark chocolate and a square of proper dark chocolate is meant to be good for you.)

6 Make sure I take my vitamins! Pretty self explanatory but I ALWAYS forget to!

Exercise Plan

Monday

• Core muscle stretches
• Resistance band stretches
• Gentle Yoga before bed

Tuesday

• Core muscle stretches
• Resistance band stretches

Wednesday

• Core muscle stretches
• Resistance ban stretches
• Jog on Wii

Thursday

• Core muscle stretches
• Resistance band stretches

Friday

• Core muscle stretches 
• Resistance band stretches

Saturday & Sunday

• Core muscle stretches 
• Resistance band stretches
• Intense Yoga or Walk & Rest on other day

It is possible that my mummy and I will join Slimming World or Weight Watchers in the next few weeks too. Good luck on achieving whatever goals you have set!