Day 100 of my 100 Days of Health and Happiness

I MADE IT!

I made it to day 100 of my 100 Days of Health and Happiness and it’s SUCH a great feeling!

I’m so proud of myself for sticking to something for that long and I’m so happy about the lessons I’ve learnt along the way.

To summarise the goals that I wanted to achieve with what I did and didn’t achieve please read below:

Goals Achieved – 

– Yoga inversions improved
– Swim 2km non-stop (smashed this out of the park and swam in in 40mins!)
– Upper body strength doubled
– 20 nose to ground push-ups (I can do 20 on my knees nose to the ground and I can do 20 on my toes but with elbows to 90degrees so this would have to be a ‘half-way’ goal). I am super stoked that if someone asks me to drop and give them 20 I can do that on my toes now.
– Move my body every day (there were only two days this didn’t happen – the day after we got our puppy as I was exhausted and also didn’t want to leave her alone for long and when I was sick)
– Employed my first Moxxi staff
– Spring cleaned my house like a boss!
– Booked and planned a beach holiday (WAFeb 2014)
– Trained Lucy (puppy) to sit, walk without pulling too much, sit in the car, get on her bed, come, toilet trained (didn’t master Stay or no jumping up on people yet).
– no booze
– no coffee
– clean eating
– keep a daily gratitude diary
– Feel healthier, fitter, happier and ready to take on 2014 with GUSTO!

Not achieved:
– Deadlift, squat and running goals due to injury. Tendinitis of the hip flexor is quite hard to rest and recover from as you use it allllll the time)
– Camping one weekend due to many many unexpected guests and terrible weather for months! (I didn’t want to achieve this so badly that I would go in the rain)
-blog every day (massive oversight by me. This was the hardest part by far and I had several ongoing tech issues which still seem to haunt me today)
– knit my first jumper (due to it becoming more of a chore than something I like to do to relax I let this one go so I can just knit a few rows here and there etc)
– financial goal due to poor planning around puppy costs and a gazillion Christmas flights.

Lessons learnt:

– Goal setting: you can be more flexible in timing around goals as there are some things that you can’t control. For example, I want to still hit my running goal but I don’t know when this will be as my injury is still plaguing me.
– Some things that I made as goals I took the enjoyment out of them by forcing myself to do them by a certain time. For example, my knitting is something I like to do when I feel relaxed and have the time. By setting a time limit on knitting my first jumper I was making myself knit when I didn’t feel like it and it began to feel like a chore. This took the enjoyment out of it so I relaxed on the time frame of this. I have still done a significant amount and will finish it in about a week.
– Many goals can be achieved in less time than you think so I will from now on be more realistic in how I set my times and probably only set 30 day goals and if something doesn’t get done in that time frame I’ll add it to the next 30 day challenge.
– Habits can be broken in about 35 days. Not drinking alcohol or coffee was hard for the first 6 weeks and then it just became normal.
– Clean eating is THE best way to lose fat. I didn’t lose weight but I’ve changed my body shape significantly. My stomach is the flattest it’s ever been with still being very healthy and my shoulders are more round and muscular than stick like. It’s a great achievement for someone who has always been skinny but always had a pot belly. I now have more muscle and less fat which is very good peace of mind as I feel stronger and I am less concerned about fat around my organs. This was always a weird feeling for me as always being skinny I think I had less motivation to get fit as I ‘looked’ good but I felt weak and frumpy. Now I’ve changed this and feel great for it.
– Blogging every day is HARD and kudos to anyone who does it!
– As long as you have a drink in your hand at social events you don’t need to drink alcohol.
– You don’t need coffee. Your body will get used to it and you will feel SO much better without it once you kick the habit.
– Exercising every day IS possible without negative effects. It is possible to simply go for a walk or do some yoga. It’s easy to make the time for it and once you’ve got into the habit of it (after about 35 days) you’ll miss not doing it on one day.
– Telling your friends about your goals helps you to get them done. I am so grateful for the support many friends have given me, especially my partner who gave up the booze and ate clean with me for the majority of the project.
– You don’t need to deprive yourself of things you truly LOVE. I have HATED going without gelato for 100 days. Whilst I did have 1 Magnum ice-cream (one night at the theatre when I was sick and needed something but my options were that or a packet of chips) and did learn to make many clean, sugar-free versions of ice-cream, I couldn’t get rid of my craving for real Italian gelato. It’s not just the taste but the texture and the fun of it. It reminds me of Italy and it’s just SO yummy. So whilst I will go back to enjoying gelato, I will now have my home-made stuff at home and keep the other treats from my life that I used to have (cake, pasteries, etc) that I didn’t enjoy as much so that I can keep the gelato as my one treat which hopefully means I’ll be having less treats all up.
– The calmness and clarity and decrease in anxiety that I’ve had in my life can be attributed to the decrease in coffee I believe. I’m so glad to have stopped drinking it.
– The gratitude diary is without a doubt one of THE best things you can do for your happiness. If you don’t have one, go out and get one NOW.

And finally, the biggest lesson is – It’s not about the getting of the goal, it’s about who you become in getting there. I am a much more focussed, self-aware, healthier, happier person now that I have reached for these goals. I have learnt a lot about myself. So at the end of the day, this challenge has been so worth every second and I recommend it to ANYONE 🙂

To wrap up, here is a video of me completing my final physical goal to swim 2km non-stop. It’s a silly one 🙂

If you would like to continue to follow my progress and what I’m up to you can come over to my new blog at http://moxxigroup.com.au/blog/

Be courageous,

Gem

Day 81 of my 100 Days of Health and Happiness

Well, the countdown is officially on! Less than 20 days and I can’t wait for it to be over. I still have a lot to do though.

My first issue that I’ve come up against to completing one of my HUGE goals, is that I’m OUT OF WOOL! I have to order more wool to finish my jumper! EEEK! I hope that it arrives in time for when I’m done with what I have left but jingo it’s going to be a few long nights of knitting I think to finish it off.

I’m also going to a conference for the next three days so I’m not sure I’ll get much gym time or many options for healthy food and considering it’s almost 7pm the night beforehand and I’ve still got a long list of things to do today, I don’t think getting organised for the next three days is going to fit in. It’s more of a just roll with it and do your best approach for the next three days.

I’m compiling a list of all the things I want to eat on day 101. They include – Peanut M&Ms, a Magnum, a glass of fine champagne, some King Island dairy goodness, gelato, and… well, that will do for now 😉

So, bring on the next 19 days!

Be courageous!

Gem

Day 77 of my 100 Days of Health and Happiness

With only 23 days of my 100 Days of Health and Happiness to go, I feel I have hit a motivation wall.

The desire to achieve my goals is no longer there.

Whilst I have no problems maintaining the clean eating, no booze and no coffee, and daily movement of the body, my desire to actually achieve some of the physical goals is no longer there. I feel that perhaps 100 days was actually too many and I could have achieved them in less time but as I allowed myself 100 days I also let them get stagnate.

For example, I feel like I KNOW I could swim 2km without stopping TODAY if I wanted to. I don’t feel like I need to keep training for the next 23 days to achieve it. I should therefore just jump in the pool today and TICK this one off the list. Ok. I’ll do it tomorrow 😉

I KNOW I could finish the jumper I’m knitting if I FORCED myself to knit everyday but THAT takes the enjoyment out of it. Would I not be better to just keep plugging away at it until it’s done but at a pace that I keep enjoying it?

I am getting bummed that my sartorius tendonitis is not yet fixed. In fact I have days where I don’t think any progress there has been made at all so I feel my legs are just in need of a good run but I can’t. I’d love to get back into the running. I also love squats and simply being able to jump around like crazy and well, I can’t with this injury.

The changes in my body have also plateaued as far as losing more body fat and increasing muscle tone too. I would say this is because I’ve done little in the past 2-3 weeks to really progress my training and am just stagnating.

I believe I’m still going to tick off a fair amount of my goals but I’m no longer that motivated by them and I’m ready to move on to new ones.

I will stick to these ones for the final 23 days of COURSE but from then on I will set much shorter time frames and I will set harder goals. I’ll also be more open to changing them, as my dear business partner said last week “Life is fluid baby, goals change”.

 

Be courageous,

 

Gem

Day 71 of my 100 Days of Health and Happiness

Only 30 days to go! I’m rather excited about that.

However, I’m a little worried I won’t be able to achieve my goals. There are some that I’ve not really paid enough attention to by accident and then when I checked how I was progressing with them I realised that I’m a fair way off! WOOPS!

So it looks like, as is often the case, I’ve got to do a lot of the hard yards in the last 30 days. Why is it that we always leave things to the last minute? haha.

So I know I’ll achieve these goals:

– Go camping
– Swim 2km non-stop
– Double my bench press weight.
– Knit my first jumper
– My routine of waking and sleeping has changed to waking before 6am and asleep before 11pm (TICK!)
– I have a happy and effective daily routine for achieving my goals (TICK!)
– I look physically stronger, healthier, and happier (TICK!)
– For 100 days I have nourished my body with healthy food (TICK!), not had coffee or alcohol (TICK!), not had sugar (ONE magnum and one marshmallow otherwise TICK!), and exercised daily (2 days of no exercise so far!)
– I am a calmer, happier, more grateful person (TICK!)
– I am ready to take on summer with courage, vibrance, and energy like never before (TICK!) This is so true and I bloody can’t wait. I’m going insane with this stupid Melbourne weather still being under 20degrees in fricking November. OVER it.

Goals I’m not sure I’ll achieve:

– Triple my business success – We’ve changed tack as to our strategy here so it won’t happen just in this 100 Days but it will in the next 🙂
– Deadlift 70kg – I’m struggling at 50kg at the moment and I’m not confident that I can improve enough without further injuring my sartorius which I injured running in week 3 or 4 and which I’ve since had to change my squat and running goals because of.
– Train Lucy – This is an ongoing goal so I’m not sure where I can say that I’ve achieved it. She can sit, come, get down, get on her bed, and sometimes ‘stay’ so I suppose that’s pretty good for a four month old pup. Next I want her to stay at all times, drop the ball/toy, and not jump up on people. That should about do it.

I think that’s all of my goals. So I’m doing ok.

I still recommend setting 100 Day goals for everyone. It’s been so fantastic and I’m looking forward to my next set of goals.

Be courageous.

 

Gem

Day 59 of my 100 Days of Health and Happiness

Oh dear. I’ve really fallen off the tracks with regards to blogging this past week! I have made a couple of videos to try and get back into that but it’s not been going well with the uploads. So I just got fed up and gave up for a few days. NAUGHTY I know.

Needless to say, the blogging has definitely been the HARDEST part of this challenge. Does anyone have any tips for sticking to the daily blogging? I know some people who are writers do daily blogs and just write anything to actually practice their writing but otherwise, I think that daily blogging is just too much – Yeah?

Otherwise, I’m still going strong. I’m fitter than I’ve ever been, looking better than ever, more focussed on my health and happiness than I’ve ever been, and I’m achieving a LOT (Despite that voice in my head that says I’m not doing ‘enough’, as usual). I am however having fantasies about what I’ll eat on day 101! haha. I’ve started a Pinterest board called “Gem loves Gelato” and plan to make all of them! I’m also thinking I want to eat peanut m&m’s, drink a lovely glass of sparkling wine, eat a chocolate croissant, have a latte, and eat some fine cheeses and crackers etc. YUM. haha. I do miss eating lovely foods like that and I really think that it’s silly to deprive ourselves of them. Only if you want to have a six pack (which I nearly do) should you not ever eat anything with sugar or too much fat. Otherwise, EAT it. Enjoy it! Just not every day 🙂

I’ll keep trying to post the videos that I’ve made over the last few days but I’m not going to keep my laptop on for hours just to load it and then wait for ages just to get it on the blog. WHY the WordPress app on my phone just won’t upload directly to the site, I don’t know. It’s never managed it even with the most brand new phone and unlimited data. Anyway.

I hope you’re still cracking on your challenge – whatever that might be. And I hope you’re loving being a healthier and happier version of YOU!

 

Be courageous,

 

Gem

 

Day 51 of my 100 Days of Health and Happiness

With 50 days to go on my 100 Day challenge, I think it’s appropriate to revisit my goals for this challenge and see where I’m at:

– My physical strength is increased by half again of what it was,
– This is well and truly on track. When I started, I could only bench 20kg, deadlift about 37.5kg, shoulder press 17kg, and squat about 35kg.
Whilst I’ve had to put the squat on hold, I’m half way there to doubling the others so that is exciting.

– My routine of waking and sleeping is absolutely second nature (rising before 6am and sleeping before 11pm)
   – I am getting there with this one, slowly. I’m getting to bed most nights around 10:30pm and getting up at 6am most days. If I could bring it back down to 10pm and 5:30am, that would be ideal.

– I have a happy & effective daily routine of setting and achieving goals.
– Getting pretty good at this. I have off days (today is proving to be one of them!) but for 8 days straight last week I set a to-do list and broke it down into manageable tasks, and got straight to it. A few more days like that and I’m sure it’ll become more of a routine.

– I am a calmer, happier, more focussed, and grateful person.
   – Definitely happier, more focussed, and calmer and I think that’s due to the gratitude. I’m gushing with gratitude for my life and the people in it right now!

– I look physically stronger, healthier, and happier. 
– Definitely. I’ve lost 2-3kg and everything is looking a lot more toned than usual. My skin is glowing and I am told by my partner that I look ‘more and more beautiful’ everyday. TICK!

– My business has tripled it’s success 
– Not yet but we’re working hard on this one!

– For 100 Days I have exercised, nourished my body with a balanced diet, achieved my business goals, and been grateful for more than I could have imagined!
   – Depending on how you look at it, this one might not come to fruition. I didn’t exercise on about 3 of my first 50 days due to illness and tiredness. Otherwise, it will be ticked off!

– I am ready to take on summer with the greatest energy I’ve ever had and to LIVE every day with courage, vibrance, and ACTION.
   – I’m already READY and I can’t bloody wait! Bring on more sun, more surf, more sand. All things that make me HAPPY!

Day 50 of my 100 Days of Health and Happiness

Wow, can’t believe I made it to day 50!

Today I shall summarise my experience so far in dot points:

– All goals on track to be achieved. Some have had to be changed due to injury (I wanted to run 10km in under50mins, it looks like I can’t run 1km at the moment) but the new ones I’ve replaced them with are well on their way to being achieved.

– The hardest part so far as been the blogging every day. Originally I wanted to do video posts everyday but then they got so time consuming with the editing and uploading that they got in the way of me achieving my other goals for the 100 days. So I changed to video and writing. Still, there have been some days where I forgot to post but I usually made up for it a day or two later.

– The best part so far has been getting through the first 30 days to come out the other side and realise that old habits can change, you just need to try to change consistently for about 30 days. I don’t think I’ve stuck at anything EXACTLY and consistently for that long before to really see the results. The results after 50 days are even better.

– The daily gratitude diary is the BEST thing ever for keeping you happy. I’ve even noticed an increase in the number of positive, happy dreams I’ve been having as well as a complete calmness and contentedness before going to sleep. If there is one thing from this challenge that I would recommend, it would be the daily gratitude diary.

– I am already thinking about what I’ll take away from this challenge. Will I remain coffee and booze free? Will I exercise daily? Will I never go back to eating cake/chocolate/chips? At this point in time, I feel like I will probably stay off the coffee and booze for 80-90% of my time but I do miss enjoying a good sweet of some sort. I’ve never been a huge sweet eater but to not have them AT ALL is just kinda boring in a way. I liked trying a new cake at a great cafe every now and then and I definitely miss gelati. So those will no doubt come back to the mix but on an even smaller scale. From memory, in summer I would normally have gelati every 2-3 days. I will take that down to once a week.

– I’m also thinking about how I’m going to attack the next 50 days and what other goals I might throw into the mix. I’ve found that some of the goals are coming quite easy so I want to take them to the next level.  Luckily, my darling partner has decided to do the last 50 days with me so we’re going to eat even cleaner and workout even harder. He’s also not going to drink booze so that will be good coming in to summer as a support for me. We’ve also committed to no phones in the bedroom and no just ‘turning the tv on’ randomly – we have to want/know there is something we actually want to watch (which isn’t much these days. A little Modern Family and a good doco and that’s about it!)

– I am also thinking about what goals I’ll make after this 100 days is up. One of them will be to spend more time with friends as I have neglected some of them over this winter. Another will be to increase my circus skills – I can juggle clubs, hula hoop, and twirl poi at a basic level. I would like to do one of them at an impressive level. Oh, and I just thought of another – practice some form of instrument. I used to play and play well. I have neglected this part of my life too much over the past years and want to bring it back. So there you go, some good goals coming up!

– As far as getting through the goals I had for this weekend in particular, I’ve pretty much done them. Once I get off here I will complete the front of my jumper I’m knitting leaving me with only the arms to go, I have spent some quality time training the dog and she can now sit, stay and ‘go to her bed’ and she’s pretty great at just walking beside us when we go rather than pulling on the lead which she was doing a few days back. I’ve planned THREE holidays – camping trip to happen before this 100 days is up, beach holiday in Perth, and beach holiday in Bali next year. I’ve done some serious exercise including two PBs achieved this morning – 30kg bench press (not much, I know) and 50kg deadlift – VIDEO BELOW! By the end of this challenge, I hope to be able to bench press 40kg and deadlift 70kg. I hope that’s achievable!

My 50kg dead needs a little work on the form there at the beginning of the lift. Any tips for form, I welcome!

If you haven’t been part of this challenge (whatever your goals are) then I strongly advise you come on board for the second 50 days. Who knows what you’ll achieve!

Right, back to my knitting!

 

Gem

Day 48 of my 100 Days of Health and Happiness

If these last 5 days are anything to go by, the last 50 days of my challenge are going to be amazing! I’ve had 5 full days of FLOW – getting in the right mood, taking the right action, and achieving a lot.

Today is no exception! It’s a truly awesome feeling when you’re getting all the tasks you write down done for the day as it cures all anxiety and makes you feel deserving of ‘you’ time.

I feel so focussed now that I’m in a routine that I genuinely feel the ‘snowball’ rather then the ‘rollercoaster’ and I want to achieve more and more each day. It’s very exciting.

The goals I want to achieve this weekend include:

– Book my overseas ‘beach’ holiday
– Book my local camping holiday
– Do some SERIOUS puppy training (she is getting SO darn cheeky!)
– Do some SERIOUS knitting (it’s starting to get too hot some days to knit so I better get it finished or I’ll not wear it for another 6 months)
– Do some SERIOUS exercise to get me closer to my goals. Specifically, this weekend I will reach a PB deadlift of 50kg.
– Spend some time soaking in the Vitamin D from the sun.

Wahoooo! What are your goals for this weekend?

Gem

Here’s a little inspo for you: Greatness takes time. Break your big goals down into little ones and you’ll eventually achieve the big ones and thus achieve your GREATNESS!

Day 47 of my 100 Days of Health and Happiness

The last two weeks I’ve really been able to step it up in the daily exercise department – some days I even do two sessions with a kayak and gym session or yesterday I did a 1km swim then went to No Lights No Lycra dancing my BUTT off. It was awesome! So that’s a good 2 hours of exercise a day plus at least 1 walk of the dog (hardly huffy-puffy but still it’s something). This is a vast improvement from when I started this challenge when the walk or some light yoga might have been all I did. So it does go to show that the improvement is pretty significant and rapid if you stick at it for just over a month. That’s all! Not much when you think about it.

Today, if the weather holds out, I’ll be riding 40mins each way to see a client and then going to the gym tonight to do a legs session. Tomorrow it’ll be another swim followed by an upper body strength session on Saturday and hopefully a bushwalk on Sunday (weather dependant! – it’s Spring time in Melbourne!).

So all in all, stick to it. The improvements come but you have to stay dedicated for at least 1 month. Again, I can’t wait to see what I’ll achieve for my next 53 days!

Be courageous and take DAILY action to reach your goals.

Gem

Day 43 of my 100 Days of Health and Happiness

Today was a great day! I got up early and went to the gym and pumped out a PB deadlift 5RM of 47.5kg. That’s only 7.5kg off my goal so I feel very excited that it won’t be long and I’ll have reached that goal!

Anyone out there reading got any ideas on how long it might take me to reach that weight?

Happy goal achieving, health improving days ahead!

Gem