Omg! I can't believe a lazy person like me who would choose to sit when it's not necessary to be standing has been working out regularly for 1 year! I have never ever been working out consistently for more than 1 month. Lol. I figured it is a must to write down how I have changed and my feelings. (中文)
First I am starting with The Reason Why I Started.
In March 2020, the pandemic started to hit this planet; lock down happened everywhere including Vancouver and I also went into self isolation because my housemate had some symptoms. Everything was chaotic at that time and resources for testing were very limited; we had no idea if my housemate was infected and the only thing we could do was isolate ourselves and wait. News was negative everywhere and it heavily affected my mental state. Like many people, I had nothing else to do at home aside from school. Unlike some people, I didn't feel like binge watching shows. I had really bad anxiety the first week in isolation, so I decided to spend a little time moving my body just to shift my focus and I can only check confirmed cases once everyday and consume no other news. (Stop watching any news at that time has really helped me tremendously.)
I started with a 23-minute routine daily: 16 minutes of relaxing yoga and 7 minutes of legs and booty workout. Very beginner friendly. My purpose of doing this was kill some time and shift my focus from the chaos. Later I doubled the 7-minute workout so those added up to 30 minutes of exercising each day. Everything was still very easy.
Unexpectedly I really felt the endorphins working and started to look for more workout videos on YouTube. I also have been extending 10 to 15 minutes of routines or increasing the intensity every once in a while. 3 months just flew by without me knowing and I noticed significant changes on my body especially around my belly. I also felt the growth of my strength.
This is when I started falling in love with exercising. I wasn't on any diet, but I had already started paying attention to what I eat on a daily basis: if it's healthy and nutritious; is there better substitutions such as oats instead of rice, 10-grain rice instead of white rice, and so on.
I kept my workout routine as 6 days a week and 1 hour every day. There was a period of time where I would have spent 2 hours working out and stretching. I also hurt my knees due to incorrect movement and it was really painful after each workout. What I did to solve this situation was I would spend extra 10 minutes warming up and really focusing on my lower body positions, for instance, I would do squats in front of a mirror and make sure my knees don't cave in and put my weight on the heels. I also would spend another 20 to 30 minutes putting ice packs over my knees to cool them down. Thankfully I managed to solved this problem over time. I really care about my knee issues because my mom went through a knee surgery for an artificial joint so I know how painful the recovery can be and I would try my best to avoid it. What surprised me the most was that I didn't stop working out for the pain; instead I tried to find the solution because I wanted to keep going so much! (Previously when any of my body part starts to hurt I would stop exercising immediately until I recover... and I normally would stop forever. Hahaha.)
Obviously working out for 2 hours daily was a bit too much for me; I was tired with a sore body every single day. I also didn't understand the idea or concept of training different body part each day; I just did full-body workout every day. A while later I realized this wasn't going to last for me hence I adjusted to about 60 to 80 minutes including 15 minutes cool down in my daily routine. I found this to be the best length for my body and I still stick to this routine until now.
I've also switched form body weight and more cardio based workout to light weighted exercises; from using 500ml to 2000ml bottles and now I'm used to 8 pounds dumbbells and aiming to purchase 12 pounds dumbbells. I am now so obsessed with training using dumbbells which some months ago I would have never thought about it. Simply because this common myth: I don't want to grow big muscles. Well, it really isn't that easy to grow muscles! I love how I am feeling much stronger now. I have no idea if I have grown much on my muscles, but I can definitely say that I have become much stronger.
I have also done a few challenges (just for fun!):
Walking 10000 steps every day (Click to read more)
Walking 10000 steps and supporting a local business every day (Click to read more)
Being an ultra lazy couch potato for a day (Click to read more)
About The Diet
I wasn't on any specific diet in the beginning. However, I wanted to keep the result of my reduced belly by being on a diet. I was also curious if all the popular diets really work. I tried intuitive eating, intermittent fasting (I was doing 18/6 fasting), counting calories, eating less carbs (Click to read more), and vegan (Click to read more). I have tried many!
I began with intuitive eating. I ate according to how I felt. The point is I would stop when I started to feel full and I wouldn't let myself feel hungry, either. I hate being hungry. In the beginning I switched dinner to savory oatmeal porridge. The calories weren't necessarily lower, but oatmeal kept me feeling full for much longer. I'd add eggs, veggies and other protein like tuna. I tried to have different nutrients in one bowl and savory oatmeal porridge is actually pretty delicious! It is the time I started to pick more wholefoods for my diet. The desire to have snacks decreases a lot when I have enough food in my 3 main meals.
Then I got on the trend of intermittent fasting. Turned out it isn't for me at all. I was working out in the morning during the period of intermittent fasting and I noticed I'd tend to make mistakes or feel less strength with an empty stomach, especially when I was doing HIIT workouts. I had to quit at some point. However, I still try to give my digestive system rest for 12 hours until this day. While I was doing intermittent fasting I was surprised finding my belly very flat every morning. Well, now that I think of it, it was just normal to have a flatter belly after over 12 hours without any food. Haha. During this time I still took enough calories for my daily needs.
I started intermittent fasting from 12/12, meaning 12 hours of fasting and 12 hours of eating. Then I cut down 1 hour of eating every week. I did it pretty gradually until I hit 16 hours fasting and 8 hours eating. The most extreme fasting I did was 18 hours fasting and 6 hours eating; I did it for a few weeks. Remember I still took enough calories the entire time so I had to finish 3 meals plus 1 snack in 6 hours. It could get quite busy actually, haha. To be honest I didn't enjoy this method so I took a step back and did it between 18/6 and 16/8. At the end I just tried to have no food for 12 hours to let my body rest from digesting which is a better way for my body. Some people feel more energetic when they don't have breakfast, some need food every morning which is me haha. Everybody is different and it is okay that intermittent fasting doesn't work for your body. It doesn't mean you can't keep the fitness results on your body or you fail on weight or fat loss. Choosing the diet that actually works for you is key to stay consistent in this journey until reaching your goal.
Counting calories was very interesting for me. It did require more work, but I have also learned a lot, for instance, how to eat nutritiously and keep my stomach feeling full within the calories limits. I seriously didn't starve at all! After this period there was a short amount of time I didn't know how to have a proper portion because I was so used to weigh everything I eat. Lol. I tended to eat too much when I was feeling hungry so I had to keep weighing my food for a while but without logging in calories.
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| Eating the right food is important to stay full within calorie limits. |
Eating less carbs was simply an experiment. I wanted to know if it would make a huge different on my body. I am a carbs lover so this can only be a short experiment. Lol. (Click here to read more)
Going vegan has nothing to do with my fitness journey. I was in a yoga training and it's got some diet requirements so I decided to go all-in vegan. Please wait for my share; I am working on the post! :)
After trying all these diets I have realized one of the most important thing is to eat more wholefoods and less refined sugar, carbohydrates and fried foods. Taking all nutrients in balance and do not overeat. I was able to see some very obvious changes on my body shape in the first few months without counting calories. I also didn't gain too much weight when I stopped being on a diet; I just went back to the range of my normal body weight.
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| I still treated myself when I was on a diet, but I didn't overeat. |
Even when I was on a diet and I was doing it very religiously, I still allowed myself to have a cheat day once in a week to eat whatever I want. Literally whatever I wanted. (I absolutely stopped any diet when winter arrived. I went a little bit out of control for a while, haha.)
Throughout this process I never set my goal to lose weight, so I didn't weigh myself until the 5th or 6th month. I lost almost 4 kilos and I was pretty surprised by the number since I haven't seen it since junior year in high school.
Conclusion
Mindset wise, exercising has become something I do on a daily basis. My day feels incomplete when I skip my routine. I enjoy more and more challenging myself, seeing myself become stronger and fitter. My belly still looks smaller than before even when my current body weight is on the higher end within the range. I feel more powerful practice advanced yoga from the strength I have built over time. These are the differences I can really see and feel. I love it so much and it's the motivation that keeps me going.
Body shape wise, besides becoming fitter with a tiny bit of ab lines, my hunchback has improved as well. I am guessing it is because the muscles on my back and core have become much stronger to hold my upper body. The overall feeling is so great! I don't have to be on a diet to maintain my weight (with the eating habits I have built in the past year).
Diet wise, I've really become healthier. At least I am paying more attention to the nutrients intake and having more wholefoods and protein; I am also not as aftraid of fat since taking enough good fat is very important for our bodies.
Working out has taught me how to further take good care of myself and to challenge myself. My next goals are keeping my workout routine as 6 days a week, using heavier weights and getting a 6 pack, lifted booty and sculptured back. Lol. I basically want everything! I hope next year around this time I will be sharing my feelings and results after working out for 2 years!
Have you also started working out due to the pandemic? Have you made any changes or tried any new things or habits in the past year? Let's chat!
Let's connect:
Instagram：asteffyo
Food account：stefanii.eats
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