During this quarantine I've been doing my best to continue to stay healthy. It has been easier said than done but here are five things I've done to stay healthy during the quarantine.
1. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables Just because we are in the middle of a pandemic doesn't mean we can start eating like crap. I'm not saying to eat the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables daily. I mean, if you already do that, great! But I'm saying just try to incorporate fruits and vegetables into at least 2 out of 3 meals a day. A small change in your lifestyle will make all the difference. 2. Try to get in at least 30 minutes of exercise. I know this is hard for some because the gyms are closed. But that doesn't mean you can't work out at home. Go on YouTube and look up 30-minute exercises, or be like me and do a Blogilates workout. A friend of mine actually just introduced me to Chloe Ting. She does body weight exercises and they are definitely a challenge. 3. Practice self-care Your mental health is just as important as your physical health. A lot of us are feeling down and anxious during this quarantine so this is my reminder to take care of yourself. Self-care is non-negotiable. 4. Drink plenty of water. Just because you are stuck inside doesn't mean you can dehydrate yourself! Try to drink at least 8 glasses of water daily. If that sounds difficult, start small but make sure you are drinking water! 5. Stretch those muscles Stretching is awesome! Not only is it a form of self-care, but if you're exercising it will keep your muscles strong. What have you done to keep healthy these last two months? Let me know in the comments!
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I am 24 years old soon-to-be 25 and I have an awful memory. According to my doctor, my memory is fine but I still feel like my memory is declining at what I consider an alarming rate. So in order to keep my brain in check, I’ve decided to pick up on a few fun habits. Exercise As many of you know, I go to the gym three times per week. Well, I’ve started getting exercise daily. I make sure I reach 10,000 steps daily and I try to do at least 30 minutes of at-home interval training daily. I won’t lie, sometimes I don’t get to the interval training but I am really trying to make it a daily thing. Exercising daily not only helps my body but my mental health as well. Read at least 30 minutes daily Reading is a fun way to keep the mind healthy. Not to mention it’s amazing self-care as well. I work as a caregiver and my client is a slow mover. He likes to take his time throughout the day (especially during breakfast), and as a constant mover, I need something to do to keep busy while he does his thing. I’ve picked up on reading and I must say, it has done wonders for me mentally. I feel less anxiety while reading and it makes the day go by faster. 7-second riddles YouTube is probably the hardest working app on my phone. I am constantly on YouTube watching videos about anything and everything. Well, last year I came across a YouTube channel called 7-second riddles and I immediately fell in love! I subscribed and watch those videos once or twice a week. I’ve noticed that since I started watching those videos I’ve started thinking outside the box. I’m paying more attention to details that help me solve the riddles. I definitely feel more clever and a small sense of pride when I solve them. Getting enough sleep I am currently struggling with this. It’s difficult for me to either fall asleep or stay asleep. So what I’ve been doing to help promote better sleep is follow a routine before I fall asleep and a routine if I wake up in the middle of the night. To help me fall asleep, I usually stop looking at my phone 30 minutes before I go to bed. I write in my journal and sometimes sip on herbal tea while doing so. Right before I close my eyes, I take deep breaths to relax. That usually helps with me falling asleep. Now, if I wake up, I make sure NOT to look at my phone. The bright light keeps me awake. Instead, I adjust my pillows and get myself comfortable then I take a few deep breaths. If that doesn’t work, I will get up out of bed and stretch a little then go back to bed and do a mindful body scan. I’ve noticed that when I do get a good nights sleep my memory isn’t nearly as bad as it normally is. Those are just a few things I do to keep my brain sharp. Do you have any suggestions to sharpen your brain? Let me know in the comments! Hello everyone! I got a Fitbit for Christmas and I absolutely love it. I know I'm probably the last person to know this but did you know that Fitbit's track your sleep? Well, if you didn't, you do now! Upon finding this out I decided to give it a try. I knew prior to my tracking that I had trouble sleeping. I was curious to see how many times per night I was awake. Before tracking my sleep I read a blog post on Fitbit's website and found out the percentages you should ideally spend in each stage of sleep to feel rested. I found out that you spend 50-60% of your night in light sleep, 20-25% of your night in deep and REM and 5-10% awake. There is truly no such thing as too much deep sleep because your body knows how much you need. Now, if you have too little deep sleep you'll more than likely wake up unrefreshed. As for REM sleep, there is such a thing as too much or too little. If you get too little REM throughout the night you'll wake up feeling groggy. If you get too much REM your brain will have been overactive and you'll more than likely wake up irritable. After reading this blog post I was more educated on what to expect. So, with that being said here are my results: My average sleep score for the week was 86 which is a good score according to Fit its standards. My REM was from 17%-25% each night. My deep sleep was between 18%-20% each night. Lastly, my light sleep was between 43%-50% each night. So according to the blog post, I read prior to I'm hitting my goals pretty well. I wonder why most mornings I feel so tired. Who knows, everyone is different maybe I need more sleep in a certain stage of sleep. Maybe my caffeine intake and diet are affecting my sleep. This will require more research on my part to get answers.
What's your sleep like? Have you ever tracked your sleep before? Let me know in the comments! Fitbit's blog post I got my information from is found at: https://blog.fitbit.com/sleep-stages-explained/ As usual, I was mindlessly scrolling through Facebook and I saw this meme and it made me think. I’m 24 years old and I would have to agree with this meme. I’m kind of in the middle of the last two panels. At 24 years old I would agree that Alcohol is the adult drink, but at the same time (sometimes after a night of drinking) water is the real MVP. With that being said, how much water do you drink a day? Are you aware that your body needs approximately a gallon of water to be healthy? Water has so many amazing benefits and so many people my age neglect drink this wonderful beverage because they simply don’t like the taste. I did some research and couldn't find a set answer on how much water a person should drink daily, but after rephrasing my Google search I found that a person should drink half their body weight in water. To some, that sounds like way too much water, but to others, it's the perfect amount. In the past 5 months, I've increased my daily water intake. I try to drink at least 120 ounces of water a day. I start drinking water from the moment I wake up in the morning. I usually drink a 17 or 18-ounce cup of water right when I wake up. Since started I started drinking water when I wake up I have noticed a few wonderful benefits. First, I have seen some weight loss. Now, I know what you're thinking, weight loss consists of more than just drinking water, well that, along with my healthier eating has helped. I've also noticed that my skin is a lot clearer of acne than it was before. Don't get me wrong, I still break out here and there but it's nowhere near as excessive as it used to be. The last benefit I noticed is I felt more energized. Those of you who know me personally may find this benefit hard to believe, but even though I may look and say I feel tired, you have no idea how I was prior to drinking more water. So why don't you give drinking more water a try? Maybe you will experience some of these amazing benefits too if you drink more water.
Hey everyone!
It's been a long time since I've done a Fitness post. I could make excuses for why I have neglected my Fitness section but I'll be real, I just haven't completed my work out challenges. The last work out challenge I completed was Blogilates' #SummerSculpt. I usually do a weekly update or do two weeks at a time so I have a longer post. Well, let me update you all on that. I completed the #SummerSculpt Challenge and week four was wonderful. I finally got the hang of the workouts. They became easier and I didn't dread doing them as I had in previous weeks. I also felt stronger and happier. Doing daily exercises helped my mental health tremendously. I noticed a huge difference from completing the #SummerSculpt to going back to only exercising 4x/week at the gym. My mental health didn't decline dramatically, but I did notice I was more irritable and anxious. I then decided to start up daily exercises again even if it was just a 20-minute workout. I did Pop Pilates song challenges and I did well. Then a new challenge was announced. Blogilates announced a 28-day Glute challenge. I started it with the intent of completing it because of my success in the previous challenge. Well, I got lazy in week two and quit. That isn't something I'm proud of but as you all know I struggle with my fitness goals. This was just another bump in the road for me in my fitness journey. I want to update you all on my health overall. I have yet to see my primary care physician but I feel good. Since my last fitness post, I have gone from 185 pounds to 170 pounds. I'm down 15 pounds and I feel it. Some of my clothes fit me looser and I feel less sluggish. I have been eating healthier, drinking more water, and counting calories. I won't lie, I have been using Herbalife products, but I don't use them every day. If I am lazy I typically have a shake for breakfast and maybe after the gym. I have not committed to the two shakes a day because I never really cared for these products. I'd rather learn to eat properly and eat less. The main reason I chose to use these products is that a friend of mine, (my wellness coach), wouldn't give me advice for healthy eating unless I became a client. So, I sucked up my pride and bought just so she could help me. I do not believe I've lost my weight because of Herbalife (I hardly use the products), but I do believe the addition of healthy high protein snacks, more color to my diet, and tracking my calories have contributed to my weight loss. Finally, my goal for my fitness page, I've decided to change the title of this section of the blog to Health. It took over a year for me to realize that fitness is a very specific section that I can't really write about because I get lazy and don't always complete work out challenges. Changing the title of the section gives me the opportunity to write about more than just exercising. Maybe now with this change, I won't neglect this section as much. As you all know, I have been doing #SummerSculpt every day for the past three weeks. I wanted to give you an update on the last two weeks. Week two and three were easier than week one. After week one, I was sore after each day. Weeks two and three still made me sore but not nearly as bad as week one. I pushed myself harder on days that I slacked on the first week. I slacked a little on Thursday’s workout, Abs and Butt. These past two weeks I made sure to complete the workouts entirely. I took fewer breaks during each rep and I pushed my flexibility to my limits. Some of the workouts required me to have better flexibility than I currently have. It sucked! I have nothing else to say about it. It sucked, but I did it. Let’s see how this week goes. It’s my last week. Wish me luck!
Weekly workouts go as such: Monday: Full Body Tuesday: Legs and Butt Wednesday: Arms and Back Thursday: Abs and Butt Friday: Waist and Thighs Saturday: Stretching Sunday: Cardio If you are interested in participating in the 28-day #SummerSculpt go to youtube.com/blogilates I recently donated blood and I found out I weigh 185 pounds After seeing that, it lowered my self-esteem a bit. I hadn’t weighed myself since August and seeing my weight went up really hit me hard. I tried to redirect my thoughts and remind myself that weight is just the amount of gravity pulling down on me, but I couldn’t help but feel horrible. I decided to get serious! I’m tracking my food and water intake with Under Armour’s app, My Fitness Pal. I’m also tracking my steps, sleep, and exercise routine. Along with the help of my Herbalife wellness coach I start this fitness journey with support. I’ve done fitness journey’s in the past, but this time I’m doing it for a cause. I want to be healthy and not lose out on opportunities because of my weight. Diabetes runs in my family and I am very high risk, so If I can take steps in the right direction to avoid that I am all in! I will not be posting weekly updates and posting a monthly progress photos. I am doing this for myself and my overall health. I will, however, be posting more healthy, high protein recipes for meals and snacks to Food so stay tuned for that. I will continue to post my progress on #SummerSculpt and other workout challenges, but as for my overall fitness journey, I will not make that public. I feel that in the past it was too much stress and that didn't help with my weight loss. I hope you all have a great week, and if you have any suggestions for posts please feel free to contact me!
On June 3, I started Blogilates’ Summer Sculpt program! Cassey did seven days’ worth of workout videos that we are to do every week until June 30. The schedule goes as such:
Monday: Full Body Tuesday: Legs and Butt Wednesday: Arms and Back Thursday: Abs and Butt Friday: Waist and Thighs Saturday: Stretching Sunday: Cardio The full workout is about 25 minutes. We do ten moves for 1 minute each. We get a 10 second break in between each move. We do two rounds of this. After the first round, we take a 1-minute break then we start again. In each video, Cassey starts with a warm-up and ends with a cool down. To be completely honest, I skipped Friday through Sunday, but for the rest of the week I did each work out. My goal for this week is to complete each workout and no longer skip days. I’ve done four days and already know what to expect, so I’m ready to do this without distractions. Today is Monday, so I did my full body workout. It felt great! Let’s see how I feel tomorrow after I work my legs and butt! Join me next week for my update on week two of Summer Sculpt! It came faster than I thought it would, my friends and I completed out 28 day squat challenge! Days 19-28 were not easy, but I can say I do feel I build some strength in my legs and my knees after this challenge. This is what the last days looked like:
Day 19: 75 Day 20: 80 Day 21: 85 Day 22: 90 Day 23: 95 Day 24: 100 Day 25: Rest Day 26: 100 Day 27: 110 Day 28: 120 My goal for the remainder of this challenge was to not skip any days. Well, I failed when it came to that. I skipped day 24 so on day 25 (my rest day) I caught up! I also went to the gym that evening and did legs. I was in pain, but the pain was worth it because I felt accomplished because I actually finished another work out challenge. I think I can speak for my friends who joined me this past month to complete this challenge that it was not the easiest, but it was definitely worth it! I am currently looking for new monthly work out challenges on Pinterest. Let's see how I will torture myself now, in March! Wish me luck! Last month, I did the #100AbChallenge from Blogilates. I had a lot of fun doing it, and I wanted to continue doing exercise challenges each month. I went onto Pinterest (the devil!) and found a squat challenge. I posted it onto Facebook and I got a group of friends to join me these 28 days. I meant to post an update on the 14th, but I have been slacking due to some an emergency with a friend. So here is my progress on day 18:
Day 1: 10 squats Day 2: 15 squats Day 3: 20 squats Day 4: Rest Day 5: 20 squats Day 6: 25 squats Day 7: 35 squats Day 8: 40 squats Day 9: 45 squats Day 10: 50 squats Day 11: Rest Day 12: 50 squats Day 13: 55 squats Day 14: 60 squats Day 15: 65 squats Day 16: 70 squats Day 17: 75 squats Day 18: Rest I did so well until day 17. I hadn't skipped any days until yesterday, so today on my rest day I had to do 75 squats! During the #100AbChallenge I had to double up on days a lot! Luckily for me, I didn't have to double up, I just had to catch up. I'll give you another update on the 28 (or so.) |
DreaAlways remember to love yourself. Archives
June 2020
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