March #beyoncebody push

Project Completion Stats

• For March #Beyoncebody Push, I worked out for 25 out of 31 days whether it was for 5 minutes or an hour. My partner notes that even he hasn’t kept up such a consistent record
• Days I worked out (comma notate a 1-2 day break) : 1 2 3, 6 7 8 9 10, 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22, 25 26 27 28 29 30
• Days I took a break: 4-5, 11, 23, 24, 31
• Consistent tracking and proof in Imgur Album: https://imgur.com/a/ddUTjn8

Exercise Type Stats

• 14 days of Ringfit
• 7 ride on Peloton
• 3 days of 5 min intervals x3, with 2 minute breaks on Rowing Machine
• 1 instance of 15 lb tabby weight training for my legs
• 1 day of Dragon boating
• Not going to count the firm data, but I was doing more consistent (daily) physical therapy exercises earlier in the month when I had weekly appointments with the physical therapist. I need to make sure I do this exercises regularly because my knee has been aching a bit in the last couple of days. Otherwise, I may just resume and commit to weekly appointments if my knee gets worse in the next 2 weeks. I want to run, got diggity dang it!
• Also no firm data, but need to keep up the healthy eating to the best of my ability. I am back on calorie counting in April thanks to my work fitness app incentives though! That surprisingly does help.

Added Bonuses and Recognition

• I believe I am on the path to losing weight! Definitely dropped several pounds compared to before I started consistently exercising pre Oct. 2022
• I have never been able to keep up this level of consistency before, but a number of factors have helped me get to where I am today and because I’ve been intentional in figuring out what these are, this helps me better build more habits and execute more projects effectively (more below)

Looking forward

• To keep up the good work and keep moving forward!
• To another great dragon boating season and competitions
• To my knee getting good enough that I can start running again as the weather warms up
• To encouraging more of my colleagues to exercise with me
• To eventually getting to #Beyoncebody and being able to fit in more clothes I like

The Key to Success: Building a Consistent Exercise Habit

Reading Atomic Habits by James Clear with my book club at work made me reflect on how I’ve been able to get to this point (and the book itself has many additional recommendations on things you can try too).

For me, it boiled down to:

• Finding and holding a job that gives you time and energy to do all the things outside of work and at work
• Finding and communicating with accountability person(s, and communities!) who are supportive, compliments you for just putting in the effort, and are not dismissive of you trying and not meeting goals sometimes.
• Expanding the options of exercises so it is extremely easy and even appealing to exercise and there aren’t that many obstacles for you to get started daily or pick up where you left off if you’ve been resting. These should allow you to exercise as little or as much as you want, provide you with clear exercising choices to select from based on your environment or location, and ensures that you don’t get bored with doing the same type of exercises.
• Finally, understanding the importance of and actively taking care of your mind and body. Seek professional help if necessary. Both Physical therapy and mental therapy are absolutely important for your health if you are at a place where you could use that support.

Details on the Keys to Zi_Sakura’s success so far

• Starting my new job has been excellent in all aspects (work-life balance, excellent people, I’m great at the job, and, not the least or the most importantly, there’s a free gym at the 2 offices I go to with Pelotons and Rowing Machines, and the financial incentive for tracking in the work wellbeing app), but key to me being able to build this exercising routine.
• My partner compliments me without “but”s when I send him proof of my working out. Previously, I would tell my mom, but I realized that she would always add something that dismisses the effort I put into working out, which does not encourage me to keep up the good work, so it’s been great to switch my main “accountability” person to someone who would provide me with the encouragement necessary to keep it up. That being said, mom is still very helpful when she asks me if and why I wasn’t working out on certain days when there is no good excuse for me not to fit in a short 5-15 minutes workout.
• The colleague who referred me dragonboats and I recalled that I know someone I met through a local political internship program in high school also does dragonboating. He actually coaches a competitive team in SF, so I started going to practices as outdoor practices are pretty Covid-safe when compared to indoor cycling and dance classes, and is a nice group exercise activity that I’ve missed. Turns out I really enjoy it and even did well last year during out competitive race. Therefore, I really wanted to make sure I consistently worked out during the off season (winter) so that I can row harder, better, faster, stronger for this upcoming season. I also worked with the team coach to figure out good rowing practices.
• Nintendo Switch Ring fit Adventure is absolutely key to me being able to keep up working out during the winter months. I used to run outside as my main form of exercise, but I absolutely detest the cold, so it gets hard for me to keep up the running in the winter. As my right knee got more frail, it was even less appealing to run. This game is so easy to pick up on a daily basis and even built in some very simple little things that help you keep your habit, like a workout alarm. I started doing max 15 minutes of active exercising per session, and can now comfortably actively exercise for 30-45 minutes after just 5 months of playing the game. I also love how it gamifies the workout experience to make it seem more fun to me in an engaging format that allows me to associate exercising with fun rather than doing work or a chore. The key for me to enjoy this game is that I don’t have to 100% every move, I can avoid moves that are still too much for my injured knee, and I can skip or bypass moves that the game just isn’t great at capturing.

I learned on Tuesday that rowing at a lower resistance on the erg (rowing machine) is more difficult than rowing at a higher resistance - it’s more taxing on the lungs and I get more tired faster. I can see why this is from a physics perspective - even if I row faster and put in max effort, there’s less resistance to capture that energy i’m putting in - it maxes out faster so the actual distance I’m gaining is less than rowing at a higher resistance that has a higher cap for energy capture.

My friend also noted that rowing slower also is more taxing than a moderate rowing speed. I haven’t experimented with this, but I do know that I like rowing slower because I get to work on my posture and form, which is always the most important thing when you exercise, for many many reasons.

https://imgur.com/yo8t02l

I finally, finally got out to paddle with my Dragonboating team Dragon Warriors on Lake Merced yesterday. It was very cold but at least sunny, and it was great to be on the water again. More photos in the album of how much I rowed and a photo of my team. Also here is a short explanation of what dragonboating is.

https://imgur.com/Wae8bTM

Even though I only exercised 5/7 days this past week, I walked 10k+ steps for 2 days, including Friday when my partner and I met day9 in person for lunch in SF. It was the best of times, much spicy noodle and dishes were had, and to my partner and I, it all felt like meeting an old friend who is in town for a much overdue catch-up session - something that is always very lovely and a big mood boost. Thanks for being awesome day9!

I will also note that I literally did not need to rest while paddling during our rather intense sprints during Dragonboating practice, and always needed to rest for like 5 counts before resuming paddling here and there as practice continued and I got more tired. I still got tired and it was difficult to keep pushing, but I didn’t need to rest during them and rowed through all the sprints. I know that this is a clear indicator of the payoff of working out consistently since November, and it was really really reaffirming for me to experience that, and to check in with the head coach and have him reaffirm that I am improving very well despite not going to practice every week (this team practices about 45 minutes from my house + my partner’s place, so I don’t make it out every week).

As always, I rewarded myself with an Andytown Original Snowy Plover after practice. Nothing beats their housemade whipped cream on that nitro cold brew.

Another week of consistent exercises. I ended up working out every day so far, no matter how short or long. Sadly it’s going to rain buckets tomorrow and i have a conflict so I won’t be going to Dragonboating tomorrow.

Weight is, to my own surprise, consistently a bit lower when I weigh each week, which is the first time I’ve seen that happen in forever.

I did treat myself with like 8 slices of pie this week, too, both sweet (Different fruits and a slice of meh pecan) and savory (Costco pepperoni pizza), and celebrated St. Patty’s with a couple of beers, but seeing the weight remain low really gives me a confidence boost and motivation to keep up the good work.

I am so shocked that I made it through week 2 completing already FIVE out of SIX workouts. This really shows that thanks to the Ringfit game and other factors that helped me get into a consistent habit of working out in the winter, it is so much less difficult now, and often very appealing for me (eg. to relieve some stress or wake up for the day), to workout regularly.

I also just weighed myself after breakfast wearing some pretty thick sweatpants - and it’s less than the number from March 2nd. I didn’t weigh myself at the same time, but I am 99% confident that this means I’ve actually lost weight!

One thing - I am uncertain if I will go Dragonboating tomorrow because I am feeling very tired right now (Saturday morning), and it’s been a very long week for me, so I will replace that with vacuuming and ringfit if I don’t go.

Updates added to imgur album.

Well good news is that Sunday going to the Chase Center for the first time actually led me to walking over 10k steps, which I didn’t expect, and is a stellar amount of walking for a rest day!

I did some more ringfit today, but i didn’t get the chance to vacuum, so i’ll be skipping that until next week.

Updating next week’s goals according to changes in plans

ok this run is NOT happening today, it is so cold. My schedule also changed up, so today will be another Ringfit and phys therapy exercises day, plus I will be vacuuming.

Also keep forgetting to take the before/after photo. Will do so today before working out.

UPDATE: I feel bad disturbing my cat hot pot’s 5 hour nap with my vacuuming and exercising, so I’m just going to do my physical therapy exercises and then go to my partner’s place and maybe, maybe take a long walk with him or something.

• I forgot to take a picture yesterday and today in my workout clothes, so I’ll do it tomorrow. i did weigh myself and i think i made progress from when i weighed myself last, but i also weigh myself not at the same time irregularly so i gotta see more progress to declare it progress.
• started imgur album of progress - here it is https://imgur.com/a/ddUTjn8
• so far so good, doing 100% of what i planned out! Did both Workout and Phys Therapy Exercise days: Wed, Thurs
• had to change weekend workout expectations due to shiftnig of plans. I might end up taking 2 rest days, which is fine. I’ll just try to make sure I do my physical therapy exercises for my knee
• next week i will mostly be staying over at my partner’s place, which means more days when i will have access to the work gym, but i will need to be aware of making sure i set time aside for exercising. i will go ahead and plan those times in now in my calendar.