Omg you guys!
Friday is the last day of March which also marks the last day of my goals for this month! As most of you know one of my biggest goals for this month was to participate in and complete the Blogilates 28-day rest challenge. Here’s a quick review of what the program is, how I progressed throughout the month, and my final update.
Blogilates is a health and fitness blog that focuses on health and fitness from an honest, fun, and safe perspective. The founder of Blogilates, Cassey Ho, is just the most inspirational fitness guru I have ever encountered (on the internet, I shy away from them in real life)! She has a really powerful ability to inspire and motivate people through her Pop Pilates workouts.
Week 1
Week 1 for me was a good start. I worked out most of the days, for at least 15 minutes. Each week the goal was to focus on a specific area of my body and for this week it was the core. And let me tell you that workout video was hard as hell! I ate pretty clean until a day at the movies set me back a little bit. But despite that I kept going because I wanted to see this challenge through.
Week 2
Week 2 was a big struggle for me! I had only worked out once, and I did not participate in any clean eating at all. I spent a lot of this week beating myself up because I couldn’t find the energy or motivation to get it in gear. As I’m sure you can imagine beating myself did not make the situation any better. In fact it only made me feel worse which made me not want to participate that much more. But it was a very eye opening week for me in terms of where I tend to lose focus and motivation.
Week 3
Week 3 I was expecting a huge step forward but I only took a little one. Despite that it was a step that I very much needed and decided to celebrate anyways. I went from working out how I wanted, to slipping back into old habits, back to getting into the groove that I wanted. This week was a step in the right direction. I also realized a lot in this week in terms of where I tend to put a lot of my energy and why I wasn’t seeing consist progress as the weeks went by.
Week 4 The Final Update
This week was a huge step forward and I am so, so proud of myself! I worked out every day except for one day. That one day I did not work out was because I just truly felt absolutely horrible. My mind was not in the right headspace, my body was completely exhausted, and school was a major priority for that week. So I decided to give myself that rest day and just make sure that I found 15 minutes for every day after to work out. And I did.
My overall impression with the Blogilates 28-day-rest program is that it works. I can remember in my first week when I was eating clean, after only eating clean and working out for three days I was already seeing a change in my body. Not only in my body but also in my skin, in how my body responded to things, and most importantly in my level of energy and mental state of mind! I honestly believe that if I had a little bit more will power in the beginning, I would have saw the entire 28 days to the end, and I would be looking at myself in a complete transformation now.
But you know I’m only human and I’m not going to beat myself up about it. Yes, I made mistakes. Yes, I had setbacks. But I always found a reason to keep going. I didn’t work out as often as I would have liked to, but I at least made an effort to work out once every week. And it’s the little things like that, that I am learning to celebrate and use as inspiration to keep moving forward in the direction that I want to go.
If you are looking to transform your body, figure out your food intolerances, clear up your skin, lose weight, or just pick up an active hobby, I highly recommend the Blogilates program. And it doesn’t have to be the 28-day rest program. Cassey has tons of videos on her YouTube page that you can choose from. But I must warn you, they are challenging. They require a lot of mental strength and a commitment to yourself to see it through. But it’s worth it.
It’ll transform your body completely, and I promise after every workout you will feel absolutely amazing.
So check her out if you haven’t already. She may just be the fitness guru you were looking for.
I’ll leave you with 5 important things I’ve learned this month about goal setting and achieving.
#1 Be realistic
Set goals that are not only meaningful to you, but something you can truly see yourself accomplishing. I think when I first discovered Blogilates I psyched myself out a little. I remember thinking that there was no way I could ever have a body like Cassey’s, there is no way I can do half of these exercises, and that there was absolutely no way I could change my eating habits. To be honest, I overthought the whole process and overlooked the main goal of Blogilates/Pop Pilates.
But this year I told myself to shake off all that negativity. I wouldn’t know what I was capable of through this community until I tried. And guess what, when I did I realized that I was capable of it, and it was something that I actually enjoyed! I just couldn’t envision myself doing it because I had a negative assumption from the start. But once that changed, and the more I participated the more I saw myself at the finish line.
#2 Don’t give up
I had so many setbacks on this journey. A lot of ups and downs, and a lot of moments when I was beating myself up. But I really do pride myself on working out at least once every week. I fell off completely on the clean eating, but I stayed committed to the working out. That to me is a huge accomplishment because in the past if I lost interest, it was gone. I just wouldn’t work out any more until the inspiration and motivation came again. But this time I worked out at least once every week, even if I wasn’t really up to it I made an effort to do it once.
#3 Celebrate every accomplishment
And though I didn’t accomplish this goal the way I had intended to I learned that I have to be proud of myself for what I was able to do. I worked out at least once every week. I was able to eat clean for a full week in the entire month, which is not something I have ever been able to do. I also started and finished strong despite my many setbacks. Those are accomplishments worth celebrating no matter how small they may be.
#4 See it through
And I saw every week through. No matter what it was I started each week with an intention to participate at least once, and I ended each week with seeing that intention through.
#5 Seek opportunities
I learned to recognize the moments and days when I was not able to commit to this goal the way I wanted to out of being lazy, lacking the energy, or just pure exhaustion. I recognized those moments and I altered them for the future. By alter I mean I planned for more effective ways to turn them into opportunities for something that would still keep me moving towards my goal. This may have been trading in something I felt I had to eat to eating what I wanted to eat, or even just giving myself a rest day and adding an extra rep or two in a routine.
Overall guys I’m proud of myself. It’s something that I can official say that I have personally experienced and actually enjoyed. Now that I know areas in my health and in my life where I tend to give up I plan on pushing myself harder to not be so quick to give up. This is definitely something that I will be trying again and hopefully a lifestyle that I will be able to adopt in the future.
On that note I have some great things planned for the future!! So, stick around love bugs, my future is bright!
See you soon!
-Xo
Kimora