Week 2 Reflections

The second week of the challenge turned out to be harder in some ways and easier in others.

While my nutrition still needs some work, the good news is that my brain is now automatically prioritizing exercise, so I've become very adamant about missing my scheduled workouts.

I feel like my body is finally getting used to exercising a lot. I don’t feel as sore and my body (and more importantly, my brain) is not complaining as much about pushing itself. Of course, it’s still challenging but I feel more assertive since I know I can do it.

I’m still learning how to deal with all these changes in my routine. The super intense excitement of the first week was gone (though I’m still pumped about the challenge) and the daily monsoons made it more difficult to get everything done. I also had an unusually busy week and weekend so I was running around everywhere and didn’t plan as well as I should have with regards to my meals.

Friends I’ve talked to about our bootcamp group are supportive, but they don’t really understand that I can’t miss a day or that I can’t eat what they’re eating (“One drink won’t hurt, will it?”; “Can’t you have one bite?”). They still invite me out for activities during weekday nights and I have to remind them that I am busy. But I do have one friend who is completely on the same page and I’ve convinced her to come to bootcamp! So hopefully she’ll come by this week.

I definitely need plan ahead more for week 3. I need to be better prepared when I leave the house so I don’t end up skipping one of my 5 meals or running out of time to do the workout I wanted.

For the next week, I want to start keeping track of my calories. I’ve been writing down what I eat and have been good about my portions, but haven’t specifically checked if I’m staying around my target 250 calories per meal and a 500-1,000 calorie deficit each day.

Also, all the bootcampers have inspired me to try more running! I’ve always resisted running for extended periods of time, but I’m going to make a great playlist and do some running this weekend.

My last goal is to buy new shoes...I’ve been using my old basketball sneakers from high school for bootcamp to protect my ankle, but the poor things are not going to hold on very much longer with such intense exercise. And, of course, having shopping as a goal isn’t a bad way to start the week! :)