I woke up at 6:30 this morning and did a whole 1 hour and 30 minutes of yoga~So proud of myself :P

Ugh I feel so energetic and chipper this morning, I don’t want to study. I guess I will just enjoy these few moments of bliss while I scan through my dashboard and have breakfast in bed before my day officially kicks off.

How’s everyone else’s day going?

My day in a nutshell (or photo). My brain is so fried that I cannot even find the energy to complain.

In other news: I am finally seeing some visible results from my daily workouts! Since beginning yoga, I have felt more energized and mentally acute but now, with the addition of various ab workouts, I can see myself becoming more tones, especially my arms and shoulders. Woohoo! Exactly one more week of the holidays left and I will try and get into shape as much as possible in order to make up for the inactivity I will most certainly be experiencing during the school term.

I dragged my butt out of bed at the crack of dawn this morning to commence my one week health goal. Being the last week of the holidays, I fully into to whip myself into the healthiest shape that can be achieved in 7 days before plunging into the dark, sinister routine that is my high school lifestyle: oily foods, midnight snackage, 6 am wake up calls and 3 am bedtimes. During these last 7 days of freedom, I will:

• Go for a morning jog
• Workout after breakfast
• Do yoga
• NOT eat potato chips
• Sleep at 10 pm

I have my 10 year old sister on my case in the event I have a lapse of judgment and slip into my old ways. 

I am so glad I went jogging this morning because the weather was showing the first hints of autumn. A light breeze played around my body, rejuvenating my mind and giving me a fresh start to my day. I also happened upon a “wand” and broomstick. Could it possibly be a sign that my Pottermore letter would soon be arriving? I named them Mr. Wand & Miss. Broom. I also made up a story for them. I believe it went something like this:

Once upon a time, there lived a wand and a broomstick named Mr. Wand and Miss. Broom. They fell in love and got married then moved to their dream located, the Pavement. After a few years, they had a baby named Woom. And they lived merrily ever after. FIN.

The things I do when I am bored…

I took my sister to Starbucks for breakfast on the way. I ordered myself a smoked chicken salad and a chilled Caramel Macchiato yum~ Who is that little boy in the photo, you ask? Oh just some kid who has Starbucks chocolate cake for breakfast. No big.

On the way home, my iPod shuffled to the song “A Thousand Miles” by Vanessa Carlton (I downloaded it for fun after watching White Chicks). I started singing along like the black guy in White Chicks and just began laughing uncontrollably right there on the street, clutching my sister for support and tear streaming down my face. Literal tears, I was laughing so hard. (It is sort of a inside joke for my sister and I). The only time I had laughed so hard was when listening to the song in bed with my sister one night. For some reason, it always manages to crack me up. I wish such outbursts of spontaneity would occur more often. It certainly takes the edge out of life and reminds you of the good times.

But tastes like crap

Health choice: caramel macchiato instead of frappucino :) Chillin’ at Starbucks.

It can be to read a book, practice yoga or just relaxing with a nice cup of tea. Use this time to unwind from the pressures of life and focus your mind.

Day 6: Drink Tea

Unfortunately I sort of veered off my challenge yesterday. I got up early, went for a run, had breakfast, read for an hour, did my workouts/yoga then went shopping for the rest of the day. Dinner was at Pizza Hut and although I resisted the urge to actually have pizza and opted instead for a much healthier lasagna, I ordered a mango smoothie instead of tea Of course it was much too late for tea when I finally arrived home, otherwise I never would have fallen asleep.

HOWEVER, to make up for that, I’m drinking green tea right now & also did so on day 4.

Day 7: Success!

Well sort of. I’m way proud of myself for somewhat sticking to a healthy regime for one week and can see myself doing so for the rest of summer.  Not so sure about when school begins though. I have a feeling senior year is going to get pretty demanding. For the moment though, I’m just going to enjoy what time I have left working out and feeling great about myself. This challenge has really shown me what it mean to be healthy and the benefits I can reap from such a lifestyle. Although I have not been completely faithful to the challenge, it has still been a wonderful addition to my daily routine and I’m going to continue with this challenge for the rest of the summer.

I really can’t dance to save my life unless it’s with choreography, and even then, it takes me longer than a normal person to learn. But Day 5 was definitely my favourite out of the whole challenge! I turned up my stereo and tried to get my sister to dance with my but she was probably intimidated by my superior moves (aka scared by my ungraceful twitching).

Day 4: Self Control (Pt 2)

I must say, I’m quite proud of myself for resisting unhealthy temptation yesterday although the world seemed to be against me. Usually at home, there is nothing much to be tempted by, however, yesterday my mum, sister and I chose to go out and see Transformers: Dark of the Moon (just released in China). We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant where I would usually stuff myself with tacos, cheese and an assortment of other artery clogging foods. Just to be clear, I’m still not trying to lose weight but since I am doing the 7 day healthy log challenge (if you’re not doing it, check it out and think about starting next week!) so I decided to eat healthy foods because it IS the better choice. However, I will definitely not turn into a calorie-counting-stick-a-finger-down-my-throat twig that munches on nothing but lettuce. Anyway, the waiter at the restaurant started suggesting all these different cakes, saying that although they are usually not available, their cake chef or something made a rare appearance and began describing how fresh everything was. BUT, I resisted the urge to order anything in the dessert section and instead, opted for the Chef’s Salad and spicy Mexican Fried Rice which I split with my mum because of the huge portions. Honestly, the salad (I’m in love with their dressing and the meat slices in the salad. It was either beef or chicken) was even better than tacos (no kidding) and made my body feel great too so it was really a win-win. I think my proudest moment though was ordering plain water instead of coke as per usual. Even while monitoring my water intake, I only drank 4-5 glasses that day *fail* So that, I have to work on.

I’m feeling pretty damn great about myself. I’ve made it to the fifth day and I’m still alive. I had no idea I would ever be able to wake up at 6-6:30 am and go running. It’s just incredible for me. Thank you Natalie for creating this challenge! It’s changed my life.

(See Day 4 part 1)

Our bodies are primarily made up of water so it is vital to stay hydrated for a healthy life. Depending on your weight, amount of activity and temperature, the recommended amount of water intake is 9-10 glasses a day. This may seem like a lot, even unnecessary, however, although you may not feel it immediately, the effects of chronic dehydration are physically damaging.

Tip: What I do to monitor my water intake is keep a note on my iPod ( you can do it on your phone or even a notebook that you can carry around) to keep track of how many glasses I drink a day.

Benefits of Drinking Water

(Source: Good to Know)

1. Water helps with weight loss
Great news for anyone trying to lose a few pounds - water naturally reduces your appetite. A lot of people confuse feeling thirsty with feeling hungry so they eat when their body wants them to drink something. When you’re dehydrated, fat cells become harder to break down and so anyone actually trying to diet will find it a lot harder if they don’t drink very much.

2. Water stops headaches and dizziness
Don’t reach for the pills straight away, your headache could be a symptom of being dehydrated so drinking water should make it go away. Even tension headaches and dizziness, which can be brought on by fatigue can be cured or helped by drinking water - this is because fatigue is also a sign of dehydration.

3. Water clears your skin
Most people know that drinking more water can be good for clear skin and it can also help the symptoms of acne. If you’ve got dry skin, drinking water will give it more moisture but that’s not all. Water flushes toxins out of your body and anything else that shouldn’t be there so it clears your skin of any dirt and bacteria.

Day 4: Self Control

I‘m so bad at updating on my 7 day challenge. This morning, I rolled out of bed at 6:30 sharp and began my daily jog at 7:00 am. I decided to start out half an hour later than usual in order to reach Starbucks at 7:30, their opening time, for breakfast. I’m so lazy when it comes to cooking (which is probably why you never see recipes on my blog) so it was just easier to leave it to the professionals. Starbucks wouldn’t exactly be my first choice for breakfast but it was out of a choice of it or McDonald’s or some unsanitary-looking sketchy Chinese cafes.

I definitely feeling fitter, being able to run further without tiring I’m not sure if I’m more toned but it takes time right? More apparent results are clearer skin, more energy throughout the day and , generally, I’m in a better mood. I used to be irritable and grouchy for no reason which was quite unfortunate for my family. In addition to the challenge, I also been practicing yoga and various workouts targeting areas of my body such as my abdomen, legs and arms. By the time school rolls around, I will be unrecognizable! …at least that’s the plan…

Although tea is Saturday’s challenge, I decided to skip ahead and indulge myself in some green tea with honey as a healthy sweetener (because today’s challenge is about eating healthy). I’m also monitoring my water intake to make sure I’m drinking at least 8 cups a day. Sounds kind of unnecessary, however drinking a sufficient amount of water is crucial for a healthy lifestyle but difficult to achieve if one does not pay attention. Otherwise, I don’t really have a problem controlling myself since I don’t really crave anything in China because there’s nothing good to crave.

I hope all you lovely ladies taking this challenge are feeling as great and fulfilled as me!

Personal Challenge: Spend less time on your laptop & more time reading, studying and researching universities.

The Harvard Women’s Health Watch suggests six reasons to get enough sleep:

1. Learning and memory: Sleep helps the brain commit new information to memory through a process called memory consolidation. In studies, people who’d slept after learning a task did better on tests later.
2. Metabolism and weight: Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite.
3. Safety: Sleep debt contributes to a greater tendency to fall asleep during the daytime. These lapses may cause falls and mistakes such as medical errors, air traffic mishaps, and road accidents.
4. Mood: Sleep loss may result in irritability, impatience, inability to concentrate, and moodiness. Too little sleep can also leave you too tired to do the things you like to do.
5. Cardiovascular health: Serious sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, increased stress hormone levels, and irregular heartbeat.
6. Disease: Sleep deprivation alters immune function, including the activity of the body’s killer cells. Keeping up with sleep may also help fight cancer.

{Source: Harvard Health Publications}