ROCKtober Week 2/3 In Review

As I type this post, I’m one night into a two-night Indian food binge (two events back to back that just HAPPEN to revolve around Indian dinners – truly!) and I have fresh oatmeal chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven.  Sounds rull healthy, no?

Hmmm.

Technically, if you look at my ROCKtober goals, I’m not necessarily off track:

I am still eating salads for lunch (thanks to the combined powers of SunMoon and Salad Stop) and was able to do so even while traveling in Sydney for work, which kind of makes me wonder about my clients who swear they “can’t possibly” stay on track while traveling (granted, Sydney is a health food mecca – but still!  It IS doable!).  Veggies at dinner have been a cinch as well because hey, even Indian food has tons of veggie options available (although most nights we choose fresher, healthier veggies here in the Dale residence).

Amazing salad we had in Bangkok that I am dying to recreate here at home

I’ve done yoga weekly since ROCKtober began, even taking time out for a 30-minute flow session at home before I went out last Saturday night.  And going out?  I’ve been dead-on sticking to my drinking 2X/week rule, even in Bangkok, even in Sydney, and yes, even this week when I had to choose between drinking during a Bollywood movie and drinking during a USC football game (had to choose the former because hey, ‘SC plays at 7:30am on a Sunday anyway).

Not hard to run with this view

I loaded up on runs while “down undah” as well since the weather was so gorgeous it looked (and felt) like heaven, so even though I’ve only run one week out of four, I actually ran four times – so, law of averages and yada yada.  Same rule applies to water – I’ve hit 100+ ounces daily with a couple exceptions that were easily balanced out by days (like Wednesday) where I got 138.

Don’t worry about today; it’s not even 5pm yet

And now for the less triumphant goals.

Nick and I have yet to be together on a weekend between 12-2pm, which is the ONLY time our neighborhood pool is open to the public, so we’ve yet to swim a single lap there in ROCKtober.  I’ve hit Crossfit 4X in 4 weeks, which is decent, but only HALF of the 8X I set out to hit.

Someone (cough) thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of the “4 for $20” Tim Tams deal at Duty Free (read: I brought junk food into the house).  And I am still struggling to find that daily dose of positive self-talk, particularly about my body, particularly when I have not lost another single pound since my three-pound victory in the first week (I know, I know, 1-2 pounds per week, slow and steady, I preach it and I really do believe it).

So all in all, I’d say we’re operating at about 80-85% for the month, which is good, but a truly rockin’ ROCKtober takes 100% commitment.  Onward to the final week…

How have you been doing on your ROCKtober goals?  Any victories – or hiccups?

ROCKTober Week 1 Results

Well, TFB readers, it’s been one full week of the ROCKtober mission (in case you missed it, this is what’s happening with my month-long lifestyle reboot).  Let’s revisit the goals, shall we?

ROCKtober board in full effect

The junk food one was easy – I went through and did a full sweep before we even started ROCKing, and I haven’t brought anything “bad” in since.  I’ve been hitting it on yoga – went once on Friday and once on Monday, definitely averaging the 1X/week goal.

Salads were lunch every day, including a really tasty one from DEN (just next door to my work!) yesterday.  I’ve hit my water goal every day except one (and I got 88 ounces that day, so it wasn’t nothing).  And our dinners have been veggie-tastic (and home cooked!) each night.

I know you’re all wondering about the booze, what with my weekend party time at the Clarke Quay Oktoberfest – but again, I said I’d only be drinking 2X in the week, and I stuck to that – two glasses of white wine with the girls at dinner on Friday; a few (cough) beers at Oktoberfest on Saturday.  And not a lick of booze otherwise!

Prost!

Check that salad bowl

On the con side of things, Nick and I have yet to be together for a weekend swim, so we’re going to try and hit that this weekend in Bangkok (we specifically chose a hotel with a pool to make this one happen!).  The Singapore haze has made it near-impossible to run, so I had zero runs this week (sure, sure, I know what you’re thinking – you can make excuses or you can make it happen, get on a treadmill, yada yada) – but hopefully that too will be remedied in Bangkok.  Crossfit also happened zero times this week as well, although I was able to get into the gym and lift twice in a WOD-inspired fashion, so I won’t count this as a total loss.

One of my WODs

And I’ll be completely honest – I’ve been 50/50 on the positive self-talk.  Some days I wake up and go, “yes!  you’re on track!  You rock!” and other days I wake up and say, “you’re not doing enough.  Get your a*s to 6:30am Crossfit class, you lump.” It’s a work in progress, as things like this always are.

On a final (and VERY positive!) note – I’m down three pounds on the week!  Just goes to show that this whole diet and exercise thing really does wonders on the scale.

Did you set a ROCKtober goal?  How has your progress been so far?

Talkin’ Thai & the Great ROCKtober Challenge

Hey guys, it’s been a while.  Sorry for the delay – my parents were in town over the past month and while wonderful (truly wonderful!), it set me back a bit on the blog end of things.  But I’m back – and I have a lot to report.

First of all, can you believe I’ve been in Singapore for FOUR full months?  I hit the 4-month mark on Tuesday, and to be honest, it really is starting to feel like home.  I’m excited to get to six months as I feel like that’s really some sort of “established” goal time (and will also be our first expat Thanksgiving), but even at four it’s feeling nice and cozy.

That said, toward the end of my parents’ visit to Singapore, we snuck in a getaway to Thailand – Krabi, to be specific, beach paradise and gateway to the islands.

A look down Aonang beach

Sure is beautiful, huh?  Too bad it looked like this for approximately 45 minutes of our entire 4-day stay.  Turns out that whole “monsoon season” is a real thing.

Grey skies are gonna clear up…nope

Despite getting rained on every moment of every day (poured at breakfast, poured on the boat tour, poured as we tried to shop, poured all the way to the airport), we had a great time – we managed to sneak in some hammock time between downpours, eat a TON of great food (my personal fave?  Green curry beef, of course) and maybe imbibe a bit, often out of a piece of fruit filled with delicious booze.

Mom & Dad going “Coco Loco” at the beach bar

Some might say we were crazy to try and make a Thailand trip happen in the rainy season, and those people might be right.  But don’t worry, we don’t take advice very well – Nick and I are headed back (this time, to the utter insanity of Bangkok) for the upcoming Asia Fitness Convention.

I’ll be there reppin’ Aquaspin which, by the way, is taking off in a major way – I’ll be running our first Instructor Certification program next week, and the week after, we’re taking the biz all the way “down under” to Sydney – can’t wait to certify our first international group while we’re there.  A quick behind-the-scenes from our latest photo shoot:

Not mad at this view

And oh yeah, in case you can’t tell from the grey skies in the photo above – the haze is back, and it’s awful.  Apparently this is a not-so-hallowed annual tradition whereby Indonesia burns the hell out of their palm oil groves and we get to breathe soot-covered air for an undisclosed amount of time (currently creeping up to a month; some estimates say it won’t clear until November).  Check out the crap I get to breathe:

Hazy lazy days of September

But enough about travel, smoke and business – let’s talk about something a little cmore personal, shall we?

After nearly a month of eating, drinking, and general merriment with my parents in town, both my husband and I realized that we’d really start to let ourselves go when it comes to personal care.  Care for some examples?

• Neither of us have been to the dentist since we arrived
• I still haven’t gotten my hair cut
• We’ve both gained weight (let’s not talk about how much)
• I cooked ONE meal at home during the entire month of September
• We typically have at least one alcoholic beverage five nights out of seven
• I’ve done exactly three yoga classes here over a period of four months

I’m sure there is more but I won’t even allow myself to regale you with the full monty of our health and wellness sins.  Sure, I’m still working out regularly (nine Spin classes a week will kind of do that for you), taking Crossfit classes, and getting my 20K daily steps.  But it’s time for a real shakeup in the ol’ lifestyle – so behold – the Great ROCKtober Challenge.

The Great ROCKtober Challenge is really a misnomer, as it’s not really a “challenge” in the sense of a competition, and it’s not necessarily that rocking.  It’s more about returning to a healthy frame of mind and way of living that will give us both more energy, better eating habits, and a stronger mind-body connection by the end of the month.  The basic tenets?

I laid out 10 weekly goals for myself right where I can see them – in my dressing room – and these 10 concepts (simple stuff, like eating vegges with dinner, getting yoga in once a week, or engaging in positive self-talk) will guide my habits throughout the month.

Do I hope weight loss is one outcome of the challenge?  Sure, and I’ve taken my measurements and body fat percentage to make sure I stay on track with that part, too.  But this challenge is mostly about getting myself back to the place where I feel my best – eating well, moving with intention, and giving my mind time to rest and recuperate.

What are your goals for the coming month – or rest of the year?  I’d love to know your strategies, too!