77challenge
The 77Challenge — Week 1 review
An imperfect start
This is going to be an ongoing series while I do this 77 Get things started #77GTS, which I have settled on.
TL;DR: First week was good, not perfect.
If you haven’t read the first part where I explain there rules then click here and come back. I do explain a little in the article, so you can plunge in.
Had I not been tracking my week I would have considered it a failure. I didn’t exercise, I marked for three sessions and I didn’t even do one. Looking at my notes and check-marks, well the story is different.
The Rules in practice:
The daily rules:
Write a 3-line journal:
This one I admit I didn’t always do it on the same day. But, the importance had the same effect. I used it to reflect, jot down how to get better, what went wrong and my mood.
Monday: “Happy to start, trying to be conscious about my health”
Move every 45 minutes:
This is for us folk with an office life, also called the sedentary life. The moment I get into the office I write on google ’45 min timer’, and so it starts my day. When the alarm sounds, I get up, look for water or coffee, and stretch a little. And repeat.
Drink enough water:
This means to drink enough liquids in all its forms. Hydrate. This depends on your size, and environment. Some say a good measure is your weight in pounds divided by two, that’s how many ounces you should drink. While that’s 65oz for me, I’m trying to drink 70oz or 2.07 liters, because the heat is real.
I noticed real quick that if I don’t bring a water bottle to work my consumption will be nil.
Meditative state:
I did it by several means: one Calm the app, two praying, and the last one eating mindfully. There’s a misconception that to be in a meditative state you need to wipe your mind of any thoughts. I see it as a way to be more present. To be here, in your body, and in your actions. I made it half-half during the week.
The weekly rules:
Let’s start with the big fail: exercise.
At least three days of movement or exercise:
This will depend a lot of what you already do. I do nothing. If I considered being lenient with myself I would checked the stretching as exercise. I did feel very tired the whole week, so I didn’t even stretch. Nothing. Area to improve.
Thursday: “After such a good morning, I feel drained at the end of the day. I feel all I really did was clean a bit. No exercise, just blah. Well, I did cross out my persona care list.” From my 3-line journal.
Max. two days of rest
Let’s say I took the whole week. This is more for when I go too deep. I have the tendency of going all or nothing and that includes periods of over training. This rule also depends on how much you do already, if you are very active a day of rest could even be a yoga class or a day of walk.
Have at least one social experience a week
Humans are social creatures. Another example of my all or nothing mentality. It goes from periods of going out everyday to periods of no seeing anyone for months at a time. I may rename the challenge to #77Balance. The truth is that I never want to go out, because I se it as an inconvenience. But when I do, I always feel 100% better afterwards. So I try to do it.
Monday: “Wrong day at the doctor, but coffee catch-up date!”
Wednesday: “Happy to see my friends. Sleepy, woke up late so I feel I didn’t do much. But happy.”
Sunday: “I did so much today! Finished finance spending. Social day watching tennis match, good fresh air. And got an 87% of completion!”
Add/Reduce list:
This is a non-quantitative list. It’s stuff I want to do less off or more off, for the week or for longer. This week I wanted less chip snacking, which became too common for me. Especially at times I was not even hungry.
Track finance spending:
I spent more than I would like, and sometimes I don’t even know what I’m spending on. Like too much on delivery for example. Any change starts with consciousness, so once a week I want to see and reflect. Almost pass yesterday, but just because of the dopamine hit of ticking that box I did it. Didn’t take long.
The Procrastinators
In the weekly rules there’s a special list section I call The Procrastinators. Which is stuff in different categories I always push off — always. There are things on this list that I said I would do months ago. These lists are so important because I want to be a woman of my word, and to myself. The latter are the ones I most definitely push off.
Home To-Do list:
Pick books and clothes from my parents house. Not that complicated, even if it took a couple of hours. Did find beautiful mementos from my childhood, cried several times even.
Personal To-Do list:
Go to the doctor. I cheated a little in this one because it’s my ADHD doctor, and I do visit him regularly.
Personal Care List:
This are beauty appointments, feeling good appointments with myself. Which as many others I find an inconvenience to start, but in reality I want to do. Like wax my eyebrows. Some may say a few of this list are not hard at all, but that’s why it’s personalized. I find it so hard even to make an appointment. I can usually go months without it and I end up looking like Frida Kahlo but with less artistry but a better partner.
S/N: If you don’t want to wax your eyebrows power to you, I like how they look manicured.
Get ready for next week:
Decided on my new list choices, put it on the calendar and happy and excited to continue.
A few added extras
FYI: this last part I will talk about weight, if this bother, triggers you, or you don’t care then skip until next week.
One of the motivators of my wellness change was my last visit to the doctor. I got out with with a warning: High cholesterol + high triglycerides = bad combo.
I’ve been here before, I know the drill. Weight or more specific: nutrition and exercise are factors. Through the years I’ve slimmed down and gone up more than an elevator. This time around, I want to take it at a different pace: a steady one.
That involves, for my personal journey, measuring myself once a week. I got one of the weights (Renpho — yes affiliate link) that measures a bunch of stuff. For me the most important ones are weight, body fat, subcutaneous fat, and visceral fat. These measurements may not perfect, but it gives me a measuring point.
The results:
With the little movements, not snacking on chips, and not changing anything else about how I ate. I lost: -0.2% of fat, and -0.8 pounds. May not seem like much, but for me it’s a start.
See you next week! Wish me luck.
