Comfort Is A Lie Archives - #lessoftheexcess

5 days of Walking 10,000 Steps A Day!

Published 05/16/2016

I was recently inspired by a friend who has walked 10,000 steps, EVERY DAY consistently for TWO YEARS STRAIGHT. Incredible! She even walked the 10,000 steps during the busiest times in her life including Christmas.

I’ve been checking my iPhone Health App, and I usually get anywhere from 4,000 to 8,000 steps a day. I do want to invest in a better fitness tracker like the FitBit.

So this week I’m challenging myself to do 10,000 steps a day. The whole 10,000 steps idea actually first came from Japan as a marketing campaign for one of their pedometers.

As someone who does most of her work at a desk, I need to get up and start walking more. And our bodies are designed to move. Not sit on our butts all day. Although I do exercise as much as I can – riding my bike, weights, runs etc. But walking throughout the day is an added bonus.

Like I keep mentioning, comfort is a lie. Yes, sometimes there are times when the sofa looks so comfortable, because walking might be too much effort. (This is what goes through my head anyways lol). I’m trying to stay as fit as I can, so this will be good for me.

So who’s with me this week! Let’s see how we feel 🙂

*Update*

I did it! Five days of 10,000 steps (or more) a day.

Monday: 10,057 steps
Tuesday: 13,616 steps
Wednesday: 10,126 steps
Thursday: 11,247 steps
Friday: 17,983 steps

Not bad! Can I keep it up?

The first few days, I was exhausted and my body was burning out as it wasn’t used to moving this much. But now, I’ve gotten into the groove, and it’s not as tough as I thought it was! I think having some sort of step tracker is a really great way to gain awareness on how much we move. I also have more energy, and feel less sluggish in general.

I bought the Misfit Flash (below) to keep track of my steps. But the tracker kept falling out of the wristband, so I was using the clip-on instead. But I kept forgetting to keep it on me.

So my partner also ordered me a Jawbone Up2 (below) for my birthday. I’m excited to start using it to track my progress.

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That’s all for now folks!

I’ll keep you posted on the next challenge 🙂

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5 Days of No Junk Food

5 Days of No Junk Food

Published 05/09/2016

Alright folks, I’m on week 2 of my 5 day Comfort Is A Lie Series!

Week 1 of having no coffee was awesome. I was able to wean off my coffee addiction with full awareness. I’m still continuing the no coffee habit, and I’m ready to introduce a new lifestyle habit.

The idea behind the 5 day challenge is to notice and learn how our bodies react, while slowly introducing new lifestyle habits (or seeing if it’s something you want to continue) so that we can get rid of excess distractions and live more intentionally.

What that means for me this week is no processed foods.

Nothing packaged and filled with chemicals and preservatives, no processed sugar, no chips, no french fries, no chocolate (except the raw, natural 2 ingredient kind), no ice-cream (except nice cream!) and no donuts.

I was doing SO WELL on eating clean (I even lost 4 pounds in a week from doing that!), and then I went on vacation and it all sort of went down hill again. So I’m back at it again, because the person I want to be takes good care of her body, and feeds it nourishing foods. Whole foods. Real food from the earth.

We all need food to survive, but it’s important to ditch the crap.

This is where comfort really is a lie. Oh, I’m craving those donuts so bad! They taste SO GOOD. They make me so happy! Your body is lying to you in that moment. Because, eat too many donuts and you’re on your way to:

weight gain (junk food is high in calories)
type 2 diabetes (so the research says)
depression (my mood has definitely not been in tip top shape)
pimpes (blech)
dull looking skin
nutritional deficiencies
digestive problems
fatigue (yep, I’m pretty dopey)
afternoon crashes
foggy brain
memory problems
irritability
increases risk of heart disease and/or cancer
cravings for even more crappy food

Yup, I don’t want any of these things. I want:

A clear mind
A healthy body
A good mood
An efficient digestive system
Nice, glowing skin
Steady energy levels
A flat non-bloated stomach
Better sleep

And yes, yes, yes. Everything in moderation. But I need to start somewhere.

So who’s going to join me! Starting tomorrow (Monday!) Let’s see what we can learn and how our bodies react.

Stay tuned for updates on Friday as an edit on this post.

Pia

*Edit*

It’s now Saturday and how did my 5 days of no junk food go?

I’d say, overall it was… okay. I failed once on the Monday, because I had leftover chilli flavoured Crispy Mini’s in the cupboard (whoops), so I caved and ate them.

But from that, I learned that I should not stock unhealthy foods in my cupboards, so I’m not tempted to eat them. Healthy snacks should only be available.

On Tuesday, I noticed I had wayyy more energy and was able to wake up early, without feeling like I was hungover. I feel intensely groggy and sleepy in the mornings when I eat poorly.

By Wednesday I had even more energy. I rode my bike to work, was up at 6am and felt great! Thursday was positive too.

There were several times I wanted to eat something that wasn’t healthy so that I could cover up boredom or some other feeling. Sometimes it was just for the sake of convenience. I wasn’t even hungry. I was probably also just thirsty too at times. It was great to learn to be aware of when my cravings came up.

I’m going to continue this habit, as well as no coffee into next week. And next week I have a few ideas in mind for what I want to do for my next challenge.

Stay tuned!

Pia

Series Kickoff – 5 Days of No Coffee!

Published 05/02/2016

I’m so excited for today’s post.

Today I kick off a new series of 5 day challenges.

What does that mean?

We all want to be the best version of ourselves. Maybe we want to exercise more, or quit eating sugar. Maybe we want to go vegan, spend less money, meditate or be less wasteful. Or maybe our goal is to spend more time towards our personal dreams or careers, instead of choosing Netflix.

But doing all of these things all at once can be overwhelming. I don’t know about you, but I’ve tried to change my habits in one go and it just led to failure. There were too many things to keep track of at once.

Comfort always kicked in. But comfort is a lie. In this context, I am referring to those times when we wish to be or do certain things, but choose the easy option that feels good instead. Like choosing the sofa instead of going for that run we promised ourselves we’d do.

Of course comfort is good in healthy doses, we all deserve some relaxation, but when you find yourself frustrated in where you’re at in life, this is when comfort is the enemy.

Realize that in every moment you have a choice. You can choose to build character and look back on your life knowing you lived it as the person you wanted to be, or you can choose the easy thing.

**Let me emphasize that everyone’s struggles are personal. What I struggle with, you might not struggle with at all and vice versa. The way I want to live my life, is not necessarily the same way you want to live your life. Everyone’s ideal self is going to be their own depending on their environment, personality, situation etc. With that being said, if you can relate to these challenges, follow along! 🙂 If not, maybe you’ll be into the next one.

Starting tomorrow (Monday), I kick off the Comfort Is A Lie Series with 5 days of no coffee!

The idea is to build upon my habits, to notice and track my experience, learn something new and hopefully ease my way into a new and improved me while inspiring others to do their own version.

There are many benefits to drinking coffee such as improving your energy both mentally and physically, and preventing certain diseases such as cancer and type 2 diabetes.

But there are also some drawbacks to coffee such as altering your state of mind from what you would naturally be, staining your teeth, causing anxiety/restlessness, and it is dehydrating.

Right now, I’m experiencing more drawbacks than benefits. I’m addicted to coffee, and if I don’t get my daily 3+ cups of coffee, my head starts to pound, I become angry and irritable, depressed and I hate everyone around me. It stains my teeth (yuck) and my mouth just doesn’t feel as clean as it does when I don’t drink coffee. Coffee breath anyone? I want to rely on my own energy and get it naturally from eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly. Coffee also bloats me like crazy, well, it’s probably the cream inside the coffee, but the combo isn’t good for me anyhow. I’m too dependent and feel like I can’t go a day without a cup or 2. I want to free myself from that.

But oh, the warm aromatic scent of fresh coffee in the morning and the boost of energy are very enticing and comforting, but I can do this! As an alternative, I’m going to only allow myself to drink Green Tea (it has much less caffeine) or Water.

I’ll follow up on my experiences by editing this blog post this Friday, and maybe in between as I go. I’m excited (and nervous) to see what I can learn from a week without coffee. I’ve done it before, so I’m prepared for headaches and flu like symptoms haha!

Anyone want to join me? It’d be fun and I’d love to hear your experience below if this is something you can relate to. Follow along as I attempt other 5 day challenges to make myself more into the person I want to be. And if you relate, join me, or create your own personal challenges that resonate with who you want to become.

<3 Pia

**Edit**

5 Days Later (Friday)

I made it! Here I am, and it’s been 5 days of NO COFFEE.

This week, I noticed a few things. I didn’t crash as badly as I thought I would. No Advils were needed. I was however, extremely tired. Especially by 9pm at night, and waking up in the morning was very difficult as well for some reason. Even today, on the fifth day.

On Monday, I was nauseous, and fell asleep really early. On Tuesday, I was still very tired, and my brain was super fuzzy, I couldn’t form a proper thought. My eyes were really itchy and tired too.

On Wednesday, I realized that my gums were less swollen and red. Coffee is acidic, and if you have sensitive gums like me, then they suffer a bit. My mouth felt clean, and I didn’t have morning breath anymore. By Thursday I was still tired and had low energy, but felt ok.

Today is the last day, I’m lethargic, but it’s good for me to continue the no coffee thing. I even lost a couple pounds because I didn’t crave as much food as usual. Coffee is known to increase cortisol, the stress hormone, which makes you crave sugary, salty and fatty foods. And I wasn’t bloated this week because coffee and cream bloats me.

So the benefits of no coffee for me? And maybe you?

No more morning breath
No bloating
Clean mouth, no swollen gums
Weight loss
Less cravings for sugary, salty, fatty foods

So that’s that! Next week I will do a new challenge and see what I learn from it.

If you have any suggestions you’d like me to try, please let me know!

Category: Comfort Is A Lie

5 days of Walking 10,000 Steps A Day!

5 Days of No Junk Food

Series Kickoff – 5 Days of No Coffee!