I needed to pick myself up for the Thirsty 30 Body Challenge. So I took to downloading The Outbreak Escape Virtual Run App by FIX Health as motivation to get active.
I’m falling behind on following through with my Thirsty 30 Body Challenge. I haven’t been doing HIIT Training or much of any exercise. So I can’t say I remained disciplined during the earlier months of 2021. I guess quarantine was getting a bit stale with the repetitive routines. So I needed something new to change the pace.
While we were in the midst of a lockdown in Maryland during the “5K Season,” opportunities were readily available. Like many of the art exhibitions that emerge around town during the pandemic, we are fortunate to have plenty of opportunities geared to physical fitness, as well. There are lots of outside meetups for yoga and virtual meetings making up for limited space or closed gyms. It’s easy finding something to remain physically active while social distancing.
In April, my sister came across a game called The Outbreak, a virtual run geared to promoting physical fitness through the use of one of the most popular horrid themes in video game history; escaping a zombie apocalypse.
The people at FIX Health appeal to people that are just like me. People that require a little more than the daily run around the track. Like when you can’t visit the gym or are tired of trying different YouTube Fitness Channels, FIX Health is there with an alternative.
FIX Health was founded on “the belief that all aspects of life are enhanced by a healthy lifestyle.” The company develops interactive games promoting health and daily activity in a fun, socially connected environment. TheOutbreak is one product by the company used in numerous workplaces promoting employee wellness and morale. “…its programs focus on daily movement and an incremental increase in active minutes overtime. Participants are chased by digital zombies in an app that features a storyline along with daily and weekly goals that require teamwork to complete.”
For a month as a new fitness routine to get into while still in a pandemic, I joined my sister in completing Escape Virtual Run hosted by FIX Health.
I downloaded Outbreak with major hopes of outrunning the virtual zombies in the allotted time. The game’s storyline begins with a mission to reach the safehouse which is 60 miles from the starting point. Each day, I logged my daily steps by syncing my fitness watch with the app. My progress is converted to miles and tracked using a map to showcase my distance from the flesh-eating zombie hoard. Zombies close in on my avatar on this escape mission. It’s my duty to continue out walking them using my real steps. It took me 24 days to reach the safehouse; only six days sooner. I am proud to say I completed the mission in less than 30 days.
Watch my review of The Outbreak: Zombie Escape Virtual Run
Join The OutBreak: Escape Virtual Run
If you’re interested in doing this virtual run, you’ll need to purchase your entry ticket before you can have full access to the app. You can sign up by visiting their website: www.outbreakchallenge.com.
Calorie counting is another weight loss method that helps keep the focus on Thirsty 30 Body. There are numerous apps that help make calorie counting easier, like My Fitness Pal and My Plate, that provide a digital space to log daily meals, exercise, and water intake. Today we’re focusing on Lose It. As mentioned before in “#Thirsty30Body: Essential Fitness Tools. Items You May Already Have Lying Around,” my preferred calorie tracker is the Lose It App. We’re reviewing how to log the food you love to eat (fast food) into Lose It.
Chipotle Mexican Grill added a new cilantro-lime cauliflower rice option to their menu at US and Canadian locations for a limited time. It’s an alternative to the white or brown rice choices, and also the latest plant-based option that is compliant with Keto, Whole30®, Paleo, Vegan, and Vegetarian diets. So now veggie lovers can make “veggier” burritos and burrito bowls. I thought this would be the best time to show how to log “fast food” on the calorie counter.
Eating healthier options is a top priority in #Thirsty30Body. This is why I’m not showing how to add a McDonald’s meal or any other fast food meal into the app. We’re sticking to choosing healthier choices by dining at restaurants that provide fresher options. Chipotle Mexican Grill has healthier foods to choose from and is easily searched within the app. So trying the cauliflower rice at Chipotle is in line with what we’re trying to do by choosing a healthier way of living for #Thirsty30Body.
How to Log Food in Lose It App:
Select the Meal You’re Logging
There are 4 to choose from; Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Snack. Each meal is broken down into a calorie budget of four different numbers that combine into the overall daily calorie budget. Add the food one by one using the search bar.
Search by Restaurant or Brand
This makes it so much easier to search for options rather than to search by name of food. This narrows down the search to only food relative to that restaurant or brand. Doing this will prevent generalized options from appearing in the search results and will help with retrieving a more accurate calorie count.
Logging the Correct Serving Size
Becoming familiar with the Nutritional Facts label is beneficial. This will tell us the exact amount of nutrients in what we eat. There are a lot of restaurants that provide the nutritional facts for food serviced on their websites. There are sometimes entire menus that list calories of a meal posted inside of a restaurant. When someone is aware of serving sizes, they’re aware of the proper portion sizes for a meal.
Take Note of Your Meal’s Calorie Intake
Being aware of each meal’s calorie total will help with planning the next meal. If you spend most of your calorie budget on breakfast, you’ll know that you have a limited amount of calories for the remainder of the day.
Watch how I log my Chipotle Burrito Bowl:
Can you name another restaurant with healthier options you can practice logging in to Lose It? Leave comments below.
Eating healthy is a huge part of losing weight. There are numerous diets people subscribe to hoping it’s the solution to their weight loss journey. I don’t subscribe to any diet but I do have a routine I follow for my breakfast smoothies each morning. This Thirsty 30 Body blog is how I start my mornings eating healthy. I’m sharing my recipe for my morning breakfast smoothie.
One of the most popular dietary fads today is the Keto Diet. Almost every recipe on my Pinterest timeline is geared to the keto diet. Nearly every recipe book I find in the bookstores is catered to keto followers. Nothing is wrong with this diet. In fact, many people show proof that it’s very effective. To me, it’s just another fad diet like intermediate fasting or Atkins diet. They’re temporary fixes for quick weight loss that people keep up for a time being but rarely subscribe for extended periods of time.
I’m not a member of diet fads. I don’t support what’ll be a temporary fix for everyday health. Such fads are meant to help your weight for the moment, like when we see someone prepping for their wedding day 2 weeks prior to their wedding date, or prom being a month away and needing to fit in that perfect dress. To have lifetime results, it’ll require lifestyle changes that surpass small dietary changes like keto or even Weight Watchers. These fads do not provide solutions for the long term. Making a dietary change like becoming vegetarian or vegan is considered to be a lifestyle change. It’ll require more preparation and time to make a healthy habit. The results are worth the switch because the benefits of these healthy diets can lead to a more prosperous and wealthy long living life.
How do I convince myself eating healthy is a priority over a quick solution?
If I’m going to change how I eat, it’ll be to help me, not hurt me. That’s the whole point of Thirsty 30 Body, I’m changing my lifestyle to implement healthier habits. Eating a diet that is natural and won’t require too much effort will be the best for me. So I approached eating healthier similar to my switch to natural hair. It was a clean one.
What I learned while taking care of my natural hair that I’ll carry with me in my quest for eating better is less is more. The least amount of products that I put in my hair the better my hair will look. Pure shea butter and olive oil do my hair justice. There really isn’t much required to keep my hair well. My hair growth is astounding. When approaching eating cleaner, I felt there would be a similar result for less. If I ate foods with little to no preservatives and added ingredients, my skin would glow and I’d appear more energetic. If I stick to clean eating, there wouldn’t be much I’d need to be healthy. I was correct. This is why I’m 30 lbs down. Alongside working out, I remember to keep my diet clean and as natural as possible. My skin is flawless and I created a healthy habit.
I eat a lot of Whole Foods and Whole Grains. I consume plenty of fruits and vegetables. I rarely eat processed food. I also cook for myself often, rarely going out to eat. My breakfast is usually a raw meal, meaning most times it’s not required for me to cook. I eat fruit and smoothie bowls for breakfast, salads or leftovers for lunch, and try to save warm and savory options for dinner. I repeat, repeat, and repeat this way of eating until it becomes a habit. I become a clean eater.
Starting Your Day with a Balanced Breakfast
Last year I shared a video to Instagram of my famous breakfast smoothie. I wanted to share my most important meal of the day to motivate others on how simple it is to get started.
Breakfast might not be your most important meal of the day. But starting on the right path at the beginning of the day, helps me stay on track for the rest of the day. I try not to go a day without eating breakfast. But missing out on lunch or dinner is okay as long as I still receive enough calories for the day.
Watch how I make my healthy smoothies for breakfast.
Bullet journals are not literal journals that house bullets.
In #Thirsty30Body: Essential Fitness Tools. Items You May Already Have Lying Around, I mentioned using a tracking system to help hold a person accountable for their weight-loss goals. Trackers, such as Lose It App or utilizing a fitness watch, are two major resources I use to stay accountable for reaching my Thirsty 30 Body. These trackers are easily accessible on my phone so that I mark my progress daily. I like having digital access most times, but I’ll always keep a special place in my heart for analog to-do lists and trackers. It’s just something about manually scratching something off my lists that makes the experience more personal and productive.
Bullet journaling is a method considered as an easy-to-use and basic way of tracking a weight-loss program. It can be achieved through using a simple calendar, planner, or notepad barely in use at home. Anyone with the time or simply the creative energy like me could turn a plain planner into their Thirsty Body Bible.
Filling the pages of a basic notebook is like filling a blank canvas. It’ll showcase all my habits of what makes me who I am. If done properly, I can look back in my notes from days, months, and even years ago and know why I react the way that I did in any situation. I attribute it to taking notes about my habits and activity.
Today I want to share a few Bullet Journal Tips that I utilize to help push me towards Thirsty 30…
Choosing the Best Journal
A medium 5×7 inch journal is the perfect size journal to use for bulleting your methods. This size is super small and easily accessible. I love small journals mostly because they fit into any bag that I carry. Large journals are okay, but I don’t carry them as often if my purses don’t allow the space. I need something small that I know will be able to have in front of me when I need to get it. I also like journals without lines because every so often I like sketching random things on the blank pages. The whiter the page, the more space I have for my imagination.
Use Visual Charts, Pictures, and Lists to Visually Track Progress
Using weekly task lists and graphs help provide a little order in areas of my life I need to have control over. I follow a daily to-do list. I even use tables and charts in my bullet journal to keep track of my bills and expenses. For Thirsty 30 Body, my bullet journals include Meal prep, workout routines, motivational quotes, recipes, and anything that I’ll create into a bulleted list goes into my book.
A common chart I use in my notebook is my 6 to 12-week workout program. I have a Life Planner by Erin Condren that I live by that houses these workout plans. The 6 to 12-week workout plan is a chart that I use whenever I’m ready to go on a workout sprint. I created it to breed commitment. I recognize when it’s needed to call out time to focus on my goal to get healthy. So to train my mind to commit to this goal, I follow through by staying consistent with completing this plan.
I’ll share a few Thirsty Body Bible Pages with you to help you commit to a plan.
Gel and scented pens, sticky notes, highlighters, stickers, and washi tape are all essential items to have whenever I’m meditating in my bullet journal. It makes the process exciting to get through when I’m creating and designing from my imagination. It’s similar to telling a visual story. Many of the elements I put on the pages were placed there to recall times when I filled the journal page. Each page is unique. I could never be confused about where I am in my progress because each page in the journal is of its own design. So getting creative is necessary for building a personality for the journey.
These are just three simple bullet journaling methods I use in my notebooks. There are many more that I have yet to explore. These three steps are good starter methods for analog tracking if digital isn’t working. They’re well worth the try if you’re looking for a better way of organizing your journey.
Do you know of any basic bullet journaling methods that should be added to this list? Leave them in the comments below.
Starting before I was Ready provoked my search for finding what’s necessary to get through my #Thirsty30Body journey. It was when I made the conscious choice to get fit and take the initiative, I learned how frequently I should think about my health, small tasks I could include throughout my day to motivate me to remain active, and the essential tools that will assist me on this quest. Today I’ll be sharing the essential tools I use for reaching thirsty 30.
Last year, I trained at Hero Fit with only my gym attire, which was an old work T-Shirt for Baltimore’s HFS Alternative Rock station, a pair of navy blue sweatpants, and a cheap pair of easy slip-on tennis from Wal-Mart. I quickly learned that that wasn’t enough gear for this journey after attending class for 2 weeks. I needed to invest in my health, fully. As mentioned before I started Thirsty 30 Body on a mission to strengthen my will-power muscle. So I thought of registering for Hero Fit as enrolling in an expedited college semester because the program was in total 12-weeks (if you didn’t meet the initial 6-week challenge to lose 20 lbs of 5 % fat.) I already bet money towards joining so I equated investing in fitness attire and equipment similar to preparing for college coursework, like buying the textbooks needed for class.
I’ll keep it simple. What was beneficial for me to have last August at the start of Thirsty 30 Body Challenge as tools for getting ahead were all of the following that still remains essential tools in mid-progress. These are items that anyone could have lying around and don’t require you to go out of your way to purchase.
Perfect Pair of Tennis Shoes (or prepare to be barefoot)
So this is a little embarrassing. My shoes completely came off in Bootcamp class while working out. It’s because of the cheap shoes I decided to workout in weren’t being my friend at the moment. A couple of mountain climbers into the routine, my shoes started sliding off my heels. I had to take my shoes completely off in front of a class of about 20 people to finish the routine. When two of those people walk up to me suggesting where to buy some good tennis, I sort of thought maybe my feet stank? Reality settled in that nobody wants to see the feet of a stranger even if they’re decked out with 90’s Nickelodeon cartoons. Tennis is the first essential tool to have towards Thirsty 30 Body.
I scrolled through the Nike online store in search of the perfect shoes for HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training), which was the majority of the workouts conducted in Bootcamp. Shoes suited for this kind of fitness training is what I felt best in investing. After I purchased tennis for HIIT, I also used them while participating in 5K walks such, as the Black Light Run, and even some free local Zumba classes hosted at a neighborhood elementary school. The shoes are good for most activities. Get a pair of great HIIT tennis and your feet will thank you. Maybe even your Bootcamp class, too.
A Sports Bra or Compression Shorts
People with extra cushion can attest to their bodies willingly flopping everywhere when they’re being active. So when working out during Bootcamp I spent 4 weeks struggling to breathe because my breasts kept hitting me in the face every time I did jumping jacks in Bootcamp class. Lawd, all my life…!
The other heavily blessed women in my Bootcamp class sympathized and pointed me in the direction to where I could purchase a sports bra suited for a woman of large breasts. Amazon was the spot. While I was at it, I made sure to get some yoga pants and compression shorts to hold the rest of my cushion together. These are all beneficial for anyone looking for that extra help during high-intensity workouts that sometimes makes us too jiggly for our liking. Compression attire is the next best essential equipment to have in your weight-loss journey.
Fitness Watch (Tracker)
Mi Band 4
Have you ever tried tracking your steps or your workout activity using a fitness watch or fitness tracker on your phone? It’s the perfect way to help form personal accountability and builds a view of individually-tailored goals. Almost all smartphones come equipped with fitness apps used for tracking physical activity, heart rate, and daily steps. I use the stats in fitness apps to give me a visual of my progress over time. It helps to keep track of the habits I already have and highlights things that need improvement.
Mi Band 4by Xiaomi Technology is the fitness tracking watch I use for monitoring my physical activity. The band cost me less than $50 and has a battery life that expands pass 15 days. That’s this watch’s valued features. The watch comes with a Mi Fit app for download to a smartphone that tracks all progress using your personal profile. You also learn your progress measured amongst thousands of other Mi Fit users, which is beneficial for the competitive folks. It doesn’t have the full functionality as many popular smartwatches, like FitBit or Apple Watch. I like that because I believe it limits the multiple notifications and distractions that could occur using either of those smartwatches. Mi Band and Mi Fit are simple and straightforward with keeping its fitness features catered as a priority. That’s perfect for me for keeping focused on my physical activity.
Google Fit is a great and free app to download if your phone doesn’t have a fitness tracker. I would say it has all the generic functions you’d want to use for starting off and very similar to Mi Fit in having the same exercise tracking features.
Lose It App
I’m an active user of the Lose It Calorie Tracking App community since my college days when I used to live off bags of popcorn from the University convenience store telling myself that eating fiber from the popcorn would give me the energy to get through mid-day lectures. In turn, eating popcorn just made a lot of noise during class.
Lose It is a calorie counting app with“the goal of helping members reach a healthy weight by providing them with the tools they need for success.” Users can set goals, track meals, learn about the foods they eat and reach their goals to set new ones to build towards a healthier lifestyle. I use it mainly for calorie tracking. It has definitely been a challenge to use the app. But after spending literally 8 years using Lose It, I can say I now have a habit of calorie counting that Lose it has contributed to making healthy eating a lot easier.
In the next coming weeks, I’ll share on Thirsty 30 Body series a more in-depth Lose it App walkthrough of how I use the Lose App as a tool for meal planning and calorie counting.
Excellent workout attire such as a good pair of training shoes and compression pants are essential for your training uniform. Fitness trackers and calorie counters are essentials for keeping all your logistics in order. These are 4 tools that’ll always be great items to have at all stages of your workout journey. They’re all affordable and readily accessible at any time in your process, too. So the pressure for getting them can be very low, but the benefits of having them still remain.
What other essential items do you think are good tools to have during your weight-loss journey? Feel free to leave your essentials in the comments below.
I did a poll via the Doc’s Castle Instagram and Facebook pages and found out 88% of followers would like me to share a few tips towards my #Thirsty30Body.
Eff the 12% of haters who said no. 😂 Agreeing to share what I know about becoming more fit will help me stay motivated to stay on track, as well. So boo to you and hooray to everyone else who’s helping me stay motivated. I will be posting blogs, videos, and tips regularly to Doc’s Castle in hopes that some of you will want to join in with me.
As I am entering into the second half of Thirsty 30 Body Challenge, I want to share four starting tips that I keep in mind as I prep for these next coming months. Here they go:
Get in the mind frame to get healthy, not only to look good.
When thinking of getting healthy, I frame my thoughts to focusing on what makes me feel good and what are good habits to have. I’m not the type to worry about having an hourglass figure or needing a big butt or chest because the attention it awards isn’t what I want. It’s already hard on women when we feel the pressures of wanting to feel attractive and there are thousands of images being pushed of models and celebrities half-naked in the mainstream media. Those pressures I’ve never embraced. It’s nice knowing that I look good. But I welcome compliments that uplift me and enjoy getting attention based upon my intellect for what I do. I want to keep it like that. So what makes this weight loss journey a “Thirsty” one?
“Thirsty” defined in the urban dictionary means:
An adjective used in describing a person deliberately fishing for compliments, attention, etc.
Too eager to get something (especially play)
Desperate
But I’m defining what “Thirsty” means for me in year 30. I’m encouraging healthy living and hopefully aspiring to be thirsty for a healthier lifestyle. So it begins with what it means to look and feel healthy. It’s not about the physique though I will reap those benefits. The #Thirsty30body is the perfect body for ME! Thirsting for wealthy health.
Spend time getting to know yourself.
Knowing how much I weigh, though it’s good to start with, wasn’t enough for me to get moving and actively exercising because, as I said in the intro to the #Thirsty30Body Blog Series, I never looked at myself to be “big.” My motivation sparked after hearing results from my doctor’s visit to my primary care provider. As preventive care, it’s important that I know everything inside of my body is copacetic because I have things to accomplish, goals to achieve, and a life to live with people that I love. So I like to get bloodwork and vitals taken annually. I do this to be aware of what’s happening in my body so that I can control what happens to and within me.
I like to live by this saying: No one should know you more than you know yourself mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and physically. It just seems foolish to me to go an entire life doing what is told of you at all times. If you live your life questioning things, you learn new things about the world and yourself. I apply this to everything I do. It makes sense to do it while on this journey as well. So I say do more than weighing yourself on the scale. Really get to know your body past the numbers. Really get into the anatomy and understand what makes you feel good or bad.
Set your Goals and tracking system for accountability.
After getting my measurements, vitals, and all that is needed to understand my body, I went into the “Taylor University” mode, which is when I spend time meditating with my journal. Healthy living is better than simply losing weight because I prefer to not hear the same disappointing results again the following year. So I use my journal to make goals writing out everything about my body in its current state, and I keep track as often as I want of my progress.
There are multiple other ways that helped with tracking that don’t necessarily require you to drag around a notebook, like joining and participating in fitness groups and clubs online where people can help encourage you, taking and saving pictures whenever weight loss milestones are met, or simply regularly recording your weight loss in a monthly calendar. All these activities helped hold me accountable and motivated me in some way to stick to #Thirsty30Body.
Be kind and patient with yourself and keep pushing through it.
This is probably the most important tip I could give because at the end of the day, you are responsible for holding yourself accountable for getting healthy. People forget how hard they can be on themselves when critiquing their own work in whatever they do. They can start off strong, then fall off so fast because they didn’t pace themselves to be realistic in their journey. After that, they give up. Be kind to yourself and don’t get lost in disappointment if you haven’t quite met your goal. Be patient and allow a realistic timeframe to meet those goals. But also know when to pick yourself up to get the work done to achieve what you’ve started.
Something my mother would say whenever we’d talk about going through hard times is “There’s Always Tomorrow.” She’d say this whenever we’d hear crazy things happen like mass shootings or awful dealings that ended in demise or turmoil. Though resulting in thinking like this might be a little extreme for pursuing losing weight, it works perfectly for me. It won’t hurt me if I haven’t met a goal to lose 2 lbs in one week. I can dust myself off for the following week, and I’m not saying that without revisiting “Taylor University” to make changes to finally meet that goal at some point. I just keep pushing through it. Eventually, I’ll lose those two pounds. So be kind to your mind and body, and also remain determined.
What are somethings that you do to help prepare to lose weight? Leave your answers in the comments below. Also, subscribe to get updates to your email for the next #Thirsty30Body post via subscription form below.
