This year, I want to be accountable in a new way. When I came back from my trip to Istanbul at the beginning of January, I went to do a body composition test. I purchased three tests, so I did the first just last week, the second one is going to be at the beginning of July, and then finally, the last one at the end of December. I’m doing all three at the same place, on the same testing machine (InBody 770). Before I go through the test report, I’m very proud of the muscle %. According to the report, I have a significantly higher percentage of muscles than the average female of my age and height. But then, on the flip side, my fat percentage is also quite high. Higher than I expected. The most concerning to me is the visceral fat score. It’s a sign that I need to reign in my eating and take it more seriously. Without further ado, let’s go through some numbers.
My report score is 71. According to the report, anywhere between 70-80 is good, the higher the better.
Weight: 82 kg (180 lbs) Muscle mass: 27,4 kg (60 lbs) Fat mass: 32,1 kg (70 lbs) Fat %: 39,1 % (normal would be 21-32 %) Fat Mass Index: 12,5 (normal would be 5-9) Visceral fat score: 154,7 (normal would be below 100) Waist-hip ratio: 0,93 (normal would be below 0,8)
So in 2024, my goal would be: – reduce fat mass – reduce the visceral fat score – increase muscle mass
I’m not setting out to lower my weight but I guess that would come naturally if I succeed in reducing fat. If I can get my fat mass index and waist-hip ratio closer to normal, that would be great!
A few words about what I’m going to be doing to achieve my goals. I am going to restrict my calorie intake, not much though. I just have one rule and that is I’m going to try to hit below 2000 calories. I don’t do well whenever I go too low. I’m following my fasting schedule and try to eat low-carb whenever it’s called for. I’m keeping my habits of working out around 30-60 min every day and walking 10K steps daily. I shall try to lift heavier during my workouts to increase muscle mass.
So here it is, short and sweet. See ya back here in July! 🙂
Last day of Blogmas! MERRY CHRISTMAS! I’ve written about different challenges I’m going to embark on in 2024, so this is more like a summary for easier future references. Like checking in at the Summary of 2024 just how many challenges I manage to do. So let’s go.
Libraries I’m starting a new blog to track the libraries I’m going to visit next year. My goal is visit at least one library in my city or the cities near me in a month. And I will be writing about them in my new blog Infinities Under Roofs.
Reading Challenges I’m doing two: Helmet Reading Challenge 2024 and Summerween Reading Challenge, I wrote about them here. I want to read more than 50 books in 2024 too!
Movie Challenges I’m doing multiple movie challenges next year, one of the main ones would be 100 horror movies in 2024. I’m hoping to also complete some of lists on Letterboxd. I wrote about them here.
Fitness Challenges I’m going to keep the 10K steps a day, workout every morning and have a calorie cap of 2000 calories. I’m also taking fasting more seriously. Read more about this in here. I created a new Instagram account to track my food, so I could be more accountable about my eating. You can follow me at Fuel.Fables.
Finance Challenges I’m looking to become consumer debt free next year, and also save up at least half of the emergency fund (full would be 10K). And would be very nice if I can find me an apartment to buy. Small goals, no biggie. XD
Here they are and here we are. When I decided to do blogmas this year, I thought it was going to be very painful and difficult – to write daily after not writing regularly for so long. But after the first week or so, it became very easy. Like long-dormant muscles that still remember what to do after the initial stiffness. So I am very much looking forward to the year of blogging next year! Thanks for joining me, merry blogmas! ❤
Here are the fitness challenges I’m going to embark on in 2024.
First of all, I’m going to continue the 10K steps daily. I’m going to try my best to get more than 10K steps on most days. I’m going to have a similar weekly workout schedule that I’ve had for a few years now. This year, I’ve tested 12 different Youtube fitness channels and now I’ve chosen the ones I like the most and planned out my weekly schedule:
Strength workouts on Mondays (abs), Wednesdays (leg) and Fridays (arms). I’ve chosen three trainers for these days, all strong ladies who lift heavy: Penny, Caroline and Heather.
On Tuesdays it’s high-intensity cardio workouts such as HIIT and kickboxing. For that I’ve chosen Kaykay and Eleni. Thursdays would be low-intensity cardio workouts which would be walking workouts. And for that I’ve chosen Olivia.
Saturdays are for full-body strength workouts with lighter weights, so for that I’ve chosen Courtney. And Sundays are for yoga and stretching so for that I chose my favorite yoga channel Yoga with Bird. And yes, I’ve gathered ALL of the workouts on an excel sheet for next year. XD
As I wrote about yesterday, I want to focus on the diet side when it comes to my fitness. I haven’t figured out all of the details yet, but one of the main actionable goal would have having a hard limit to calories, and that would be 2000 calories max daily, only exceptions would be when I’m traveling. The 2000 cal is pretty easy to keep to on regular days, but on days that I go out to eat, they would require some maneuvering, like eating very light during lunch if I’m going out to dinner. Just all in all, being more mindful. It’s already a habit of mine to track calories and weigh my portions, so it wouldn’t be a jump into the deep end tracking-wise.
And talking about tracking, I’m going to do body composition tests next year. In the mall near me, there is a self-service test center so I’m going to get the 3-time package. The first time I would go test in January once I’m back from Turkey. And second time would be the beginning of July, and then the last time would be at the end of December. It would be very interesting to see any potential changes (hopefully improvements). Alright! This is the wrap-up of the fitness portion of blogmas, one more portion left starting tomorrow! 😀 Merry Blogmas!
I work out every day in the morning at my makeshift home gym. I’m not particularly a morning person nor do I possess the creativity to come up with a workout myself right on the spot. So instead, I follow along with exercise videos on YouTube. But since I am someone who loves planning and gets bored really easily this year, I’ve decided to switch it up monthly. Youtube has always been a plentiful ground for fitness channels but thanks to the pandemic, the fitness channel community is flourishing like never before. There are lots of choices, and all of them have their unique sets of skills. 😀 I have my own set routine for each day and it’s as follows:
Mondays – Abs strength training Tuesdays – Cardio: Kickboxing or HIIT workouts or dancing Wednesdays – Barbell squats and lower body strength training Thursdays – Cardio: Walking and low-impact workouts Fridays – Upper body strength training Saturdays – Cardio: Full body strength with light weights Sundays – Yoga, light pilates, foam rolling or stretching
So each month, I would pick a channel that has (almost) all that I need to fit my own routine and is somewhere between 30-60 minutes long videos. I plan ahead and usually choose a whole month’s worth of videos so that I don’t have to think much in the morning. I picked 12 channels to follow in 2023, here are my picks for September to December. Since I’ve been doing workouts for quite a while now and I don’t need motivational speeches or instructions, I follow along with videos on mute as I listen to audiobooks, podcasts, and other Youtube videos. So keep that in mind in my reviews of the channels. 🙂 Reviews are also based only on the 30 or so videos I’ve followed in a month.
September – Juice and Toya Juice and Toya is the only couple workout channel I’ve followed and it’s definitely interesting. Their production values are high on most videos, with multiple camera angles. But some of the videos do have a handheld camera used, which is a bit jarring. And sometimes they do talk in the videos while working out (no voiceover), I’m not that into the sound. But they do have quieter music due to that. Since there are two of them, one of them usually do the modified version. Some videos don’t have a timer, they always feel longer. Some of the videos do have a very detailed workout structure in the beginning of the videos. They are both very energetic so it’s nice to work out with them. 🙂 Pros: Multiple camera angles. Quieter music. Cons: Sometimes a handheld camera was used, I don’t get why, it’s too restless. No timer on some videos. Specialty: Couple channel
October – EleniFit EleniFit is a super versatile channel where I could find all the different workouts I need for the week. She uses low-fi music in the background, no spoken instructions though. But her workouts are beginner-friendly enough that visual cues only is good enough for me. Countdowns on screen, with alarm sounds. Standing workouts are super fun to do and they are low-effort enough that it’s perfect to combat that lack of motivation for workouts that seems to hit every autumn. However, there aren’t many workouts with heavy weights. Pros: Standing workouts, kickboxing and walking workouts plus dance workouts Cons: Not many workouts with weight Specialty: Fun standing workouts
November – Heather Robertson Heather has a very extensive selection of different workouts, I’m able to find almost everything that I need. Except kickboxing workouts. Timers and pre-watch of the next move on screen, timer alarms, no spoken directions, club music. Info about weights and workout structure are in the text below plus an extensive and detailed exercise list with timestamp in some. Warmup or cooldowns in most. Uses heavier weights than many which encouraged me to lift heavy too. Pros: Uses heavier weights than many. Cool looking background, very clean style Cons: No kickboxing workouts
December – Growingannanas Growingannanas seems to be the perfect choice for December where I like to take it easy and I’m already quite bored in the year. 😀 So her workouts that mostly have no repeats are a great boredom fighter. Timers and pre-watch of the next move on screen, timer alarms, no spoken directions. Info about weights and workout structure is in the text below plus an extensive and detailed exercise list with timestamps in some. Warmup or cooldowns in most. Extensive selection of different workouts. Pros: Most workouts are no repeats. Cons: No kickboxing or walking workouts.
Here are the fitness channels I followed in September-December. It was a lot of fun to change it up monthly. As the body gets used to certain types of workouts and when switches, it becomes more challenging for a little while again. I feel like I have a very good picture now which channels I’m going to continue with. I’m probably not going to only follow one channel for a month. I’m going to pick and choose the best for each day. Thank you for following this year, let’s work out more next year! 😀 Merry Blogmas!
I work out everyday in the morning at my makeshift home gym. I’m not particularly a morning person nor do I possess the creativity to come up with a workout myself right on the spot. So instead, I follow along exercising videos on Youtube. But since I am someone who loves planning and gets bored really easily, this year, I’ve decided to switch it up monthly. Youtube has always been a plentiful ground for fitness channels but thanks to the pandemic, the fitness channel community is flourishing like never before. There are lots of choice, all of them have their unique sets of skills. 😀 I have my own set routine of each day and it’s as follows:
Mondays – Abs strength training Tuesdays – Cardio: Kickboxing or HIIT workouts or dancing Wednesdays – Barbell squats and lower body strength training Thursdays – Cardio: Walking and low impact workouts Fridays – Upper body strength training Saturdays – Cardio: Full body strength with light weights Sundays – Yoga, light pilates, foam rolling or stretching
So each month, I would pick a channel that has (almost) all that I need to fit my own routine and is somewhere between 30-60 minutes long videos. I plan ahead and usually choose a whole month worth of videos so that I don’t have to think much in the morning. I picked 12 channels to follow in 2023, here are my picks for May-August. Since I’ve been doing workouts for quite a while now and I don’t need motivational speeches or instructions, I follow along with videos on mute as I listen to audiobooks, podcasts and other Youtube videos. So keep that in mind in my reviews of the channels. 🙂 Reviews are also based only on the 30 or so videos I’ve followed in a month.
May – Caroline Jordan Energetic and bubbly, Caroline Jordan is fun to follow. She is beginner-friendly, with lots of easy and short videos to start with. Most of her videos are focused on mobility and injury-conscious. Not necessarily my cup of tea since I find her channel more on the low impact side, I did enjoy some of her chair workouts and foam rolling videos. She was the one who inspired me to get an extra long foam roller for my tight muscles. Pros: Beginner-friendly, low impact, sitting workouts. Cons: No kickboxing videos. No voiceover, sometimes talking in the videos sounds a bit jarring. No background music or timers in videos, thus feeling longer than they are. Minimal cooldowns. Specialty: Chair workouts. Foam rolling workouts.
June – Courtney Andersen One of the most delightful aspects of Courtney’s channel is that many of her videos are done outside, often with an absolutely gorgeous backdrop of nature and such. I really enjoyed the different backgrounds. There are music playing, but no spoken instructions. Which suited me well. Timers and a sneakpeak of the next move on screen was more than enough to guide me. Some of the videos have quite an extensive info and exercise list in the details below the video with timestamps. Pros: Great and lots of variety workouts. Clear instructions despite no speaking Cons: Sometimes videos have no warm-up or cooldown. No long-form streatching videos. Specialty: Many videos have great views outside.
July – Caroline Girvan Caroline Girvan is known for her intense strength workouts, this lady is strong. She lifts heavier than more in her videos and that had inspired me to lift heavier too. Her videos have no spoken instructions but there are amble amount of instructions during the video and in the details too, quite similar than Courtney’s videos. Pros: Great and intense strength training videos! Cons: No warm-up or cooldowns in some videos. Specialty: Heavier weights. Extra: She has a cuuuute beagle that sometimes appears in her videos! ❤
August – MadFit August was a shorter workout month due to me traveling one third of the month, so I chose a fitness channel that I’m not sure about whether I would like it or not. For those who likes having spoken instructions in the video, this would be a channel for you. Due to spoken instructions, sometimes rest periods in between workouts would be longer. This was also not my cup of tea, cos it’s a little heavy on repetition on videos that doesn’t claim ‘no repeat’. Pros: Beginner-friendly, quieter background music. Warm-ups and cooldowns linked in the description if not included in the videos. Cons: Sometimes long breaks due to spoken instructions. Heavy on repetition. Extra: A border collie doggo ❤
Here are the fitness channels I followed in May-August. It was a lot of fun to change it up monthly. As the body gets used to certain types of workouts and when switches, it becomes more challenging for a little while again. Stay tuned for part 3. 🙂
Slap Ass For Motivation 