iCiNG Transformation Challenge: 9/28
[ 8 February 2009 ]
Okay, it’s Monday. We’re well into our second week of the iCiNG Transformation Challenge, so it’s time to reassess. What’s working so far & what isn’t? What can you alter in your lifestyle to help support what you want to do?
Would it be helpful if you changed your routines? Set a schedule? Watched an hour less of television every night?
There are two things which assist me in eating a high level of raw & getting a lot of hooping in. The first is having lots of yummy raw snacks around, especially raw chocolate — so stocking up at the organics store is important. Secondly, I get so much more enjoyment out of hooping when I have good music to listen to while I do it, so keeping my music collection topped up is a big one too!
How about you?
Love letters & feather headdresses,
Tags: inspiration,
question Add Gala on Twitter!
I like to lock myself in a room and start screaming. Once My neighbor came over to make sure i was okay,
And i said
“Totally! I am simply trying to better myself”
=D
Well, my first week of iTC didn’t go so well. I was stressed out from work, and when I’m stressed, I eat. I’m getting ready to start week two (tomorrow is monday for me) and hopefully I can start over fresh…
Maybe you could try and change the ways in which you deal with stress as a part of your challange? It could be helpful with the goals you’ve already set also.
I’m starting to do more group fitness activities, which motivates me more to stay active. I’m going to a hip hop dance class this evening (oh shall be interesting indeed!) and am playing on my work touch football team!
I’m still missing the caffine (especially on this monday morning) but so far have been ok.
Food wise I havn’t been so good… Especially since it’s a big party month… heh bacon and eggs with toasted crosaunts is a great hangover cure! XD
Hi Gala!
We haven’t got onto day 9 yet here in London, but I can say I’m so glad I’m doing the iTC. I document mine day by day in my Livejournal and I’m happy! I’ve been eating well (I’ve slipped a couple times, but nothing major and I’m not going to punish myself) and getting more sleep – and I’m already seeing/feeling improvements :) Though I need to step up the water intake, exercise and hoop practice. Going forward, I really want to do that plus take time for things like art and raw research and my diaries..and keep being happy! But it has been a good week 1 overall :-]
Hooping and raw food are the two things for you, and two of the things for me too – well hooping definitely is, but I’m seriously looking into going raw too. So I was wondering if you might be planning on sharing some of your favourite raw or smoothie recipes (cooking with Gala!) to inspire the rest of us…or making a video of your hooping progress?? I liked your last one a lot, it’d be great to see what you can do now. Much love! x
“raw chocolate” ! I love it :D
My friend went on a raw diet once, and she lost weight and felt really healthy, but she found it really hard once winter rolled around! I think she eventually succumbed to hot tea and soup!(I must admit, I couldn’t make it through winter without my hot meals!)
I’m loving my hoop- I’ve already lost some centimetres off my hips and waist! Yay! Results are very motivating.
I think taking some time off from my internet surfing would give me more time for meditation and praying (I am trying to improve my spirituality this month). My schedule is so hectic as it is that I cannot have all this additional wasted time…
i’ve realised that what i love about yoga is how cosy and indoorsy it is, so maybe i should get some pillows and a mat, and some green tea to extend my blissed-out atretched feeling. but what i love about swimming and walking is getting out of the house. so i want to find new places to walk where i can enjoy the fresh air and scenery, and find a pool that opens sunday so i can swim more often. i’ve researched exercise a lot this week and am feeling pretty enthusiastic!
however, i found that forcing myself to journal every day has lead to a lot of mundane drivel, so i think i’ll cut down to just blogging daily and journalling when i want to. i love eating healthily but snack on bad things out of necessity, so i need to buy some rice cakes and things.
i love that i can evaluate and change goals! it makes it all much less scary. for me, this isn’t a blitz, it’s a lifestyle change, so i want it to be perfect for me.
my first week of itc is very terrible. stress, pressure, fights over a drama queen is stopping me from having good vibes with my challenge and not letting me center my attention to my reviews. but i’m no quitter. whatever it takes, imma battle it off. and i’m still being pessimistic about it.
Okay … Not doing so great but that’s because I was biting off more than I could handle!!
What I wanted to do was:
1. get my sleeping patterns back to sensible, so I don’t fall asleep in class or at work. I have been a total insomniac, 2-5 hours a night, can’t cope on that!
2. save money instead of spending :P
3. spend more time reading coursebooks instead of surfing the web
4. take more care of my appearance, e.g. doing my hair & nails, to make myself look + feel better, & do some exercise.
I’ve realised this week that sleep is my #1 priority. Maybe I could make myself mini-challenges each month for the other things, but I’m so busy (or maybe just a bit overwhelmed) that I can only really cope with concentrating on changing one thing at a time.
I’ve been really trying to get more sleep – and although I’ve still been keeping krazy bedtime hours, I slept in to make up on the weekend. It’s really helped with alertness and creativity, being rested – I’ve had way more good, usable art ideas this weekend than I have done since I started my course.
So this week I am going to try to get to bed earlier. Simple, but I can’t cope with much more than simple.
I did manage to get some reading done + I did find that I’m going off eating processed meats like bacon, pork pies etc, and actually wanting to eat more healthy foods. I seem to remember Gala that you said that eating raw foods (which I have been trying to gradually do more of, with varying success) meant that you need to sleep less – I’d be interested to know whether you’ve found that to be true? and if you think it’s because of having more energy, or some other factor to do with what you’re eating?
This is all so good, i am learning so much!
xxx didi
It’s going rather bad really. I haven’t followed any of my plans or done anything I promised myself to do, not until the very end at least. But I think I won’t let this stop me. I always stop when I see something isn’t working out. Now I know I need to change the plans and I still might achieve those goals in the very end? So tomorrow, for me, it’s Monday and I will try to make it the best Monday ever:D
Thanks for this amazing idea love
Hugs & Kisses
Like a couple of others, last week wasn’t the optimum condition for me to take off on my goals – I got food poisoning early in the week so while I didn’t have the energy to bitch, I didn’t have the energy to do anything either.
Had a date on the weekend, he brought me flowers which was nice and said he was keen for a second date. Told him I was keen but would check my calendar when I got home to determine a good date and texted him that last night. Haven’t heard back but managing to be quite relaxed about that… very unlike my usual self but noting I’ve done all that I can do.
can’t wait for week two to get into full swing!
on saturday I rewarded myself with a “cheat meal” — a homecooked dinner with friends with pasta, chocolate, cheese & crackers, all sorts of yumminess. I followed my healthy eating plan all week, so it felt good to indulge a little bit.
now I’m back to a more restricted diet, but it doesn’t even
feelrestrictive. I simply don’t want the sweets lying around, or to eat at times other than when I’ve scheduled. my body has simply adapted.and already my abs are firmer from hooping, as are my arms and butt and legs from my strength training!
feeling good, and best of luck to everyone else. just focus on nourishing yourself! think of how wonderful you can be!
A lot has changed, Gala. Quit my job, started freelancing, bought a hoop…
Speaking of hooping, my hips feel bruised! How does one avoid such an unfabulous injury?!
I realized that it’s easier for me to write or go on long walks when I have music to assist me, so we’re on the same boat. :3
My other goals were to keep up with schoolwork, which I’ve been doing (The only exception is the work that I’m ABOUT to do) and to build better relationships. The latter isn’t doing well at all, but there will be no giving up here.
On a final note, I feel delighted reading about the positive results the non-pareils have, and I’m SO proud to be apart of the iCiNG community.
Well my first week was oookay.
I have cut down on cigarettes a lot, which is surprising as I am super stressed at the moment. yep, still have not totally balanced my day of thesis writing and ‘good activities’, but I am trying! Am also documenting it all most of the time in my live journal. Am hula hooping quite a bit, but awating eagerly my new hoop in the mail today! wee hoo!
And i have to say too, SO SO SO great how many other people are doing this too. Now, can someone find me the motivation to go for a walk in the evenings?
One major theme of my first iTC week has been time management – it was a busy week at work but really even with that, I need to figure out how to make more time for myself and the things that are important to me. It wasn’t what I originally planned but the iTC has opened my eyes in so many different ways. I have to,have to, HAVE TO find a way to get more writing done, especially.
I have been working out every day, though, which makes me feel crazy buff and awesome. I believe earlier in the week some nonpareils were looking for workout video suggestions — some I’ve liked so far have been the New York City Ballet Workout (both 1 and 2), MTV Power Yoga, and The Biggest Winner Cardio Kickbox. The videos at exercisetv.tv are also pretty good and free, and there’s so many different workouts to choose from! Does anyone else have any videos they love?
OKay I guess I would have to say that my first week didn’t go so well. My dad’s been having all these eye surgerys and it’s been harder to deal with him. Not an excuse though, because I think it’s just another finger pointing me in the direction of “you have got to change your relationship with your dad”. It freaks me out so bad though ‘cause I think I’m still at the teenage I hate my parents stage still. On the upside though I did get 5 pages of my Case study written, I haven’t bought anything and I have been excercising gratitude. I have to go out tomorrow and buy my supplements from the vitamin shop tomorrow to get those. Lastly I was wondering if anyone has any good ideas of drinks/supplements that give you a boost that don’t have caffeine??
my goal is to loose 1.5-2kgs by the end of the month mostly through excercise and not eating out/healthy eating. side by side is the issue of trying to save money.
last week i spent a whooping $170 on food, eating out and miscellaneous. i am aiming for a maximun of $100 this week.
i also have to go to bed early, this morning i couldn’t go for a run because i was exhausted from a big weekend. i’m getting plenty of use of my tredmill but i need to sleep to be happy.
so goals this week:
go to bed no later than 10.00pm
spend a max of $100
go on the treadmill at least 3 times
yoga twice
I’m trying to be happier this month, smile more and be a bit nicer to people at school. So for me, having great hair days, drinking coffee in the morning and sleeping more help me be in a better mood.
I’ve been doing really well and I look super forward to tomorrow to see how I’ll feel
:D
my iTC is getting out of bed by 6am and what’s helped is having great tunes to wake to so i thank my iHome for that. also tracking my productivity in a notebook and also writing down what needs to be worked on helps.
also, have you seen the pictures of jason mraz hooping while surfing?!?
freshnessfactorfivethousand.bl…
OH! It’s been hard yesterday in NZ time I had a depressing moment, I went to church asked around if I could get a ride back but no luck trying to find the people I want to speak to. So I was an idiot for over spending my money that day and should of pushed for a dayrover train ticket which would of saved me money and time of mucking around! I got really upset rang my mum she picked me up from the station in the city,
never letting that happen again my friend was annoyed at me when i said that one thing that the church is lacking was help for oters. But I’m soul searching and transforming myself to be a better person, I also have my divorce to deal with and money is an issue what’s the best thing to do about money and budgeting etc?
Well I must say I have been going really well with parts of my challenge, but others I am totally sucking at! I really wanted to adopt healthier eating habits, by having fresh juice/smoothies for breakfast, salads for lunch, and a regular dinner. This is going really well. But I also wanted to try doing some more physical activity – mostly swimming, as it is about a million degrees here in NSW, and I have a gorgeous resort-style pool in the backyard that is not even a year old! Suddenly, as soon as I decided to make swimming part of my challenge, I haven’t had time or motivation for it! And also smoking – I actually quit around a month ago, but lately stress has gotten the better of me. It feels like as soon as I made that part of my challenge – to stay smoke free – it became irresistible temptation! So Im doing great in some areas, but could def pick up my game in others…
Ummm also, I know this may well dampen the whole iCiNG spirit and vibe of happiness, but please everyone out there spare a thought and a prayer for the residents of Victoria and the hell on earth many have endured the last few days, it is an unimaginable tragedy. Send them some super love, guys.
Sending super love, Moti.
Lately, I’ve been spending too much (which has nothing to do with my iTc), scratching too much (which is a result of stressing out/being annoyed), sleeping in (which was a part of my iTc), and eating just as raw as ever (!).
Advice: Take a day off. Or two. Or even three. The weekend? USE IT. Don’t be on the computer too much. Walk around. Explore your neighborhood a little bit better.
The first week has been pretty fabulous for me. One of my goals was to live a healthier lifestyle and loose weight. I’ve lost 2 lbs so far so I’m excited about that.
I’ve finally saved enough money to pay off one of my bills completely! yay! So I’m one step closer to being debt free.
I’ve finally started meditating. I’ve committed to do so at least 3 times a week.
I’ve been doing more as far as sketching & getting ideas for good drawings and paintings. Its the only thing that I feel that I should be doing more with. So now I actually have to start the projects.
Don’t spend on new yoga clothes and forget to save some money for actual yoga class. Not that I did that this week or anything, uhhh….
A much-needed heat wave melted all the snow around my house and downtown this weekend. Roaming the streets without fear of frostbite has allowed me to get a LOT more done this week. I think I’ve finally gotten into a routine of sorts. It’s not the most ideal routine, but it is the first consistency I’ve had in awhile. I’m learning to accept that change comes in small increments.
I’ve also overcome my hermit tendencies of the past few months. A good mosh pit does wonders. (I think it’s helpful to remember that we don’t need to devote 100% of our time to our transformations — sometimes we need to forget about it totally. I know if I don’t get out of my head at least once a week by reading or going to a show or getting smashed with friends, I go freaking mad.)
My routine totally went out the window on the weekend, ended up going away from friday night until sunday night, which meant eating what everyone else was eating, which happened to be fish & chips, pizza, meat pies & bacon & eggs. I felt sluggish and I was craving fresh food the whole time!
I did get to the beach on saturday with my 2 dogs and had a great swim, but didn’t get to my cycle class on sunday. i also bought some more gym clothes as i was having trouble keeping up with the washing! got to the gym 4 times last week which is on track so i’m aiming for 5 times this week.
Today i’ve got fruit & nuts, a huge salad and a whole lot of water, and i’m feeling much better. I am planning on getting to the gym after work, i’m so glad it stays open until 10pm!
Has anyone else had the problem of life getting in the way of their goals?? i feel too bad when staying at other people’s houses and not eating what they are eating.
I got food poisoning or some sort of flu on the first day of itc, which isn’t a great way to start, but I hadn’t really planned on participating anyway. I like where I am right now, for the most part. However, it gave me an idea.
I eat way too much, and having that flu really shrunk my stomach. So I figured, why not stay that way! So my goal of less random snacking and smaller portions has been going pretty well. It wasn’t really part of the plan, but I’ve lost a few ponds too. It’s very encouraging.
My iTC was to do pilates every day for 30 minutes – mostly abdomen and leg toning routines but I’ve also been doing a couple of posture sets. I’ve managed it every day for the past 10 days and I’m starting to see little differences here and there. I bought an exercise hoop last week too, but I haven’t managed to get going with that yet. Its one of those heavy ones that I can use for stretching too. I’ve also managed to get a few other things done here and there that I wasn’t really expecting, so it’s been a good week really! :)
I’m happy with my progress so far- not trying to change too much too soon and overwhelm myself.
So I began by getting out and doing some exercise over my weekend – I bought a hoop from the Wuddy Fuddy on Saturday and starting playing with that (it’s so much harder than it looks!!) I’ve been playing with my poi set (homemade out of tennis balls and string haha) as well and getting faster with my spinning :)a goal this month is to buy a proper pair.
My food intake is healthier – I’ve let myself have the occasional fish and chips meal but most of my food is fruit and veges. I’ve taken more fruit to eat at lunch to my work, and less muesli bars. I’ve also been adding berries to my breakfast cereal which is yummo!
All this positive stuff has made me think about my current work situation, which I’m hoping to resolve before I go away on holiday… we will see!
I’m feeling amazing. Although on Saturday I had a mini cry cos I felt my family weren’t taking me seriously when I put about my boundaries on work and housework and all this other stuff. But now everythings looking mighty fine!
I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror the other day (hehe) and was wowed. My body looks so different to me. I think it’s the way I perceive myself now AND all that good food, sleep ad exercise!
I’ve been converted to raw. I go for 60% and have become really stuck on it. I can’t believe I’d never thought of it before- it’s so easy, so yummy and FUNN!
The weather’s turned around (it’s now rainy, a lilttle windy and cool)and I love it except I don’t wanna get out of bed in the morning! Argh!
LOVE LOVE LOVE
I am doing so well!It feels Fantastic!
I would like to improve on not smoking ( down to 5 a day from 30)
I’m eating 90% raw
Being physical everyday, inc hooping and skipping rope
i’ve started my new job and its great
I agree, i would love some of ur fav RAW recipes
And hooping songs playlist too
Thank u 4 ur inspiration xoxo
I do a little bit towards my goal every day! I’ve been hampered a little by the fact that I got sick, but I was even able to turn that around a little.
My goal is to clean and revamp my cluttered bedroom, and one of the doctor’s prescriptions was that I should buy myself a humidifier and use it. Where to put it, though? I wasn’t so sick that I couldn’t haul a vacuum upstairs and clean out a dusty corner of the room — oh, wait, the fact that my house is full of dusty corners is WHY I have a sinus infection.
It took me less than an hour to clean the corner and get the humidifier set up, and now I’m also done with about 1/8 of the work I needed to do (cleaning out that corner was a BIG part of it). As a bonus, I’m breathing so much better with the humidifier that I can’t imagine why I haven’t been using one all along!
I have been getting up early to write every morning, which really helps! I usually write about Maimonides for half an hour, then I write my blog post, then I get on with my day. I think it’s making me smarter!
I’m up to 33 blog posts (7 left to go!) and I am very excited about it.
There’s a serious post about why I don’t eat fish at
localizing.wordpress.com/2009/...
And there’s a frivolous, Valentine’s Day-appropriate piece about pies over here:
localizing.wordpress.com/2009/...
OOFF. yeah, so…I am really not doing so well. I WAS doing well up untill friday i guess. Nothing but sweets and sinful treats cover my kitchen counter. I never buy this stuff, cause I know i can notttt resist a whole lot of the time. But others buy it, and it stays there, staring me in the face. Calling my name:|. Ehh..how yucky i feel..physically and mentally.
My challenge is going very well! Although everything went out the window for saturday but I’m pretty much okay with that since I was out and having fun and relaxing after making it through a tough week.
This challenge has made everything so much better for me! Last semester I was getting so much anxiety that I was getting nausea to the point that I couldnt study or function at times. I was set to get a counselor if it continued this semester. But this past week I was booked from start to finish with exams and assignments and not once did I get sick or majorly freaked out. Its amazing! Also from even just doing a handful of crunches and push ups over the past week I found that my running endurance has already improved, its great!
Music is definitely what gets me going. But also my biggest help in all of this is my lovely planner Miranda. Love her! She’s a gorgeous red faux-snake skin planner with a full page for every day with room for a to-do list in addition to the normal hour-by-hour schedule. Each night I write what needs to be done in addition to scheduling my day. I dont always follow that schedule but to have my exercise scheduled in and knowing that I have things to do makes it easier to get up when my alarm goes off. Also scheduling breaks makes me more likely to do my work since I know there will be a time when I get to relax when I finish
I think I’m ready to increase my exercise time! Usually I just do whatever my body wants… if that turns into 10 minutes/day, and then I want to do something else, I listen. Maybe for the next week I’ll push it!!
Eating vegan is not going so well, but I have been totally vegetarian since Feb 1 so YAY! The only eggs and dairy I’ve consumed have been minor ingredients in other dishes, and I haven’t eaten any junk.
Well, week 1 was ok – the gratitude diary is definitely a good thing, and I’m finding it easy to keep (hell, I managed to think of 10 good things the day I’d been to a funeral, so…), but apart from that? Meditation is easy enough to stick with – added bonus I’ve discovered is that I sleep better after meditating for a while. Drinking water has phased into drinking tea, herbal tea, hot chocolate… cold water just doesn’t appeal when there’s snow out, but hopefully that won’t last forever. I guess so long as I stay off the hot choc and limit the amount of sugar that goes into either tea or herbal tea, I’m good. And finally, switching off the laptop at 10? Failed comprehensively! So I’ll just try harder this week! Keeping appointments is so-so – again, the weather’s partly to blame there, as I don’t have a car and walking after dark in snow and ice isn’t the most appealing thing – but I have been trying.
I think the gratitude diary is really the most interesting bit for me; I do have quite a temper and I think listing good things is doing me a lot more good than constantly obssessing over the one or two things that have annoyed me during the day.
Oxyjenn, I know exactly how you feel.
I was also doing really well until Friday, when my only raw meal was breakfast. In the weekend it got worse and I didn’t even do yoga or sketch. Damn my self-destructive nature.
But today I got back on track again :) It wasn’t as good as it could’ve been, but I’m convinced tomorrow will be better.
Something that really helps me is writing down my goals for the day in my journal, right after I wake up. Just a goood morning routine, really. If I have a good start, the rest of the day is so much easier.
Inspirational movies/books/music and the people I hate (revenge ♥) are great motivations too.
I hope this week gets better for all of you! :)
Everything’s been going pretty good for me — I think I chose my goals well, & didn’t try to do too much in just one month. I’ve been writing every day; I’m slowly learning to cultivate honesty; I’m more active than I was before. I did realize that going swimming when it regularly hits -30 (Celsius!) outside isn’t particularly realistic for me (I really hate being in the water when I know I have to go back outside afterwards — is that strange?), but I’ve started taking longer walks instead. & I’ve discovered interesting side-streets as a result!
I’ve also realized that exercising more has made me want to eat a bit better. I don’t refrain from eating the things I love (I don’t think I ever will!), but I’m more conscious of what I eat, & when I eat it. Definitely something to keep in mind for the rest of the challenge!
A whole lot of love to everyone for week 2! ;)
watching an hour less tv per day is always a good thing!
for my itc project, i’ve been trying to exercise for at least half an hour a day. what’s helping is the constant reminders of how strong and flexible my body can be, and how far my feet can take me when i let them. what’s also helping is the unseasonably warm weather we’ve been enjoying for the last few days in chicago!