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20|20

I just skimmed through a few of my old blogs and it warmed my heart to review the state I was in back when I first began this blog. It is a beautiful thing when you can look back and chart your growth, current and possibly continued struggles from that point in time, but also the success.

Since that initial blog post of me introducing myself, I have basically done all those things and more. It has been quite the thing to keep positive and forward moving with everything this year has birthed. The CV, fires from the Amazon, Australia, Hawaii, and all over California. Locust plagues. A shift in the focus of sex-trafficking, the racial climate (that has been in existence since the founding colonizers took over this land, but people are just now talking about it and its real effects all of the sudden), & holding people and businesses accountable for general NGAF. Dual storms over Texas. Coin shortages. Clorox wipes being wiped off the planet during the time we all need them most. Folks grabbing up all of the toilet paper, baby wipes, bread, and pasta. Many people loosing their jobs and businesses. An election with two candidates with supporters on each side hurling insults and seeming “evidence” of the other candidate having historical ties of various “ist” and “ism” communities. This is about 1/8 of everything that has and is being disrupted right now.

I am doing the very best that I can do to stay focused and doing exactly what I need to do to stay aligned with this forward momentum. I am looking forward to birthing a few of these projects I am working on mentally & in my lab, out into the universe. One hint, several of these have to do with writing ;).

I start another cleanse next week and I look forward to continuing on into our THIRD YEAR of the CHALLENGE page’s monthly exercises. I have also added some weekly cardio, that I plan on turning up this week as well. Looking to pair a cleaning of my internal (fasting/cleanse), physical (upping the CHALLENGE ante), & mental (writing, KonMarie the home, set up home office), for maximum results in them individually, collectively and beyond.

Also, our early start home schooling! 2 years early according to the state I live in, but I think a super slow start, early, makes sense with how my child engages with her world. I am surely looking forward to more art, lesson plans, scaffolding, mini-projects, science and math.

This is reading a bit like a check list of accomplishments, current events, and current projects – but after reviewing my posts from 2 years ago, being able to look back at something like this is very heart warming. And I always, always, think about the fact – that if you do not write your own story, others will. And it is IMPOSSIBLE to write another person’s story FOR them, no matter how well or long you have know them.

Most folks in your life, you simply have a few pictures of moments you recall of them. Others that may have been in your life for longer or more deeply, they may have a commercial or two. Some more inner circle – family, loved ones, siblings, parents, spouses, may have an episode. The only person that can do justice of retelling your motion picture, with behind the scenes footage, biography accuracy, and direct quotes is you. So every word, every click, every utterance via lips or fingertip – is me documenting my journey. It is about time we all told our stories, while we are living them to maintain the accuracy and passion of it all.

So here is to an explosive month and the synergy manifested from each of my concurrent focus areas!

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Push Up Challenge: Day.3

Success!

So far here are the totals for this month:

Squats: 95  | Push ups / Arm Raises: 6!

*So, my fiance just told me that I have not been doing real push ups!  My arms are bowed too wide & not closer to my chest.. I am stunned, because that means that I cannot do a real push up *sigh* 

Well, here is to trying to learn the basics again.  Learning something new every day.

>Respectfully submitted<<     ~Mai

Challenge Calendar_Day3

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CHALLENGE! Underway

August’s Squat Challenge was a success and my booty is 1,500 squats stronger!  My daughter even joined a number of days and completed over 100 squats with me on her own volition!  Such a beautiful secondary gain to being active and making the effort is the spark that others are able to draw on; our children, family, and friends.

I started doing challenges earlier this year and this one I just reached out and asked a few people if they wanted to join in with me.  A staggering 10 people completed the challenge with me yesterday, and as of today – the group I created to house the monthly challenges has 23 members.  I am so ecstatic to have such a large group of supporters and accountability partners!

I needed to be sure that I could post daily on FB before I jumped back on here, and I think for this challenge, I will also challenge myself to be sure to post on my blog in tandem with my FB posts.  

So cheers to another challenge… another day… another month… another opportunity to perfect myself, gain increased strength, focus on my health, and refine my level of discipline.  If you decided to join in, comment and let me know how you are doing.  First post tomorrow will break down the image you see below.

>Humbly & Respectfully submitted<<       ~Mai

Challenge Calendar_Day0

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Squat Challenge | Day.11

So, the squat challenge is underway, Day.11 and 550 squats down!  We are doing 50 a day for 30 days and I am loving how much support there has been as well.  I invited three people to do it and there are about eight doing it with me, and several people caught onto a few other people – so there is like an extended squatting network going on right now!  I absolutely LOVE IT! 

I have actually already begun thinking about out / my September challenge and about half of the current “challengers” are going to continue the journey with me.  The plan is to actually add another challenge on, but continue doing the current challenge as well.  This will serve as sort of a foundation so I can stay active. My goal to to maintain my level of activity and gradually build it up, as to not overwhelm myself and make it seem like it is a chore.  Also, I learned from my 90-day challenge that when I do not have an active challenge going on, it is SO HARD to stay motivated, so I pretty much just halted all exercises once that concluded in April.

Anywho, I look forward to seeing the progress through these next weeks and next months really, as I add more things in.

Forever evolving.

>Humbly submitted<<    ~Mai

 

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8.1.18 | New 30-day challenge!

So, I have been on a hiatus, I took some time off of social media as I do periodically and it was great while it lasted!

Now, I am back on & am jumping into another challenge & have some new recruits joining with me.  I will most likely try to record and upload daily for accountability purposes & so I can look back and see my personal growth / journey.

If anyone else wants to join us, my friends, family and I will be dong 50 squats a day.  Any time, and way, any method, as long as it is daily and you do at least 50.  I am going to start out really simple with basic squats & do as much as I can in the a.m. before I shower & go to work, and only do what I have left over when I get back from work.  Honestly, the goal is to get all 50 done at the beginning of the day.

I am definitely going to stretch tonight, make sure I am limber again.  I fell ALL the way off after my last 90-day challenge and am still psychoanalyzing myself how I can be SO DISCIPLINED once whatever innate on-switch is turned on, and completely apathetic when the switch is off.  Do I have to actually challenge myself, compete with myself, in order to reach my goals?  Not quite sure, but I am still mulling it over to make sure I am getting the most out of this life by understanding and figuring myself out as I continue to evolve.

T-Minus 7 hours until day #1…

~Humbly submitted *Mai*

 

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I’ll be back soon!

Housekeeping, Gender reveals, travels, & much more.  Working on a master plan and will fill in the details shortly 🙂

~Bests

~Mai

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Like a ton of bricks

I am literally just waking up from being in a horrible fog.  When I tell you I felt like I had a HORRIBLE case of malaria the last 36 hours, I WISH I was exaggerating. 

I felt like I’d gotten a cold, because Tuesday at work I was sneezing, nose running & clogged up, I was tired, and had a slight headache.  Figured it could also just be my allergies flaring up with the weather being all over the place.

Tuesday night was worse.. Everything exacerbated and I also randomly got an earache pretty badly in my left ear.  I literally kept a piece of garlic in my ear the whole night.  But I was slowly getting worse.  

In the morning when my fiance got off his graveyard shift, he told me NOT TO go to work if I was feeling like last night (I think he could see it in my face).  I said I was just going to try, I HATE missing work and feeling like I am leaving more for others to do, especially if it is not pre-planned. 

MISTAKE.

Went to work and from the moment I got in the car and drove there, I knew it was a bad decision.  My head began pounding & I was at full migraine now.  I had no appetite, my jaw, my neck, my face, my eyes, even my teeth hurt.  Where was all of this coming from? My co-worker immediately commented on how I did not look well.  Damn, second person cannot be wrong.  Tried to push through as there were two things that definitely needed to get done today & I was able to do that.  Not even an hour into work, I had to tell my boss I felt horrible & she suggested that I leave & take care of myself. 

Clocked out & when I got to the car, I just sat there in the warmth because I was soooo cold and I was also light-headed and almost in a fog, I was not happy about driving home in that state.  I told myself to drive slowly and I will be ok.  Made it home and shivering, got to my front door.  I ripped off my clothing, put on jammies, and robe, and put the scarf back on, put on my long thick socks and climbed under all the blankets.  I lay there shivering trying to fall asleep for over a hour.  I was shaking uncontrollably, and with all those layers, STILL unable to get warm.  Could fall asleep because my face was hurting and my head was pounding.  It was very miserable.  I finally fall asleep at some point and lay in the dark room all day, only up to use the bathroom & sat up to drink water.  I could not eat, each time I reached for the banana I opened up that morning, I felt like I was going to upchuck & had to put it right back down. 

This horrible cycle repeated until 8pm & I finally forced myself to stay up for a few minutes and walked over to the couch, where I laid back down & 1/2 interacted with my daughter.  She seemed confused as she looked at me laying there in the dark.  Not holding and hugging her like I always do.  Couldn’t tell her how weak I felt, how my body seems to have a mind of its own, how mommy does not want to pass to her WHATEVER this is plaguing my body.

Finally got up the strength to eat half a bowl of food I had to coach my fiance through making & send hopefully a coherent email to supervisor I would not be in the next day.  Shortly thereafter, I made my way back to bed to sleep through the night until almost noon today.

The migraine, face pain, earache, and chills have seemed to subside and I am just left with a headache, clogged nose, bouts of sneezing, and general fatigue.  Hopefully I will continue to get better through the day and will probably take another nap here shortly.  I serious had not felt this bad w/ all of these symptoms since I had malaria during my travels in Meritah (Afrika).  I am so thankful the worst has seemed to pass & looking forward to getting back to myself.

>Respectfully submitted<<    ~Mai

 

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Interesting reads today

https://gmofreeusa.org/food-testing/frito-lay-sunchips/

Careful what you put in your mouths. 😨

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#Igot5onit99 | DAY 99 COMPLETE!!!

IM DONE! IM DONE! IM DONE!

Such an amazing feeling that I completed this, three months of shutting down excuses and just doing it.  Listening to my body those 5 times when I just was not able to do it those days.

Awwww, it just feels so amazing.

Also finally got in touch with a woman I’d met on my travels to Meritah (Africa) and we had a long, amazing, and long-overdue catching up session.  Hopefully, we will get to link up later this year in person as well. 

Well, nothing like a warm shower to “consummate” the closing of this challenge.

Next challenge to begin in: 35 days!

2018 = 5 million!!!

Second half of challenge totals:

  • 840 each of: 
    • push ups
    • squats
    • calf raises
    • (seconds) holding plank
    • (seconds) holding yoga pose
  • 330 minutes stretching
  • 210 minutes deep breathing

TOTALS!

  • 1482 push-ups
  • 1480 squats & 620 seconds holding seated squat
  • 390 plank rotations
  • 1080 seconds holding forearm plank
  • 1260+ seconds holding yoga pose (Tittibhasana)
  • 1100 calf raises
  • 425 minutes of deep breathing
  • 380 minutes of stretching

>>Respectfully submitted & Always thankful<<    ~Mai

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#Igot5onit99 | Day.98!!!

OMG, tomorrow is the FINAL day of my 99-day challenge.  Today was successful, workout completed & we also go to head to Balboa Park for the Earth Day celebration.  Baby girl got some great sun and danced away to a several live bands.

We wound down the rest of the evening & watched a movie we hadn’t seen before, so all-in-all, it was a successful day.  Looking forward to buttoning up this challenge & feeling the accomplishments of my hard work, as well as transition into another push towards balance, but this time, focusing on my diet.  

See you all on the other side.  #Last24 #Igot5onit99 #DangThatsALotOfSquats!

#Countdown1toGo!

2018 = 5 million!!!

Second half of challenge totals:

  • 820 each of: 
    • push ups
    • squats
    • calf raises
    • (seconds) holding plank
    • (seconds) holding yoga pose
  • 310 minutes stretching
  • 200 minutes deep breathing

Totals for day 96/99:

  • 1460 push-ups (+2 for the “Level up” #1)
  • 1460 squats & 620 seconds holding seated squat
  • 370 plank rotations (+20 for the “Level Up #2)
  • 1060 seconds holding forearm plank
  • 1240+ seconds holding yoga pose (Tittibhasana)
  • 1080 calf raises
  • 395 minutes of deep breathing (+20 for the “Level Up #3)
  • 360 minutes of stretching

>>Respectfully submitted & Always thankful<<    ~Mai

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Early Administrators Appreciation Lunch

I work at a law firm and the partner decided we should do Administrative Appreciation day early so we can do it on a Friday. Yes all here for it and food was Delish!

Here are some pics from the lunch 😋 (Yes, those are piranha heads in my display pic).

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#Igot5onit99 | Day.96

Workout complete and just THREE MORE DAYS!

Good workout, dinner is practically done, had an AWESOME time today for our early Admin Appreciation day lunch 🙂

Have a perfect little weekend planned to spend time outdoors and with the family, really excited to be moving into outside walking season.

I think on Monday, my final day of the challenge, I am going to do burn outs of each of the exercises, just do as many as I can do straight over the course of the day and see how that goes :/

#Countdown3toGo!

2018 = 5 million!!!

Second half of challenge totals:

  • 800 each of: 
    • push ups
    • squats
    • calf raises
    • (seconds) holding plank
    • (seconds) holding yoga pose
  • 300 minutes stretching
  • 195 minutes deep breathing

Totals for day 96/99:

  • 1440 push-ups (+2 for the “Level up” #1)
  • 1440 squats & 560 seconds holding seated squat
  • 370 plank rotations (+20 for the “Level Up #2)
  • 1040 seconds holding forearm plank
  • 1240+ seconds holding yoga pose (Tittibhasana)
  • 1060 calf raises
  • 390 minutes of deep breathing (+20 for the “Level Up #3)
  • 350 minutes of stretching

>>Respectfully submitted & Always thankful<<    ~Mai

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#Igot5onit99 | Day.95!!!

Yes! Felt much better today, so I went ahead and knocked out my workout EARLY, just in case the pain tried to creep up later.  I also was able to get dinner prepped for tonight and tomorrow’s dinners.  I just have to cook the pasta (tonight) and the rice (tomorrow).

YAY Happy Born Day to my MaMa!  Doing a joint celebration one of these upcoming weekend for our late April / early May b-days 🙂

In other news, I am feeling so good that after this weekend, I should only have one more module left in this class, then it is just getting my personal business topped off from there on out.  My goal is to have the entire year plans on paper before the doors open and at least the first 6 months by the time this summer ends, because that will be more than enough to get started, should I receive the necessary funding to get it off the floor.

Well, time for this much anticipated shower, until next time.  Just 4 more days!!!

#Countdown4toGo!

2018 = 5 million!!!

Second half of challenge totals:

  • 780 each of: 
    • push ups
    • squats
    • calf raises
    • (seconds) holding plank
    • (seconds) holding yoga pose
  • 320 minutes stretching
  • 190 minutes deep breathing

Totals for day 95/99:

  • 1420 push-ups (+2 for the “Level up” #1)
  • 1420 squats & 500 seconds holding seated squat
  • 370 plank rotations (+20 for the “Level Up #2)
  • 1020 seconds holding forearm plank
  • 1240+ seconds holding yoga pose (Tittibhasana)
  • 1040 calf raises
  • 385 minutes of deep breathing (+20 for the “Level Up #3)
  • 340 minutes of stretching

>>Respectfully submitted & Always thankful<<    ~Mai