31/10/2024
Although it hasn't been particularly sunny, we have been lucky with the weather so far during the half term. No rain! ๐๐๐
Today's training session was outside in a nearby park.
We did a lot of running drills, short sprints, ball throws and came up with the most simple game including kicking a football and throwing a tennis ball at the same time.
๐๐๐
I wish had made a video of Zalรกn and myself taking the turns in missing the balls...
๐๐๐
I'm sure the dog walkers were fully entertained.๐
We had so much fun and laughed so much, our tummies hurt more than our legs...
What have you been up to this week? ๐
โค๏ธ๐โค๏ธ
25/10/2024
Monday face vs. Friday face. ๐๐๐
"In sickness and health." -they say. Well, I took it quite literally this week.๐
Monday was a beautiful day and I absolutely loved every minute of my ride in Richmond Park. ๐คฉ
It was a bit shorter than what I had wanted so I decided to go for another one during the week. Then my days got busy and halfway through the week I started to feel unwell.
Next week is half-term and I will not have the chance to cycle by myself so I had to persuade myself to go for it today.
Either I stay at home and feel awful for letting myself down (again) or taking the risk of things getting worse, I go out and enjoy another short ride in the park.
My choice was pretty obvious, and I think I saved myself from the dreaded self-sabotage. ๐๐๐
I think it was worth it. ๐
Now, back to for , & .
Love you all and
๐ฉต๐ค๐ฉต
23/10/2024
A gentle reminder:
๐ one step at a time,
๐ make it a small one,
๐ take it regularly,
๐ see the changes and,
most importantly,
๐ enjoy the journey.
30/09/2024
๐ฅต๐ฅต๐ฅต
When a seemingly simple task turns out to be a real challenge. ๐ค
Not sure why we are still smiling, it was one of our worst try to do a short bit of trail running in Surrey Hills. ๐
What was just a warm-up run for me before turned out to be the hardest session ever yesterday. ๐
My HR shot up way too high right at the beginning and I simply couldn't recover. I had to stop several times and convince myself it was not as bad as it felt. ๐ Well, obviously my pep talk didn't work quite the way I wanted as I ended up sitting by a fence trying not to pass out.
Then I decided to walk back to the car park.
Luckily there was noone around to see me trying to pull myself together, it was embarrassing enough to acknowledge my weak performance. ๐
๐
๐ท๐ฐ๐
๐ฒ๐พ๐
๐ป๐ณ ๐ฟ๐พ๐
๐
๐ธ๐ฑ๐ป๐
๐ฑ๐ด ๐
๐พ๐
๐
๐ด ๐
๐ท๐ฐ๐ฝ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ธ๐ป๐
๐
๐ด?
If we don't even try. ๐
I can't say I'm looking forward to my next attempt but I make sure it happens quite soon and I can replace this last experience with a better one. ๐คธโโ๏ธ
Until then, I'm back to to build more strength, power and improve my flexibility. ๐ฉต
27/09/2024
๐ฅ
๐ Remember, not every day is a .
Be gentle to yourself and accept that you can't always complete every single task you had planned.
It's OK.
Success doesn't happen overnight.
"It's a gradual evolution, a long series of small wins and tiny breakthroughs."
Be grateful for everything you could do today and look forward to tomorrow when you can start over again.
Love yourself for being the person you are and every morning when you wake up, aim to be the best version of yourself.
You deserve it. ๐ฅฐ
25/09/2024
๐ธ ๐ธ ๐ธ
in action
โ๏ธAbout 2 weeks ago I promised myself I would do a whole body Foam Rolling - Stretching - Mobility session every day.
Why?
๐ I feel very tight in some muscle groups, especially after getting up in the morning.
๐ The range of motion in some of my joints has shortened which really bothers me in some very simple everyday tasks, for example getting off my bike.
๐ My posture is getting worse and worse and I often suffer from upper and lower back pain at the same time.
If I take my time with all the exercises, then it usually takes me about 20-25 minutes to complete them.
I must admit, I didn't do all of them every day but I do stick to the Foam Rolling and the Stretching bits no matter what. ๐
During the past couple of weeks I realized:
โ๏ธ if I do them in the morning, then this routine definitely wakes me up and puts me in a better mood.
What more could I wish for when the whole day is ahead of me? ๐คฉ
โ๏ธ if I do them during the day, then it delays (or quite often eliminates) daytime brain fog and I'm able to focus on my tasks a lot longer.
๐ if I do them before bedtime, I never wake up to a nasty hip or back pain and my sleeping is way better.
All in all, they do add quality to my days so this routine will definitely get on my 90-day mini task list.
Also, I'm going to make a before/after video to see if the changes will be visible, too. ๐
โ๏ธWhat are your favourite stretches/mobility exercises?
โ๏ธWhen and how often do you do them?
19/09/2024
โ๏ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐'๐ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ฒโ๏ธ
Today Iโd like to share an example of my own mindset challenge. ๐
I want to become a road cyclist. Again.
๐ดโโ๏ธ ๐ดโโ๏ธ ๐ดโโ๏ธ ๐ดโโ๏ธ ๐ดโโ๏ธ
Thatโs one of my biggest dreams at the moment.
I find it very difficult to accept that what felt like a warm-up some 10 years ago is a major challenge today. See pic. โฌ๏ธ
My story behind the scene:
After I recovered from a major operation early last year, I slowly started sitting on my bike again.
First, I only just managed to ride my son to school and pick him up later on. That was nearly 10 km a day. It felt more than enough and sometimes I was completely exhausted. My tummy hurt and I had no strength due to a big weight loss.
Then I was put on chemotherapy for 6 months but it did not stop me from riding short distances (I was lucky I didnโt get hit by the most horrible side effects).
The chemo caused a mild and hopefully temporary damage to my heart so when I went back to my longer rides, I constantly had to keep an eye on my heart rate not to go too high as it could have caused a severe heart palpitation and a few hours in A&E. ๐ณ
I managed some longer rides as the months passed by, and by the time I finished chemo, I felt physically much better.
Then came the depression. Minor panick attacks and constant anxiety. That was just enough for me to stop cycling. ๐
After a 6-month-long recovery, Iโm back in the saddle again. ๐คฉ
I take it easy this time. Apart from the everyday commute to and from and between after school activities, I decided to go for ONE longer ride each week.
To me it is a weekly task, not a daily one which makes it realistic and doable for me. There is no strict rule such as which day I have to go but I must enjoy it! ๐คฉ
So I make sure I go on a day when I am under less pressure and have time to do a proper warm-up before and a cool-down after my ride.
Yesterday was my second ride in my challenge and I really enjoyed it. I knew I was doing it for myself and was constantly looking at the bigger picture imagining myself riding in Surrey Hills again. ๐ฉต
I loved every minute of it๐ and I am looking forward to the next one!
Referring back to my previous posts, this is how I put my plan together:
๐ฟ What area(s) of your life would you like to see an improvement in and/or achieve more?
๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐๐ฐ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป.
๐ฟ Write down exactly what you want to achieve.
๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ด๐ผ ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ท๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ฌ/๐ณ๐ฌ/๐ญ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ธ๐บ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป.
๐ฟ What is the one thing you could do about it today?
I can jump back in the saddle and go for a ride.๐
How am I going to do this?
๐ ๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐บ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐: a 10 km ride in Richmond Park once a week for the 6 weeks, gradually increasing the distance to 20 km by week 6.
Every 6 weeks I will re-write my training plan until I can do a 50km training.
How will I know I have reached my goal?
๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐บ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐
๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด.
Thatโs when my dream comes true: I am a cyclist again. ๐คฉ
๐ดโโ๏ธ ๐ดโโ๏ธ ๐ดโโ๏ธ ๐ดโโ๏ธ ๐ดโโ๏ธ
I appreciate we are all different.
I would love to hear about your mindset challenge!
Donโt be shy, share your journey with us. โฌ๏ธโฌ๏ธโฌ๏ธ
17/09/2024
๐คฉ Good news to those who still haven't joined my mini .
It works! ๐
โฌ๏ธโฌ๏ธโฌ๏ธ
It was just over a year ago when I suddenly came up with the idea of learning Italian again. I had studied it many years ago in secondary school and during the past 20+ years I forgot quite a lot of it.
I quickly ordered my favourite Italian coursebook and downloaded the Duolingo app.
I decided to study for at least 15 minutes every single day.
Although I was very enthusiastic, sometimes I simply forgot to do it. But as the weeks passed by and I realised I had learned a couple of hundreds of new words already, I wanted to achieve more.
Then I did my first month without skipping a day. ๐คฉ
(That was probably the hardest bit.)
By the time I reached day 90, this 15-minute (or more) habit was embedded into my system.
Soon I was working towards the 6-month streak goal. I had some days when I had to do it very late but (almost) always managed to squeeze it in before midnight. ๐
By the time I passed the 6 months milestone, this 15-minute habit had felt automatic.
And a few days ago I celebrated my one-year streak of learning this beautiful language.๐ฅฐ
Squeezing it into my everyday routine is no longer my goal. I am on a journey now that I enjoy and no matter how long it takes, I will pass that exam one day. ๐
If I could do it, you can do it, too. ๐ฅณ
For more information on how to start Your mini mindset challenge, see my previous post or send me a message.
I'm looking forward to having you in my tribe. ๐ฅฐ
๐ฉต
14/09/2024
๐ฉต
โDonโt worry, I know you can do it! Trust yourself!โ -they say.
โBut how can I trust myself when I have never succeded?โ- said the little voice in my head.
It sounds like a Catch-22, doesnโt it? I think we all have been there once or twiceโฆ
๐คฉ Welcome to my mini ! ๐คฉ
In the next few weeks/months we will be here to encourage and support one another in making tiny changes in our everyday routine to add quality to our lives.
We will all try to break our circles! ๐
Your goals can come from any aspect of life.
Whether you want to make a change and add quality to your physical and/or mental well-being, you want to have better time-management or you simply want to look and feel better, the steps that you have to take towards them will be the same.
Letโs see where the next few weeks/months will take us. ๐คฉ
Follow the next few steps that will help you set up your plan. The more honest and realistic you are with your answers, the more likely you will succeed.
๐ฟ ๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐๐(๐ฌ)๐จ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐๐ง ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ง๐/๐จ๐ซ ๐๐๐ก๐ข๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐?
E.g. health, relationships, time-management, studies, career, sports &performance, managing stress, finances etc.
๐ฟ Make it more specific. ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฑ๐๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐ก๐ข๐๐ฏ๐. Put it in one sentence where you are now and where you want to be in that specific area.
๐ฟ ๐๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฆ๐๐ค๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐จ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฆ. Write down as many options as possible.
๐ฟ From all the options you could do, ๐ง๐๐ซ๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ ๐จ๐ง๐๐ฌ you think you could include in your everyday routine.
๐ฟ Then ask yourself ๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐๐ก ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐๐๐ฒ? It can be anything small, the key thing is that it should not depend on anything else but your will-power.
Now that you have done your brainstorming and narrowed the options down to the most realistic and most doable one, ๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐๐ค๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐งโ๏ธ
No more hesitation, overthinking or procrastination.
You must start doing ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ๐๐๐ฒ!
And when you have done it, you will immediately feel so much better. ๐ฅฐ
๐ฟ Now, ๐ฆ๐๐ค๐ ๐ ๐ญ๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ง๐๐ฑ๐ญ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฌ and tick each day when you contributed towards your goals.
Put that table in a very visible spot in your house. Trust me, the more ticks you see every time you glance at it, the prouder you will be of yourself. ๐คฉ
This is how you are going to build your self-confidence.
Bit by bit.
And this is how you are going to change the quality of your life, too. ๐
If I may suggest you one thing, start off with one or two little actions and ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ค ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฆ, ๐ง๐จ ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ. Thatโs going to be ๐ฉตyour me-time๐ฉต every day. As you move along the 90 days and you feel you have the capacity to do a bit more, then add another tiny action to your list.
There will be days when you find it very easy to tick the whole list (or just that one action) but there will a*o be challenging days, too.
Thatโs when youโll show how determined you are.
Those are the testing days but donโt forget, before you let them slip out of your hands, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐.
We are here as a community. Whether you want to share your experience with us, it is entirely up to you. ๐
Iโm very excited to hear from you.
To everyone in this tribe,
Have a beautiful journey!๐ฉต
๐ฉ๐ผ๐ธ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ช
11/09/2024
๐คฉ๐คฉ๐คฉ
Dear All,
It was lovely to see so many positive responses to the idea of a
mini . ๐ฅฐ
There are just a few bits Iโd like to share with you before we set off on our journey here.
Firstly, and most importantly, this challenge is not a competition. Those who give it a go, will all be Winners! ๐คฉ
Do you know why?
Because hopefully, in this short period of time, you All will be able to make some changes to your lives that will add quality to your everyday. Some of us will find it easier whilst for others it might take a little longer to master their own technique and that is completely fine.
We will be here to support and encourage each other. Whether you wish to talk about the changes you make and your success or youโd rather be a silent observer, it is totally up to you. You will be loved either way. ๐ฉท
Here is a small thought from the author James Clear that will be travelling with us all the way:
โโฆ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐จ๐๐๐ข ๐จ๐ข๐๐ก๐ก ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ช๐ฃ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ก ๐๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ค๐ช๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ง๐๐ข๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ง๐๐จ๐ช๐ก๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ชโ๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ข ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฎ๐๐๐ง๐จ.โ
Letโs see where those small steps will lead usโฆ โฌ๏ธโฌ๏ธโฌ๏ธ