Source: https://actifit.io/

I've been meaning to start working on myself for a while now but just haven't yet. When I heard about actifit, I checked it out and installed the app right away. I started that same evening!

What is actifit?

Actifit is a Dapp that you can download and install via google playstore. It it a Smart Media Token built on the Steem blockchain. The Dapp tracks your activity and rewards you with actifit tokens while you do your favorite daily routine! Besides this, you can post your activities to Steemit and earn Steem while you're at it! The minimum target is 5000 steps/moves, which is not too hard even if you just do your daily chores and walk the dog.

My struggle

source: www.pixabay.com

I have nothing to prove to anyone but myself. Like I stated before: I've really let myself go the past few years and with that, I've let myself down. I am an emotional eater, which in my case translates into either not eating at all (during very high stress moments) or overeating. None of those is any good.
Besides this I have a HUUUGE sweet-tooth but try to control it because I don't want to teach my children those bad habits.

With my first pregnancy, I didn't gain much weight at all. In fact: I was lighter than I'd been since I was 14 when I was 3 months pregnant with my eldest! Great you might think, but this wasn't the case. The fact that I hardly gained any weight was due to a lot of stress and very, very bad habits.
To be honest, I am not sure if I would be around today if it hadn't been for my pregnancy then, so in a way, she saved my life.
After she was born, I fell into some sort of depression. At first, my GP was convinced it was a post-natal depression but after some soul searching, I realized it was just a 'normal' depression. It had more to do with the fact that I was on my own to take care of my daughter when the plan had been that it would be my (then) husband and I together. Plans changed, deep disappointments were a fact and there we were: Just the two of us. As a result, I started eating. At first, it was the treats I had bought for visitors that didn't come in the quantities as I expected. The excuse was that I didn't want it to go to waste. Later it was that I'd have my dinner ready and little missus would wake up and need her booby.
So by the time that was done, I'd be so hungry that I'd eat more than I needed.
In the year after her birth, I gained 70 pounds!

It took me 2 years to get back to where I was right after the birth. Two years of huge struggles, eating too much and then not enough and I was almost living in the gym! It was hard and it wasn't the right way to do it either. I have never been on a diet in my life and I wasn't going to start. So I had moments where I would eat healthy for weeks and then moments when I would eat anything that wasn't good for me. Somehow I managed to get the weight off though. Until I fell pregnant again...

Same story, different people

This time was no different. I struggled with everything. The relationship I was in was doomed from the beginning, I just didn't see it yet. There was too much depending on me and not enough on the other.
Again, I used food to compensate what I felt was missing. NOT good!
I've been struggling with my weight on and off for the last 16 years. When I first came to Ireland, I lost weight like no other, but mainly due to stress again. Different kind of stress, but still stress.

Last year there was a change

I have been studying GNM (German New Medicine) for the past few years now. Last year, I decided to look into GNM and what they say about weight gain in correlation with the brain. And what it said was mind blowing! Weight gain and the struggle to get in shape is directly connected to a feeling of abandonment. "The Biological Survival Strategy associated with this Conflict is cellular proliferation in the kidney collecting tubule. The purpose of this proliferation is to close off the excretion filter of the kidney with the result of causing the body to retain water.
Functionally, it is a protective measure against the perceived threat of possible dehydration." (source: https://www.drmelissasell.com). I read this just before the summer. And it made so much sense. This was why I kept gaining weight even when I worked hard to maintain it. And every time I gained weight it was when history repeated itself: I had a feeling of abandonment because my plans for a future together with a partner and my children didn't go as planned. Over the summer I lost 30 pounds without any diet or any other life-style changes! I was eating like I was before and wasn't more active than before and yet, I lost all that weight!

But then, slowly but surely, the weight started to come back on. This time, there was no feeling of abandonment. So why did I have such trouble to stay at a healthy weight?
I looked into the same material again and found that there can be another reason for this. The feeling of 'losing everything/having lost everything' and the fear of loss.
Thinking about this, in retrospect, it makes sense again. Due to the interference by a social worker, I have lost not only all of the money I had worked so hard for the last few years. I have also been in a constant state of fear and panic of losing my children. This is the reason why I gained all the weight back, and more, in the last year. So with this realization there will be change and now there is also new energy to work on this change.

My personal challenge

source: www.pixabay.com

I only started with this app 4 days ago. I use it when I walk the dogs, when I do my daily chores around the house and any work that needs to be done around the house. My second daughter is a true sporty spice. She takes on any sport she can find and if it were up to her, I would be driving her to one thing after the other 7 days a week. When I told her I was going to do a workout routine every day, she was all up for it. So the two of us are now dancing, boxing or otherwise training to any video we can find online. My personal favorite is Billy Bank's Tae Bo. He has different videos each for different areas. I get bored easily if I have to do one person's routine for an hour, so this way I can easily switch videos to get to the time that feels right. I used to love Les Mills Body Combat when I used to go to the gym. But there is no time for that now. I just do this at home. Besides this, I like the occasional Qigong workout as well. And then there is the work around the house, outdoors, that I really enjoy doing and is also good for the body and mind. After chopping wood, I just discovered that I get a lot of joy out of trimming the grass/weeds with an old-fashioned scythe! Yes, you know: one of those things the grim reaper keeps by his side...
Friends were telling me I should borrow a neighbor's ride on lawn mower or get one of those grass trimmers, but I don't want to take the chance of breaking the thing and then having to replace it and at the moment there is just no money for a trimmer. So I remembered the landlord left his scythe in the shed and there we go! Grim reaping our way through the field and enjoying it all at the same time!

Results

Of course, in four days, there are no visible results just yet. I am working my way up to a longer routine. The first 2 days I only did a workout for half an hour or so. Today I was working my body for a full 50 minutes. If I can just keep going at this pace, I will be fine. I don't need to pin myself to a certain time, but I do want to challenge myself each day and not give up when it gets hard.
There are three things that I notice though. One: my posture. Because I have been working on all of my muscles, I feel like I have a better overall posture. Even now sitting at my desk, I feel like my back is more straight and I am less slumped. Two: I have no back pain. I usually always feel some kind of discomfort in my lower back. I know the importance of training the back as well as the belly to keep things balanced. The back is very easily trained and I can already feel this after these few days! It's a great motivator! Three: My eating habits are changing. I don't feel like eating sugary or really fatty foods. It just doesn't feel right and doesn't sit right if I would. I'm already coming up with healthy meals to prepare. The joy of cooking had left me for a while, but it's back again and my shopping list is mainly green...

Conclusion

Actifit is not a magic wand. I will still have to do the work. But to have an incentive to do the work helps a great deal. It's not the money. But it's nice to be rewarded for work I put in. Besides this, having it all out on Steemit for everyone to see helps to keep me motivated. I didn't show any before pictures or any measurements. Mainly because I'm a bit ashamed to do so. However, I will take those before pictures in the next coming days. For myself. And somewhere down the line, as soon as I start seeing results, I will post them. So keep an eye out for that. I've never done anything like this, so it's kinda a big deal. Who knows what changes we'll see in the next few weeks/months. I am looking forward to a healthier life and fitter body. BRING IT ON!

For more information check their website:
https://actifit.io/
And be sure to check all their news at
@actifit

Thanks to the people behind @actifit. I truly appreciate this little app you put into this world.
I am getting my butt into gear because of you!