Sup readers.
Josh and I are officially back in New Zealand. It's our third day back in Auckland, and we've been taking it real easy. The first day we got back we literally just slept. Going from spending a lot of lazy cushy time in the UK to the busy and harsh grit and grime of Egypt was a massive shock to me. So I can’t even imagine how much it must have affected Josh since it’s his first time being anywhere near the Middle East. After spending two days in our apartment in New Cairo sleeping off our ridiculously pointless connection flight though Istanbul (again), most of my family and I spent these past few weeks disconnected from the internet. We started off in the southernmost part of the Sinai delta - شرم الشيخ aka Sharm Al Sheikh - the 29th of December through the 3rd of January. It was such a beautiful place to ring in the new year and spend some time with my long lost sister Amal. So much so that I’ve decided to fast forward my posts in time. Instead of continuing my photo stream from two months ago, I’m gonna post a few sneak peaks from our Egypt adventures. We actually spent New Year's Eve itself and the next morning climbing Mount Moses. That's right bitches, another fucking mountain with a whole lot of dope photos. As much as I'd love to make more diagrams of the map and altitude, I can't find much info or references to do it. Compared to Tongariro's 1900 meter altitude and 19.4 km trail, Mt. Moses is 2285 meters high with a 17.8 km trail. We started at about the trail at about 1am (what the fuck, I know) because the goal was to reach the summit before sunrise at 6am. This trail was originally something I wanted just Josh and I to do because of how physically demanding it is, and if my siblings and brother-in-law wanted to join in, they were more than welcome to. Basically I had never intended on my parents coming because they're in their 60's and not the most fit people out there.
But unfortunately, the trail was only open 2 days a week - Wednesdays and Sundays. The only Wednesday we were in town was the night we arrived, so that wasn't happening. And the only Sunday we were in town was December 31st. We weren't about to leave my parents alone at the hotel on New Year's Eve, so we said we'd skip the trail and hopefully do it sometime in the future. But my mom was not about to pass up a chance to visit a holy site in Egypt, so she insisted that we all go. Thankfully, there was an option for my parents to take a camel the majority of the way up the mountain. The only part they had to do on foot was the final 700 steps to the summit...which we all told them not to do, including our Bedouin guide Mahmoud. But those frail stubborn fuckers did it anyways (probably because of my mom's insistence again). Other than an 80 year old German man - who was fit as fuck - my parents were the oldest people to climb all the way to the summit. There was a rest area/tent before the last 100 steps to the summit. We were sure my parents hadn't even made it after the first 10 because those steps are actually 2 ft tall rocks that aren't even securely in place. So when we and the group of 50 people sitting in that tent saw my mom and dad walk in, almost everyone started cheering.
All in all it was kind of an amazing way to spend the new year as a family. Even though they all hate me for how sore they still are.
New Years has brought me mixed emotions for me these past couple of years. Since the year 2000 (I was 8 years old), loosing weight has always been my resolution. By 2012, I had pretty much had enough of all the fad diets and abandoned workout routines and decided that I was finally going to just put the work in and see where that would take me. Between then and 2014 I had lost over 100 lbs and was in the best shape of my adolescent and adult live combined. One of my number one motivators through my weight loss journey was that with every pound that I lost, I vowed to myself that I would never gain it back. Whatever number was on the scale, I would promise myself I would never see a higher number than it ever again. So this was my mental drive, you know. The problem with this method was, when the number did start to go up after a foot injury, it broke me mentally. I was only unable to workout on it for 2 months, but 4 years later I've gained back half the weight. Because my mental drive was destroyed, and it destroyed me in the process.
With all the physical activities I've been doing lately, it's brought my health even more into focus. Instead of thinking about my weight 50% of the time, I now think about it 80%. Which definitely isn't healthy since most of those thoughts are usually self deprecating. I've realized I finally need to snap myself out of it because it doesn't just affect me, it affects Josh as well. Constantly making nasty remarks about the way I look to myself ends up taking a toll on him. So this year, it's back to the basics. Putting in the honest hard work and holding myself accountable. The challenge will be two-fold this time: finding a more self-forgiving mental motivation, and keeping up a diet and gym routine with the instability that comes with travel.
For now, I've got a few good apps in my arsenal that I'm hoping will keep me on track. One is My Fitness Pal, a calorie and nutritional tracker that I used last time I was on my fitness craze. I know there's a lot of controversy around calorie counters and eating below 1600 calories a day. But fucking hell, it seems to be the only thing that works for me. Especially with my useless thyroid that doesn't do shit. The thing with these calorie counters is it's only borderline starving yourself if you're trying to lose weight with just dieting and you don't even know how to eat more food with less calories. Yeah, 1200 calories a day isn't shit if you start the day with a bacon and egg sandwich and go from there. But, with a good workout routine, you actually get to eat like 1800 calories a day and that ends up being plenty for breakfast, lunch dinner and maybe even a few snacks if you know how to eat smart.
That brings me to my second app, literally called Running. I was never much of a runner during my first fitness kick; I got most of my cardio on the elliptical and spinning classes. I still plan on incorporating those cardio workouts, but I've decided this time around to add about a half hour of running every other day. Hopefully it'll kick start my stomach fat reduction ASAP because I really fucking need it. The idea with the app is that it builds up your endurance. It starts training you by running for a minute, then walking it off for 2 minutes, then running again for a minute, etc. Each training session, the app increases your running increments by 30 seconds. So on your first workout, you’re only running for a minute at a time. Then a week later, if you keep up with it, you should be theoretically able to run for 5 minute increments. You’ll also eventually start doing 80%-100% sprints...not looking forward to those.
If you guys find any good reads or apps that help you with your fitness, feel free to send those my way, I'm always looking for inspiration and the next best thing.
Until next time guys. Happy (really late) New Year.
