Slow Progress is Better than No Progress

Aloha everyone!
I have a couple exciting exciting news to share with you! 
But first, I shall recap my workout from today. 

I was super excited to get back into the gym today - literally. I had my music going, all pumped up. I literally ran to the gym the moment I was finished my lab! I did 4 back exercises, a couple bicep ones, and some cable glute kickback - because I finally found that piece of equipment to wrap around your ankle!

I'm excited to do day 2 tomorrow - chest and triceps. Got a lot of studying to do too because there are more exams coming up!

Now! As for those exciting news I have.... 

Number 1: Today is Day 1 of Week 1 to the restart of my 4 week challenge. If you're not sure what that is, you can find more information by clicking here. To sum it up, I designed this 4 week challenge program for myself to challenge and push myself to achieve greater results. This challenge includes about 2 rest days per week, lots of lifting, and cardio and conditioning days too. It will definitely push you if you aren't used to including weight training as your workout routines. And if you already do include weight training, hopefully these exercises will be a useful resource for you to use in your workouts to help you further achieve great results.

If you too are interested in doing something similar to the 4 week challenge, stay tuned because my eBook will be released very soon and it will get you prepared for this 4 week challenge. Along with that you can also get the 4 week challenge workout program separately too if you decide to commit to it. More details will be posted on that later on.

Number 2: The eBook is slowly but surely coming along too. I am so excited for you guys to see what I've been working on! 

You can expect to see things such as the very basic information of health and fitness concepts, the background and benefits of different forms of exercises, how to set goals and achieve your goals, sample exercises, and so much more! 

This will also be a great gift for your friends and family who are trying to be healthier, be more fit, or in general wanting to learn more about health, fitness, and benefits and 101's to working out. There are two links on my blog where you can purchase the eBook - at the very top of the page and on the side panel.

Number 3: I am starting some personal training with my very first client!! Now before we jump to conclusions here, I am using the term "personal training" very broadly here.

This client that I am working with, I have known her for many years on a personal level. She knows what I do, and she trusts me. She knows I know my stuff, and that I can help teach her about health and fitness. She first approached me a week ago with strong determination of taking control over her health and body. She has been doing yoga lessons with another close friend of mine, along with plenty of running. I am so excited, and so proud of her for stepping up and reaching out to me for help. Remember, the first step to getting somewhere is deciding you aren't going to stay where you are. 

And yes - I don't have my personal training certification. That is something I am working on and working towards. I do plenty of research online and I do my readings to ensure that I am teaching myself and my friends/clients the right things. I may not have the certification on paper, but I most definitely have some extent of knowledge and passion in my brain and heart. That you cannot doubt.

So on top of being busy with classes, studying, doing my own workout challenges, I am also doing research, planning routines, looking up techniques, and so much more for this new anticipated change!

Be sure to follow me on instagram if you don't already for more daily updates, and be sure to check back on my blog often for more updates on the book, my workouts, and my daily life.

Cheers!

xoxo

Selina :)

Practice What You Preach - Recent Changes in my Life

Tonight was a great night. I had a wonderful dinner with my beloved boyfriend. We enjoyed some very very delicious Italian food. If I’m going to allow myself to indulge, I am going to go all out! 

On a side note, you might be aware that I have been working on a lot of different things lately - including my new project. Late at night when I'm by myself, most often when I'm trying to get to sleep - a lot of things go through my mind. About what’s been happening lately, what I’m looking forward to, what I'm worried about... the list goes on. And I would like to take this opportunity to share a few things with you guys. What’s funny is that now that I actually get to sit down to try and write this stuff out, things just escape my brain. So trying my best, here is what I have to say:

From time to time, we will all have our struggles and our setbacks, and I am no different.  There will be challenges in other parts of my life that I have to deal with too, but these setbacks will only make me stronger, challenge myself, and to strive to do better.

I may not be the person with the best physique, or the best eating habits, and the highest commitment to going to the gym. But what I DO know is that I’m getting better at it every day. I’m trying to live life by following the motto “Practice what you preach.” And the growing passion and fire I have for health and fitness is only getting stronger every day. It motivates me to try harder and to do better. I am growing and learning more every day about so many new things that, and I want to be able to share it with you. On top of school work, I try to put in my time to do research and learn to be better. In turn, I hope to use my continuously expanding knowledge to help you guys be better too. 

What excites me the most about these things is that I am starting to have a vision of what I want to be doing when I’m done school. Being a student all my life, to imagine myself finishing school in the next couple years and having to come out into society is a little frightening. I’m sure there are others out there that get what I’m feeling. With that vision in mind, I have the ambition to go after things such as learning to become a personal trainer, getting the coursework I need to get a credential for that, building a network of online/local fitness family friends, writing eBooks and informative posts, and so much more. These are all the things that I want to do, purely because it’s fueled by my passion for the new things I am learning. 

Despite our brain having a finite capacity, we can never learn too much. Try to learn something new every day. I really hope that you’ve been able to learn something from me thus far, or that it’s engaged you to a certain topic and that you’ve done things elsewhere that has helped you learn something new. In the next few weeks I will hopefully be putting the final touches on my eBook project, and I will be able to share with you guys some of the many things I have learned so far in my fitness journey. There will be personal experiences, as well as formative instructions of starting/changing your lifestyle program. Follow me on instagram for the latest daily updates, or check back often on my blog to get more insight detail. 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. 

Spend time with your loved ones and laugh till your stomach hurts

Cheers

xoxo

Selina :) 

Weekly Update : Oct 15 - Oct 23 :)

Hey everyone!

It’s been a crazy start to the week so far. If you’ve been keeping updated with my instagram, you’ll know that I’ve had plenty of midterms this week so I’ve been studying my assss off for that. It was extremely hard because not only did I had to focus on that, but I had to keep my mind off the book! It felt like every time I sat down to study, this random thought would pop up and I’d have to jot it down and resist the urge to expand on that thought. 

Now that the midterms are over and done with, I’ll be going back to the good old’ studying habits and putting some time aside daily to work on my project. I am very excited for you guys to see what I’ve been working on! It’s truly just me putting in much of my thoughts and a lot of my effort into telling you guys the many changes I have experienced with health and fitness, and how the process of learning from my own mistakes is allowing me to help you in your fitness journey.  

I’ll be throwing in some sneak peaks of the progress I make, and hopefully it will be released in early to mid December, and you will support me by purchasing a copy and giving me your feedback! There are 2 (temporary) links posted on my blog where you can make the purchase: 1.) The link by my instagram and tumblr information will direct you straight to my online store where you can purchase with a credit card. 2.) The link on the right panel will allow you to buy directly on my blog with a credit card. 

Note: Unfortunately, PayPal is NOT one of the available methods of payment. This is due to the nature of the site I am hosting my store on. I want you to be assured that I have tried a purchase transaction and the site if safe. IF, there is a problem you encounter, you can directly email me or the site personnel's. 

Also, if you have questions about the book, my fitness routines, or just anything in general, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email on my business/blog email selinachan.business@gmail.com 

Side note, here was my workout routine from the past couple days. 

Back and Triceps 

Narrow Grip Lat Pulldown - 1 set warm up + 3 sets of 55 lbs 

Elbow Height Row - 60 lbs - 3 sets 

Cable Side Row - 20 lbs - 3 sets 

Tricep Kickbacks - 10 lbs - 2 sets 

Cable Pushdown - 50 lbs - 3 sets 

Chest and Triceps

Incline Dumbbell Press - 12 lbs - 3 sets 

Flat Bench Press - 15 lbs - 4 sets 

Seated Chest Press - 40 lbs - 3 sets 

Tricep Kickbacks - 10 lbs - 4 sets 

Cable Pushdowns - 50 lbs - 3 sets 

Single Arm Overhead Extension - 8 lbs - 3 sets / arm 

That’s it for now! 

Cheers! 

xoxo 

The Excitement is Overwhelming!

Hello everyone! 

TGIF! The week is finally over, and for many of us it’s time to uncoil and relax. But not for me! I’ve got 2 big midterms coming up next week so there’s only studying and books ahead for me most of this weekend. 

However, I just wanted to give you guys a quick update on a few things! 

• My back is FINALLY feeling 100% better, so I went in to the gym today for the first time in the last week. Not only did I feel great, but I went at an earlier time than I usually do and the gym was practically dead! I could go from machine to machine in rotation without having to wait! Oh, the glory :D 
• Perhaps you were aware that I was doing a 4 week fitness challenge that I had personalized for myself. Due to the back injury, I took a week off. Instead of skipping any days, I started where I left off and plan on continuing on to complete the whole 4 weeks :) 

• In regards with my dream of becoming a personal fitness trainer: this is something I eventually want to do, but not at this exact moment persay. I’d like to focus on my school work and my education degree first before stepping my foot into working towards the credentials for personal training. That being said, I am still trying to build a network and connections, because I do have other projects in mind *drumroll*.... 

• I have decided to write my very first eBook! When I was younger my parents told me that I couldn’t be a writer because I had to be great at it and be successful and sell a lot of books, or else I wouldn’t make any $$$. Well look at me now! Sparking up the forgotten dreams!
  
  The topic of book is tentatively decided, and the brainstorming is coming along slowly. My goal is to get this book out before the Christmas holidays, which is a tight deadline, and I’m aware that I’m adding more to the already full plate of mine. BUT, there is a reason for that, and you will know that reason when it is released (hopefully on time, fingers crossed)! I will try to periodically throw in some sneak peaks or updates on the project, but no promises :P
  
  If I have successfully captured your attention in wanting to view my latest creation, you’ll be happy to hear that there will be a direct link on my blog where you can purchase a copy. Which will come later on, of course. If I have yet to capture your interest, hopefully future features and previews I reveal will capture your attention then!

• And to conclude today’s entry, here is my workout of the day :)
  Narrow grip Lat Pulldown - 45 lbs - 3 sets
  2-arm Elbow Height Cable Row - 25 lbs - 3 sets
  Bentover Barbell Row - 30 lbs - 3 sets
  Cable Delt Fly - 30 lbs - 3 sets
  Seated Cable Row - 57 lbs - 3 sets
  Dumbbell Side Lateral Raise - 8 lbs - 4 sets
  Shoulder shrugs - 12 lbs - 3 sets 

Cheers! 

XOXO 

Updates on School, Injury, and New Adventures Yet To Come

Aloha everyone! 

Hopefully all my Canadian followers here had a wonderful Thanksgiving, ate lots of yummy food, and spent some quality time with their beloved friends and family members. 

If you are a follower of my Instagram (@sellychan93), you have came across a couple posts this past weekend about my injured back. I’m still not sure how I exactly injured my back, but it hurt a lot. Because of that, I had to put off my 4 week challenge workouts for a few days, and although I’m feeling better I have decided to give myself one more rest day. This also gives me the chance to 100% focus on my upcoming midterm on Wednesday. After that, I am ready to get back into full gear! 

Now since I have missed some workouts, I’m not going to jump straight into the week 2 exercises like I would have in the past. Sure I was pretty upset about being hurt and not being able to workout, but instead of beating myself up for it, this time I’m going to start off right where I left off. This will ensure that I actually “complete” all the exercises in the 4 week challenge, but obviously not within an actual 4 week timespan. 

In regards with school, I feel like there really isnt much to report! Im still studying hard, doing my notes, paying attention in class, and my marks are relatively still okay. This upcoming midterm seems pretty intense when it comes to all the information I have to retain, so I am a little worried about that, but other than that, things are almost homeostasis! 

As for the highlight of this week’s entry: New Adventures! 

Okay it’s not really an adventure, but it’s something new in my life and I want to share it with you guys! Thoughts and ideas are still being thrown around, lots of brainstorming going on, and it’s still unclear what’s  all that going to happen and when it’s going to happen, BUT, here is what I can tell you. 

This past weekend, I have put some thought and consideration into what I would like to do in the next couple years / after university. And the answer was: Personal Fitness Training. Now with that comes a broad idea. Ideally, I’d like to create a network of connections to people that have similar interests as I in fitness, health, and healthy lifestyle changes. I feel that with the growing fire and passion I have inside of me for this new lifestyle change, I can be a better person by helping others becoming a better version of themselves. There’s still a lot of thought, consideration, and time and effort that needs to be put into this big plan, but I am very excited and eager to put more time on it so instead of all talk I can start producing results :) 

That’s it for this week! Follow me on instagram or tumblr for daily updates! 

Cheers 

xoxo 

Selina :) 

The Start of Something New

Hello! 

So today was an interesting day! Started off my day as usual with classes. Then I had a couple hours of volunteering to do before I hit the gym. I find that I'm usually tired on Mondays, and with 2 hours of volunteering it really drains my energy by the time I'm ready for the gym. It's also the time where I'm most likely to choose something not so great to eat because I'm just starving. So yeah, that kinda happened today. 

But I still went to the gym, and I gave it all I got! It felt so nice to know that not only was I working out my muscles, but I had a goal in sight. I knew what I was going to do tomorrow, I knew what I was aiming to do by the end of the week, and I just had a great feeling. Plus I had some hard core music pumping through me so I was just rocking it! 

Here is the workout I did today! 

Follow me on instagram for more updates and progress photos! 

Week 1 Day 1 

Monday - Back and Biceps

Narrow Grip Lat Pulldowns - 4 sets of 12 

Elbow Height Row - 4 sets of 12 

Bent Over Barbell Row - 3 sets of 15 

Seated Cable Row - 2 sets of 15 

Dumbbell curls - 4 sets of 12 

Arnold Shoulder Press - 3 sets of 12 

Low Cable curls with handle attachment - 3 sets of 15 

Cheers! 

xoxo 

Things to Anticipate This Week!

Hello! 

Just wanted to do a quick post and let you guys know what to expect for this week :) 

If you want instant day to day updates, be sure to follow my instagram (@sellychan) or tumblr (makesmestronger93.tumblr.com) ! 

So to give you the quick summary: 

• Tomorrow is Day 1 Week 1 of my personalized 4 Week Challenge! I am super stoked to kick things back into gear, and a couple notches higher than usual too. 
• I updated my playlist tonight and it is PUMPING! I named it "LIFT THAT SHIT", because, yenno, I'll be lifting shit while I listen to it!! :D 
• I'll be tweeking my diet plans still, but I am going to try and stay close to the updated macro diet I did last week. Things may have to change since I made that plan without thinking I'd do a 4 week challenge. 
• I'm also going to start taking an omega-3 pill and multivitamin pill daily. I've recently learned the importance of omega-3 for our body, and I realized that majority of the population does not get enough of it either. As for the multivitamin, it's just a safety net incase I don't get enough of certain minerals and such (only happens on days when my diet is pretty off). It's gonna be tough, because I hate taking big pills. The omega-3 ones I bought are already "smaller in size but contain same quantity", but there was no option for that when it came to the multivitamin. 

I hope you all have a great week. Study hard, and work hard lovelies! 

Cheers! 

xoxo <3 

School, Stress, and Pumping (09/19 - 09/30)

Aloha fellow readers!

NOTE: I'm very sorry for the delay of this post, but I had started writing it, and things came up and I had to put it aside until now. 

It looks like it'll be a routinely weekly update, since I am beyond busy with school and working out. It's been hard hitting the gym more than 2-3 times a week, since things are picking up and I feel the need to put extra time into my studies. None the less, I still enjoy going to lift some iron at the gym and spend some quality gym time with my friends!

School: For those of you that follow me on instagram (@sellychan93 if you aren't following me!), you may have noticed that I've been trying to post more of the "inspirational" posts instead of just my boring old post-workout posing photos. I mentioned how I was really nervous about my organic chemistry labs (because I failed last year), and no matter how prepared I am I still get nervous.

Through that experience, I learned something new  (quote from my insatgram):

Optimism and perspective are key - they can change the way you see things, how you react, and ultimately how you feel For example: I've got a quiz and a spectrum analysis lab tomorrow, with which I have struggled constantly with the lab portion. Instead of freaking out about how I might not do great, I remind myself to be optimistic; I tell myself that I've studied hard, practiced, and I just have to do my best. 

I'd like to share the good news with you guys that both thus far, my labs, quizzes, and midterms have been going pretty well :) A few days ago, I experienced some anxiety attack and extremely high stress, and it was hard to stay in focus on my studies. It took me most of the night to calm myself down, and to re-calibrate myself to wake up bright and early the next day, ready to take on the day. I had to say, starting a fresh day made dealing with the anxiety better. I had a clearer mind to think, I knew what I had to get done, and I knew that if I was consistent with my habits I would be able to get things done. 

Bottom line, don't worry about something that's so far down the road, like I always do. 

Take it one step at a time, one day at a time. Focus on doing one thing today, and then another thing tomorrow. You can't overwhelm yourself by throwing everything onto your plate all at once. Most importantly, don't forget to spend time with the one's you love <3 

Workout: Making progress with my triceps as usual, but going to focus on working on my back muscles for the next few weeks.   I've noticed that when I go to the gym, I tend to focus on doing what will give me a good energy boost. I tend to do less of legs and back, and more of chest, shoulders, and triceps. This is probably due to last minute planning for my workouts, ie on my lunch break, so I just do what I feel like doing that day. When I have a few days off in a couple weeks, I'm going to sit down and take some time to plan out a dozen or so workouts that target different parts of my body and just follow it. 

Remember, if you want to get more details about my workouts, follow my instagram @sellychan93 ! There will also be more frequent updates on there than here. 

I must get back to studying now! My cat is watching me ... 

Mahalo! 

xoxo