This post contains items sent to me as a gift from Gymshark.
Every year Gymshark kick off the first 66 days with their Gymshark 66 initiative, they say it takes 66 days to change your life so they start the year with a little challenge for those interested to try help people create new habits for them to stick to. This was my first year taking part in the challenge where you pledge what you are going to do over the 66 days and share your progress online so here is what my pledge was...
- Train harder than I have ever trained before by trying to do some form of exercise 7 days a week.
- Have a more positive attitude, if things don't go right then think of the positives and get back on track.
- Have a better relationship with food. This was a big issue for me before so I wanted to work on trying new things & having a much better diet overall.
So how did the pledges go? Well the train harder one went well as I definitely worked out a lot more than previously throughout the 66 days however, I didn't stick to the 7 days a week as my body just didn't want to be put through this and I wasn't going to risk injury and set myself back. I really enjoyed getting a lot more workouts in though as it definitely helped motivate me for the day ahead and gave me a much better attitude towards moving my body a lot more. I also had a bit of a better relationship with food too although we did still order far too many takeaways which is something I am hoping we can get out of doing ASAP. I tried foods I hadn't tried before and even ones I fell out of love with, which made my diet much more varied and I found myself looking forward to meals once more. I also cut back on snacks too which was a big thing for me as I would definitely say I was a binge eater before.
In terms of the having a more positive attitude pledge that didn't really go to plan. I think that the announcement of yet another lockdown here in the UK really threw me off track as I really struggled to motivate myself and really struggled at quite a few points. I fell out of love with social media during all this too and I wasn't checking my Instagram etc as I just needed a break. Due to this I decided on around the 30th day I wasn't going to be posting about the 66 anymore and that I would be doing it personally as I felt there was pressure on making progress all the time and I just wasn't at my best worrying about what I was going to do that day for my post. I definitely noticed that once I started doing the challenge personally instead of posting it all over social media I was doing much better which only motivated me more plus I was in a much better place mentally.
One great thing that came from this attempt at the 66 though is meeting a great community of people. I have met people with the same goals and struggles as me and it has been great chatting to them and making friends with them. A few of us even entered a group chat together which has become a great support network and I know for sure this has stopped me from giving up at plenty of points and has helped me stay accountable, plus it is great celebrating everyone's little victories and helping each other reach our goals.
Just before I stopped posting about my progress Gymshark reached out to me and asked if they could send me a care package... I honestly thought this was a scam at first however, a few days later my package arrived and my mood was lifted. The package contained a canvas tote bag, water bottle and t-shirt which I sized down on as an extra incentive but it fit me to my surprise. This little package just made my day as each of the items motivated me a bit more and I am proud to own them and to have taken part in the 66 challenge for 2021. The t-shirt is comfortable and the bottle is going to help me stay hydrated a lot more. Plus it will be great heading out with the bag and remembering how I got it.
In terms of weight loss there actually wasn't any, my weight was the same at the beginning and the end. Which surprised me as I really was expecting to gain weight if anything due to us having takeaways a lot and my motivation lacking but obviously I must have been doing enough to counteract the effects the takeaways would have. I did notice a difference in my appearance though as I noticed from the side my belly looked a bit smaller and my jeans fit me better which is great. It did make me wonder though what the outcome would have been if I had give it 100% throughout the whole thing and cut out takeaways etc. I think the difference would have been huge, that is why I am thinking of doing my own 66 at some point during the year and then go into next years 66 (if they do one) absolutely head on with a better mindset and start point.
My weight loss journey is going well off the scales so far which I am loving but there is still a long way to go so keep your eyes on the blog to see my progress throughout my journey and hopefully we see more results soon.
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