21 day challenge failed

After the advance surprise birthday came the actual birthday. I got my mom her favorite crema de fruta cake and as I have mentioned in my previous article that I ordered a few dishes for my mom's birthday. I got us some crispy kare-kare, laing, lemon chicken and fresh lumpia from a new caterer and my dad ordered his favorite chicken potato salad from our usual caterer. My mom was happy about the food that I got for her although she was not as happy and teary-eyed as how I surprised her last year. I guess I should level it up next year since she will be turning seven-zero. Well, in order for that to happen, I MUST have money. Should I go rob a bank now? Just kidding. Eventually I will think about money after I prioritize my health and fitness.

Nothing really special happened during my mom's birthday as it was just me, my parents and our helper who celebrated it. We just had lunch but prior to that we had our pictures taken. My dad was against it as it was only the 3 of us who will be in the picture. He never really likes it if there are only 3 people on it. Have you heard of that old superstition? Even if he was against it, my mom and I were still able to convince him. It was our helper who took our photo and honestly, I was not happy on how it turned out because of how big and wide I was. I was actually bothered by it the whole day and felt a little down because I kind of feel like I was still huge despite the fact that I have been controlling what I eat and I exercise regularly. However, there is a part of me that tells me that there is that tiny change. Sadly, it is hardly seen on photos and even in person. Ouch!

Oh I just cannot wait for that day until I can wear my clothes from 7 years ago. I have no problem with my bottom wear because even if I gained a lot of weight and fats, I can still wear my pants and shorts. So basically most of my fats are stored in my upper body particularly at my back and arms. If you have not seen some of my photos that I have uploaded on some of my articles, imagine Bruce Banner transformed into Incredible Hulk and his clothes will rip off. LOL. I'm not joking because that is how I truly feel whenever I would try to wear my clothes from 7 years ago. That is why my clothes will be the one that can tell me if I have lose all that stored fats.

In order for me to achieve that, I have to get moving right? Earlier this month, I started to exercise, walk and have 10,000 steps per day. I know I have already mentioned about it in one of my previous articles. For someone who is always at home and do not have anything to do rather than bum around, achieving 10,000 steps was really a struggle for me. However, I was so determined to do it that even when I was not feeling well, I was still able to achieve my daily goals. Yes, not only did I have to make 10,000 steps but I also have squats, push ups, planking and sit-ups. I think it was during the second week of this month when I had coughs and colds again that eventually led to a flu. I do not think that it is because of the flu season this time because it started with my dad and that same night, our helper and I started to have itchy throats. The following day, I started to get colds then a flu that lasted for a day. On the second day, my mom started sneezing. In short, all of us in the house had a cough, colds or both. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Whether we were positive or not, I still pushed myself to do my daily challenges despite of what I was feeling. Honestly, I wanted to stop and rest but I was thinking that I was already in the second week so I should not quit.

Besides the 30 day daily challenges of squats, push ups, plank and sit-ups, I was also thinking about my 21 day challenge. This is something that I have not shared yet. In my Huawei Health app, there are some challenges like accumulating 10,000 or even 10,000,000 steps. There is also a 5km or 10km in a single run. Physically, I know that I am not yet prepared for running. And then there is also the 21 days and 100 days in a row of achieving 10,000 steps. It was one of my goals aside from the 30 day daily challenges. Because yesterday was August 21, I was looking forward to it. I waited until I achieved 10,000 steps yesterday but I still have not received the medal. So I waited for the day to be over but I still not received any medal. I checked my Huawei Health app to check and sadly, I saw that I only got 9,600+ steps last August 13. It was so impossible because I always see to it that achieve 10,000 steps before ending my day. Then I checked other records from stress and sleep data and I saw that I had no records of sleep on August 14.

*At this point, I think I have lost all my data.

I was about to check my records again but I saw that there was an update for my Huawei Health app and I clicked it. After the update, I was automatically logged out and I tried logging in but it says my account was invalid. I tried following the instructions by the in-app's chat bot and so I cleared my data and cache. Still, I cannot log in. Then chat bot said that it may be due to the number of failed attempts that is why my account has been froze. I have to try again tomorrow. I don't think that I made a mistake because I have saved my log in details but it says that my account was invalid. Even when I tried logging in with my mobile number, it says that it is not registered.

Grrrr!!!! It is so hard to talk to a chat bot. I tried to check in Huawei's website if they have a live chat agent yet it was also a chat bot. I guess I have to call them in order to fix this problem but I am not in the mood to talk right now.

I feel like my efforts went down the drain. I started August 1 because I waa hoping that I will be able to achieve the 100 days in a row medal by November. But last night I found out that I was not able to achieve 10,000 last August 13 even if I did. I am pretty sure that there was a technical problem. Anyway, since last night I was already feeling so down because I failed my 21 day challenge yesterday. I told myself that it was ok to start again. It may not have been my 21st day yesterday but at least it was my 8th day. However, I do not know if my record for today will still be synced since I cleared my data and cache on my app. Before I cleared it, my data was still showing on the app even if I was logged out because my watch is paired with the app. That is not the case now as it is showing zero data and I have to log in for me to sync my watch again.

On a brighter side, even if I failed my Huawei Health app's 21 day challenge, I know in my mind and heart that I really did achieve 10,000 steps for 21 days already. Also, even if I haven't achieved my 21 days in a row medal, I know someday that I will be able to receive it because I am motivated to move more this month and in the coming months. It's bye-bye to being a couch potato and hello to a slightly active lifestyle.

August 22, 2022

P.S. lead image is a photo from my watch when I took a photo after I achieved 10,000 steps before.