Training

For this week’s journal entry, I decided to discuss about the activity in my life. I have been going to KOA, a functional training gym, for a while now. I go after school at 4 pm, twice a week. I feel like it is really good for me because I am able to exercise and feel better after a long day of school. It also helps me with strengthening my body and my mind because it is a physical challenge but it also challenges my mind because sometimes it is hard and you have to push through, and if your mind isn’t set to it, you won’t accomplish it. This has helped me a lot being mentally strong and prepared for challenges because I realize it is hard work but eventually I will complete it and feel proud, and this is how a lot of things in life are like. It has also helped me with my surfing because I have strengthened my muscles so I can increase my resistance in the water, paddle stronger and perform better and more radical maneuvers. Overall, I feel stronger and more powerful in my surfing which motivates me to keep going and improve. 

KOA is also great for me because it gets my heart pumping and blood flowing after long days of sitting in a classroom. The only drawback is that it is about a 45 minute drive from my house, so if I stay after school, wait until 4, do the workout, and then go home, it doesn’t tend to be a little late and it sets back my typical schedule a little bit which can be conflicting if I have homework or projects or studying to do. This is part of time management and balance because I can’t stop living my life or doing the things I love because I have to give it up for school, there is no way I can spend 100% of my day doing school related stuff, to a certain point my brain and body need a break!

Part of going to the gym and surfing, has motivated me more than ever to take care of my body. Nowadays I feel like it is super easy to get lazy and eat unhealthy things. Once again it is about balance, because I love ice cream and sweets and pizza and all that yummy food, there is no way I am going to go on a diet and not eat that, but it is good to limit that or try to make alternatives because the chemical stuff is sure not good for the body. I wasn’t much of the type of person to watch surf competitions, but recently I’ve been keeping up with the World Surf League Championship Tour, which has inspired me, and I have found my favorite surfers. Keeping up with my favorite surfers, and watching some of their vlogs, has been really fun but they’ve also shown yummy and healthy recipes that I got inspired by and tweaked a little bit with the ingredients I have available. 

I went to the grocery store with my mom and got berries and bananas, which I washed, cut up and froze to have ready to make smoothies. My recent go to has been banana, berries, cranberries, greek yogurt from goat milk, sprinkled with some almonds. I also got rice paper at the store to make spring rolls, which I have been loving to make early morning before surfing before school for my lunch. I usually chop up whatever salad ingredients are in my fridge and stuff the rolls, and pack a bit of dip for extra flavor. Below are a few pictures of what I’ve made.

In general I have been trying to take care of myself as much as possible, eating healthy and exercising, but once in a while resting and eating something a little not so healthy because it’s part of balance. I think balance is simply the key to life. Balancing your diet, exercise, school work, social life, and basically everything, is so important, so you can do everything you need and want to do at the right times. Time management and balance have been key to IB in the past few months because there is so much work to do and it can get stressful feeling like there is no time for anything else. 

Learning outcomes: Strengths and areas for growth, Commitment and perseverance, New challenges and new skills

Learner profiles: Balanced, Open-minded, Reflective