Hey there, friends! Happy Friday!
Last month, like many of you, I set some realistic resolutions for myself to stick to this year so I can look back at 2017 and say, ‘Okay, amazing! I made progress!” Hah! I think we all want to be the best versions of ourselves, but put some of the goals that can get us there on the back burner. I know I have been totally guilty of that in the past!
One of my resolutions was to make my health a priority. While I may be small and seem healthy from the outside looking in, I actually haven’t worked out in years, don’t drink enough water on a daily basis, consistently put two Sweet & Low’s in my morning Venti Iced Coffee, and I’m your friend who always opts for French toast at brunch instead of avocado toast and hard boiled eggs. While you may be sitting there thinking, ‘must be nice’ or ‘yeah, but you CAN do that because you’re skinny’, I want to remind you that you can be skinny but be way more unhealthy than someone who isn’t as skinny as you. My mom gave me her fast metabolism and, while it does have its perks NOW, I don’t want to set myself up for having horrible health later on in life when I want to watch my babies grow up and make families of their own! What we consume and how we take care of ourselves now can definitely affect our future and, at 30, I’m just now taking that realization seriously.
So, clearly, I’m not being shy about sharing my unhealthy habits here. I’m not proud of them, but I think when you can be honest about what your issues [or ‘areas of improvement’ – ha, that sounds so much better than issues] are, you’re able to put more effective goals in place to help you get where you want to be. After I shared my resolutions with you all, there were quite a few of you requesting that I take y’all on my fitness journey with you. I thought that was a really fun idea, so today, I’m going to share my first monthly fitness update with you today! Each month, I’ll give you a round up on my favorite exercises, favorite healthy snacks, favorite healthy dinner recipes, favorite song to work out to, favorite workout gear, the personal challenges I had throughout that month, what I championed really well, and whatever else y’all want to know about my fitness journey!
Before I do that, though … I need y’all to read this little disclaimer, because I think it’s important to mention:
DISCLAIMER: Health and fitness is always closely tied to weight, for obvious reasons, and because of that, I feel like we need to stop here and talk about it for a second. We all struggle when it comes to our weight. I repeat we ALL struggle when it comes to our weight. I am not going to sit here and harp on the woes of being skinny, but I can say from my experience, it’s hard for me to gain weight and that can be frustrating. I sometimes feel like I’ll always be deemed a ‘cute girl’ instead of a ‘beautiful woman’ because I am short & tiny. I look at girls who have curves and can fill out a bathing suit top and wish that God made me that way … but He didn’t. And, I’m not wanting anyone to comment being like ‘no you don’t want that’ or ‘you’re beautiful the way you are’. I’m just illustrating that we’re actually ALL the same when it comes to this topic. We all have our “wishes” when it comes to our bodies, even the girls we consider #goals. What you want in a body may be what I have, but what I want in a body is what you have. There’s no science to prove that one is more beautiful than the other. We’re actually ALL beautiful. It’s just a matter of belief. But, honestly, I’m learning that when it comes to being healthy and reaching our goals … it has a little bit to do with how He made us but A LOT to do with the choices we make on a daily basis. Notice how I am separating beautiful and healthy. Just because one woman is super fit, and you aren’t doesn’t automatically make you NOT beautiful. We are all a work in progress AND we are all beautiful. Does that make sense? I hope so. And I hope you know you’re beautiful.
Another thing I’ll be sharing in these posts, that I’m especially excited about, is “Tips From Troy”. Troy Troupe is a personal trainer here in Jacksonville who I met through mutual friends. I had told a friend of mine about how I wanted to take better care of myself and work out, but I wanted to do it in a way that was good for ME. Because, to be honest, what works for me, might not work for you and vice versa! We all have different bodies and issues, therefore different fitness needs so, we all need to be aware of that when we set out on these fitness journeys. She was like well, I’ve worked out with Troy before and he’s an amazing trainer if you’re looking for someone to help get you into a routine and identify what those goals should be for your body type, etc. So, Troy and I got together, talked about all of those things and set some health and fitness goals. For me, I’d like to:
Gain Weight
Gain Muscle
Eat a Healthier Diet rich in Protein & Carbohydrates
Eat More Frequently
** Again, these goals are for me, personally. Everyone’s goals will look different. **
Personally, since I don’t ever go to the gym, I was really intimidated about that thought, just in general. I don’t know what to do with ANYTHING in there. I couldn’t put together a workout even if I TRIED! Hah! And, I just know myself and I knew that, unless I felt comfortable and competent, you willl never find me GOING to the gym by myself. So, for now, I knew I needed someone with knowledge to help get me started and, also, if I’m being really honest, someone who would also hold me accountable to get myself to the gym at a set time on a set day. So, since I was really impressed with Troy, his outlook on health, wellness and training, I hired him.
He said, for the month of January and likely a good portion of February, our focus is going to be muscle conditioning and making changes to my dietary habits.
The type of workouts we do are called Total Body Resistance Training. Outside of stretching and warming up, we do three circuits that consist of three to four different exercises and I do those exercises for 10-15 rep’s [depending on what it is or the weight involved] 2 to 3 times. We mostly work with weights and keep cardio to a minimum. Right now, I’m doing two work outs a week and we will eventually move up to three.
Okay, now that I’ve introduced you to all of this information that y’all might have had questions about if I didn’t share, we can get in to the monthly round-up! So, here are some of my favorite things that pertained to my fitness journey:
FAVORITE EXERCISE: Lunges
FAVORITE WORKOUT GEAR: Zella Live-In Leggings
FAVORITE SNACK: Apples & Peanut Butter
FAVORITE HEALTHY DINNER: Chicken Chili Verde
FAVORITE PROTEIN SHAKE: Peanut Butter Banana
FAVORITE PROTEIN POWDER: Don’t have a favorite yet but I’ve been using EAS & Gold Standard and just using whichever one I grab first.
FAVORITE WORKOUT SONG: I don’t currently listen to music while I work out because I’m paying attention to how I’m supposed to be doing these work-outs, how I’m supposed to be breathing during them, etc. I always want to make sure my body is in the correct position and all of that. But, I am looking forward to getting to that point where I have a playlist set up for my workouts 🙂
WHAT I CHAMPIONED: I think my strong point this month has been giving my all to these workouts. I really want to be a stronger version of myself and, even though they aren’t easy, I don’t let myself ‘cheat’.
WHAT I STRUGGLED WITH: I think my area of improvement is being more intentional about planning meals ahead of time to ensure that I’m getting the calories I need in each day to gain the weight I want to gain. I’m pulled in a lot of directions every day and have found that some days I really rock getting all my meals and snacks in at the times I need to be, and then other days … I just fail miserably. Planning better each week would improve my chances at reaching my goal.
ALTA FITBIT REVIEW: Many of you have asked me how I like my Alta Fitbit that I introduced y’all to in this post from earlier this month. I absolutely love it! You can change the leather band to match whatever outfit your wearing. It tracks your sleep, steps and calories burned. You can track your calorie intake by using the app that is connected to your Fitbit. It also has Wi-Fi capabilities. So, if it’s connected to Wifi, it can tell you when you have a phone call or text message, who it is, and a short snippet of what they said. I also like that it is thin. The only thing it doesn’t do is track my heart rate but, because my workouts aren’t cardio-driven, I am okay with that! Highly recommend!
TIPS FROM TROY:
[1] Play the long game. Set longer term health goals to slowly build positive habits that will have big results over time.
[2] Celebrate the small victories. You’re working hard so it’s okay to congratulate yourself!
[3] Get uncomfortable! Switch up your normal workout routine! Try something new and see how your body responds. You’ll be surprised.
[4] If you want something to change, you have to change something! Start small but, when you start, try your best not to stop! Find someone or some reason to hold you accountable.
[5] Remember why you started! This should be the biggest motivating factor when you think about throwing in the towel!
I can’t pretend to be a pro at health and wellness after a month, and I want these posts to be helpful for y’all, which is why I thought incorporating these tips would be good! They come from someone who truly values health and fitness, is passionate about helping others realize its importance and reach their goals, and knows what he’s talking about because he’s been on a fitness journey for a long time!
Alright, that is about it for the January fitness re-cap! Let me know if you liked this post! They will certainly NOT be this long in the future. But, with this being the first time I posted about my fitness journey, there was a lot of introductions to make! Just remember – what Troy & I do may not be what you need to do to reach your goals, so identify your goals and talk to a friend who could help you strategize the way you could achieve yours! Remember … you’re beautiful & you can do it!
Thanks for stopping by! And, I apologize for going a little quiet this week. I literally had posts drafted for every day this week but … I had something else that needed my attention after I got back from Amelia Island. That’s all I can say for now but you will know what it is SOON and it will all make sense. 😉 Any guesses?
Enjoy your weekend! xo.
