One Year of Blogging!!

It's hard to believe that February 10 marks one year since my very first blog post! It's been an absolutely crazy year to say the least but I'm never one to say "I wish I had done (ABC) differently" because every decision --- the good, the bad and the ugly --- have brought me right here to where I am today. I do my best to learn from the past and move on --- dwelling is a downer and I'm trying to make my life as positive as can be. Since starting my journey to living a healthier lifestyle (which I officially kicked off on 1/2/13, though I didn't start blogging for another month), I'm down nearly 20lbs! I actually did lose a few more pounds that were gained back this past fall and over the holidays, but it's a new year and I'm back on track.

To show my commitment, I've decided to take on a new workout... the brand new Beachbody 21 Day Fix!! I've been seeing posts all over Facebook about this and am excited because these workouts that Autumn Calabrese has put together for this program are each only a half an hour long and comes with a diet plan to follow for 21 days. It's not meant to be a crash diet because you're eating healthy foods, but it's meant to jump start your journey and help retrain your body to eat right and exercise --- after all, they say it takes 21 days to break out of a bad habit. I am a serious TurboFire lover, but now that my daughter is a full blown toddler (translation: her daily routine is a little less flexible and predictable), it's hard to fit in more than one of the short TurboFire HIIT workouts. A half an hour will be perfect so on the days where waking up early may not work for me as easily (or if my daughter decides to wake up earlier than usual), I can still squeeze these workouts in during naptime and get things done around the house.


Photo Credit

I wanted to note one thing that really caught my attention with this program... many of you may not know Autumn Calabrese. I know I didn't before I started to hear about this program. She's a celebrity fitness trainer and a national-level bikini competitor (not what I'm aiming for, of course). While she looks amazing now, she struggled with her weight when she was younger. I love hearing these inspiring stories because clearly she (like Jillian Michaels who also struggled with weight growing up) has done something right to turn her life and health around. And she wants to share her story and workouts with us!

In addition, I've decided to finally jump on the Shakeology bandwagon. I've been skeptical about a daily shake but I know I don't get all the nutrients I really should get plus have heard all about the other perks of Shakeology (increased energy without any caffeine --- and increased regularity)... maybe I can kick my coffee and fiber bar habits with these shakes. I've struggled since last summer (for those who have been following me) with reflux and some foods now just turn me off because I know they will bother me, so I'm hoping this will be a great way to get some hidden fruits and veggies (and lots of nutrients) into my daily diet.  I will be sure to keep you posted!

My challenge pack with the 21 Day Fix and Shakeology just arrived yesterday --- I plan to test some of the workouts out before the challenge begins with my Beachbody coach next week --- as well as try some Shakeology. So look for upcoming posts about my thoughts on the workouts and shakes. I can't wait to share more about this journey with you. (Note: I was able to order the 21 Day Fix last week through my coach. This program sold out so quickly that they're anticipating, as of what I'm finding online at the time of this blog post, that they will not be able to fill all the orders until perhaps late March. So if you want to pre-order this program, you may have to wait a little while, but I wouldn't be discouraged because this seems like it's going to be an amazing workout.)

~ Aly