small changes toward a greater goal.

June (our dog) requested to go out this morning. "Jeeves, open the back door so I can run out and then run back in immediately as I do so delightfully, enjoy to do."  I didn't hear her whine, I heard Michael (my husband) get up and stomp tiredly down the hall and steps to let her out. The double "BEEP BEEP" of the alarm for the back door was clear as a bell. At this moment I was sure it was only about 3:49 am. I rolled over and sadly discovered it was actually 5:16 am. NARDS! I didn't fall asleep very well last night. Stomach was in knots, my muscles were stiff and sore, and I just didn't have an overall great rest at all. I laid there, listening to Mike stomp around downstairs... getting June water, pulling on his track pants, putting on shoes, and probably a sweat shirt, then I heard the tell tale "BEEP BEEP" as he went out the garage door into our 'gym'.

I must have dozed off for a split second, my alarm going off jolted me awake again. The delightful sound of horrible, 'Bro-Country' blaring [I always pick a station I hate] - I quickly slammed my hand down on it to turn it off.  And then it started... the reckoning. You can either get up now, and do this, or you can wait until tonight. However, if you wait until tonight, you won't have time to run. You will tell yourself you will do both, but you know damn well when it comes down to it, you won't. You have to watch episode to of Making a Murderer #priorities. Toss, turn, knowing I can't get back to sleep, I do what any rational adult would do, and I start in with the EENY, MEENY, MINEEY, MOE. Dammit, best two out of three... the damn outcome is the same... "You, Are, Not, It... laying in bed."

Annoyed, I sit up and notice my back is very stiff... I shuffle to the bathroom to do my business. I wake up most days checking social media, in the crapper. There you have it folks, the absolute truth. Think about that next time you see a comment from me before 6 am.  You're welcome.

I finish my business and fumble around trying to find my damn sports bra, some shorts and where the hell did my my last precious hair tie go?  I'm ready, I look at myself in the mirror and give myself a semi enthusiastic thumbs up, I am a vision... I then waddle down the steps to the living room.

I know all of this sounds like it's a New Year's Resolution that's already become a chore. Like, Kelly it's only January 5th and you're already bitter?  No, not a New Year, New Me BS trap, I didn't do that this year. I give all kudos for taking on the new year, new you stuff, but honestly, this has been about change for a while. You see I'm currently on my 3rd run of 21 Day Fix, once a day, 30 minutes every day for 21 days. I'm getting stronger every day, but still not firing to my full potential.  I've been jogging 2.25 miles on the treadmill at night, as often as possible (roughly 2-4 times a week). Why? Part of it is for the hell of it, to see how much I can push myself, the other part is that I wanted to drop some weight, and gain some strength, but the most important part is that I was ready to make a change in my life.

Mike and I did the Whole30 this past summer. We both saw amazing results. I did my 1st round, alone,  2nd round with him. Between the two rounds I lost over 20 lbs. This blew my mind. No exercise, JUST diet. I always heard your body was built in the kitchen but I didn't believe the validity of that statement until after doing the whole30 program. Mike had great success too.

via Grit and Glamour

Sounds scary I know, but honestly, it's not. Tough yes, but there isn't much in life that isn't worth it, after a tough battle, right? Through Whole30 I discovered my sensitivity to gluten, sugar and dairy. None will send me running for the bathroom to get sick, or worse (think other end, sorry TMI), however they will cause me to bloat, to swell, to ache, often to itch (gluten) and feel awful after consuming them. What did this teach me, well that #1 the treat better be worth the issues afterwards, and #2 it should be reserved for mostly special occasions.

I noticed I could breathe better. I wasn't getting winded walking up the steps, I wasn't getting the mid afternoon exhaustion issues I had in the past. My blood sugar wasn't spiking, I wasn't shaking, I wasn't as moody, and PMS was more of a breeze than EVER in my life. (Not easy, just MUCH better).

Do I still want chocolate, yes, I'm human, duh. And I will NEVER give up pizza, EVER!

After all of that discovery, I noticed that working out, while still hard wasn't nearly as bad as it used to be. We purchased a treadmill and one day I was like OK, let's do this. I walk/jogged my first full mile since high school without dying. I finished in 16 minutes. I bragged to my one running buddy and she said that was excellent so it made me feel wonderful.  The last time I tried to run was about 2 year ago, when Mike and I entered a Mud Run. Needless to say he was like a beautiful cheetah and I was like a slow ass elephant trudging through the mud. I have never felt like I was going to die more than that day, in my life.

So I made a change... We purchased bikes and started riding in the evenings after work and some days during the weekend. In approximately August/September or October, Mike made his own declaration to himself to do more moving, to try lifting weights again, and it went from there. He found a fitness routine he fell in love with and he's been getting up at 5:30 am ever since. He grumbles WAY less than I do. He's made amazing strides and floors me everyday!

I joined him with the early wake-up maybe a week or two into it, I started to feel guilty and lame for not trying... I'm glad I started. It's been about a month and 3 weeks for me. I've done 21 Day Fix, did a bit of PiYo over the holidays and I'm back to the 21 Day Fix, just to even it out in the mornings. You really can't beat pushing yourself for 30 minutes, sweating like crazy and then getting on with your day.  I actually look forward to my jog/runs in the evening on the treadmill, seriously, who am I?

I haven't seen huge changes in my body as of yet, just small bits, some weight loss, some hidden muscles coming out to play, HOWEVER, I have noticed that I am getting into a groove, and making headway in the whole "It's time to workout" scheme of things. This morning was rough, but I got up, turned on 21 Day Fix, and worked out. I always feel better once I start and I've never regretted a workout.

Mike and I started my 3rd and his 2nd Whole30 yesterday... I'm feeling much better already after all of the bad food we ate over the holidays. It's nice to get back to basics.

All that being said, I feel like I'm working toward a greater goal. While I'd love to say I'll be bikini ready by this summer, I'm really not focusing on that. Instead I want to focus on my health, and feeling better in my own skin. Listening to my body, and hell maybe even attempting a 5K that hopefully won't kill me.  Getting stronger and feeling better is my biggest goal. We'll see... 2016 is wide open, but for today... I'll stick with one mile at a time, one day at a time and one better chosen meal at a time! And who knows, maybe through all these changing habits, I'll drop some more pounds, but I don't want THAT to be my ultimate focus, because in the past, my vanity has always slowed me down.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

PS I am NOT a Beachbody Coach, or a Whole 30 expert by any means, these are just the programs and things that I'm loving at the moment!