I'm both nervous and excited for the things I have planned for 2014. My husband and I have made all kinds of great plans for our summer - family vacations, weekend trips and lots of concerts with friends (super exciting). Then there are my plans for running - head coaching Girls on the Run for the first time and running a few half marathon (both exciting and scary since I haven't raced in a few years). And, on top of that, I've decided to set some new fitness goals for myself - goals that require not only being more physically active, but also also making better decisions when it comes to my eating habits (mostly scary).
The reason healthy eating makes me so nervous is that I love food! I've never been a dieter, mostly because I was certain I could never stick to a diet - anything that limited me in any way was out of the question. And don't get me wrong… when I say 'diet' I don't necessarily mean losing weight. Yes, I wouldn't mind shedding a few of these pounds I've put on since marathon training (or all 20, if I'm being perfectly honest), but what I'm most interested in is learning how to eat healthier in general. I don't worry so much about organic eating, although I imagine that will be part of this process, but I am very well aware that the things I put in my body are not always the best things for me, so I'm hoping to learn how to take better care of myself.
Fortunately for me, right at the time I was ready to make some changes, I stumbled upon a friend's recommendation for a new fitness program. After doing some research, it sounded like a program worth trying. It's called the 21 Day Fix. And before anyone gets carried away, no, I do not anticipate looking like this after 21 days (wouldn't that be nice?!?). While it is a 21 day program, it's meant to be done in 21 day cycles, so you can finish the cycle in 21 days, then start again if you haven't reached your own personal goals. There are several things about this program that I'm particularly excited about…
The first is that it doesn't require going to the gym. The program comes with workout DVDs - there are 7 workouts that you do at home. The added bonus is that these workouts are 30 minutes long. I don't have all kinds of spare time during my day to spend working out, but 30 minutes is manageable for me. Having 7 different workouts will keep me from getting bored with any one thing and, as the program suggests, should keep my body guessing.
The second is that the diet portion really focuses on portion control over what you can and can't eat. Of course, as with any diet, there are certain limitations, but I've taken a look at the suggested shopping list and, surprisingly, it wasn't as limiting as I imagined it would be. I'll have to cut out a few things, but nothing I can't live without, and I don't mind trying the things it suggests adding to my diet.
And the very best part of all - it's 21 days. As I mentioned, I don't expect to see all of the results I'm hoping for in just 3 weeks, but it does give me a short time frame during which I should see some pretty significant results. And, if I don't, I will have only committed to 3 weeks. If all else fails, after 3 weeks, I can come up with a new game plan for finding what I'm looking for in a fitness plan.
Now for the downside… signing up with my personal Beachbody coach means that I need to account for my progress. This means pictures and measurements and tracking my calories (YIKES). The program begins mid-February, so I started tracking my diet now so that I can see where I'm starting and have a better idea of the changes once the program starts. I'm required to use My Fitness Pal which is actually a lot easier to use than I anticipated. If you eat anything pre-packaged, you can simply scan the barcode for the dietary information, or you can search for pretty much anything (I used it to calculate my lunch at a hibachi steakhouse yesterday - so much better than searching for each part of my meal separately). And you can track your workouts (they've calculated the calories burned for all kinds of activities from bowling and curling to typical workouts like running and weight lifting) making it simple to see calories consumed vs. calories burned and give you a net number for what you can consume for the remainder of your day. At this point, for anyone looking for an easy way to track their diet, My Fitness Pal is an awesome way to do it.
Fingers crossed that the 21 Day Fix is all I hope it will be. By mid-March I should have a good idea of what it's like and will keep you posted on my results… no promise for pictures, but if I see the kind of changes I'm hoping for, you better believe I'll post them for bragging rights :)
