New Year, New Me

Happy New Year Everybody!

It's been quite some time since I've posted anything on here. I've been super busy with clinicals for school and then finally spending catch up time with Raymond since we were apart for 2 months while I was on a rotation. In December, I committed myself to doing Melissa Bender’s 30 day workout challenge to workout 15 mins a day every day for a month. I also challenged myself to have no ice cream, cake or pie for the month and while that wasn’t a complete success (had a few cheat bites), the workouts were a success and I feel better than ever right now.

After Raymond and I got married in June, I for some reason, started gaining weight and gained over 10lbs in just a few months. Although I was in no way “fat”, I just didn’t feel good about myself anymore. I felt “unfit” and kind of sluggish. It was then that I knew I needed to get back on track. I love doing HIIT workouts but I just hadn’t been doing them that often anymore, which is where the fitness challenge came in. HIIT workouts are a great way to get a fast, challenging, cardio/strength workout in. Now that I have completed a whole month of doing at least one 15 min HIIT workout in every day, I’m on a roll and have no plans on stopping.

This is where the New Year comes in. 2013 is in the past and 2014 is waiting to be great. Research shows it takes about 21 days to develop a new habit. Therefore, 30-31 days is bound to make it stick. That is why, for 2014, I plan to complete a new 1 month challenge for 12 months to better myself as a human being, both mentally and physically. Some months will have more components to the challenge and others will be just one. I may choose to add parts of challenges but I will for sure be doing the challenges I will list in a minute. The second part to this challenge is that I want to keep up my newly formed healthy habit, as much as I can in the months to follow.

I’m not asking or saying that you guys should do these challenges with me, because everybody has different wants/needs in their life. But I DO challenge you to challenge yourself, to become the best person you can be in 2014. And with that being said, the following will be my monthly challenges.

 January: I will eat at least 1 cup of vegetables with both lunch and dinner every day. 
(I love vegetables but this challenge is to get me eating them more consistently and also with more variety

February: I will eat no unhealthy desserts

(I was smart here….February is the shortest month haha)

March: I will study for my PT boards at least 1 hour each day

(Taking boards at the end of April so I’m making this a “challenge” for me so that I actually do it)

        March challenge part 2: Raymond and I will not go out to eat/order in for the entire month.

(We don’t eat out that much normally, but with saving money, we are trying to get even better about not eating out, especially when we get stressed and don’t feel like cooking)

April: I will find out the nutrition info and facts on a different type of seed/vitamin/supplement, etc. each day to improve my knowledge about health and fitness.

May: I will drink 1 gallon of water every day

 (this will be challenging because as much as I love water, I have a tiny bladder which makes it hard for me to drink so much with work because I then I have to go to the bathroom every 5 minutes haha, also, this is the month that we will be going on our anniversary cruise and I will have to find water vs some “happy-go-lucky drinks”)

June: I will try at least 15 minutes of yoga at least every other day

(this challenge is to improve my flexibility, and I chose to only do this every other day so that I am not obligated to always do yoga after a strenuous workout)

July: another 2 part-er, I will keep a timely and accurate food journal and I will perform a crossfit workout at least 6 days per week

(food journals are a great way to keep track of what goes into your body and also to see how consistently you are eating to keep your metabolism up as well as to know how much of various macronutrients you are getting. I used to keep a food journal and found I ate much more healthy when I did, so it’s time to get back on track)

August: I will eat vegetarian for the entire month.

(This is going to be hard because Raymond is a carnivore so we might have to make 2 meals all the time. I want to explore other protein options etc this month)

September: I will, again, perform at least a 15 min HIIT workout 6/7 days of the week.

(I am hoping that I will still be doing these from Dec 2013 when I did this challenge, but just in case, I wanted to get myself back on track. I chose to only do 6/7 days of the week because I feel that it is important to let yourself have at least 1 mental/physical break if you want/need it)

October: I will not eat any candy (90% cocoa dark chocolate is exempt because of it’s health benefits)

(Yes, I purposely chose to not eat candy the month of Halloween because I know that at work, people will bring it in and I’ll be tempting to eat it, but as a challenge, I am more likely to resist)

November: I will make a list for the month, to write down at least 1 thing I am thankful for every day.

(This is more of a mental health challenge, as being human, I often forget how lucky I am. This month will probably have a second part to the challenge to challenge me physically, but I haven’t decided yet)

December: I will do at least 5 minutes of plank variations every day.

(A strong core leads to a strong body)

Well, there you have it; the 12 months of challenges I have set for myself. You can do anything for 30 days if you just set your mind to it. Some challenges may be harder than others but that’s the way life is.

I will be trying to keep my blog updated at least weekly, to keep myself accountable with this challenges and to record my progress. 2014 is going to be a great year, so many things to look forward to, including a new me. 

Happy New Year from the Smith Family!!!