Much Needed Healthy Reset & Dry January

Between August and December last year we were on a trip every month. One was just a weekend getaway to Los Angeles, but it was New Orleans, Hawaii, Buffalo, and Miami for every other trip. It was a lot! I think I did a good job keeping up with exercising and meal prep up until Hawaii in October but I lost steam after that. There was just so much going on between travel and the holidays. No regrets. I enjoyed it all, but that can only go on for so long. It was definitely time to reset and get back on the exercise and nutrition wagon. My body (and my liver) needed a break.

YouTube video link here: What I Eat in a Month: Healthy Reset

January is a really good month to focus on my diet and getting my workouts in. There really isn't much going on, so I might as well start the new year off right. It's cold, so it's hard to take my clothes off whenever it's time to workout, but the idea is that if I take my clothes off for my workouts now, I'll feel better about taking my clothes off at the pool later. This is my second year in a row doing dry January and I think I'll be making it a yearly thing. This time around I gave up alcohol and sugar. I meal prepped weekly and did the 4 Weeks for Everybody Beachbody workout. I worked out five days per week whether I felt like it or not. Some days I just wanted to say screw it and throw in the towel. But that's how you make something a habit. You keep doing it and eventually it becomes weird if you don't.

4 Weeks for Everybody is really straightforward and basic. It's mostly lifting, which is different for me, but I liked it. My plantar fasciitis in my left foot flared up pretty bad one week. I could barely put full weight on my foot and I was still able to get my workouts in because it's zero impact. This is exactly the kind of workout I need in my life. I love the challenge of HIIT cardio workouts, and I still love Barre Blend, but not only do I not want to do those hard workouts every single day, but sometimes my body won't let me. 

I missed wine for the first two weekends, but after that I was fine. We have our groceries delivered now, so that is a huge time saver in the meal prep process. I enjoy eating healthy meals. Yes, I enjoy cookies and candy, but I also like feeling satisfied after meals and not feeling the need to eat a bunch of crappy snacks in the first place. I feel pretty good about meeting my goals and making it through this month, but the challenge is to keep it up for the next TWO. Alcohol and sugar will be allowed going forward but I want to stick with the meal prep and the exercise solidly until my Birthday. I figure it's best to go hard now, so that as the year goes on and life things inevitably happen, I'll still feel okay about where I'm at because I've already been putting in the work. 

This is a lifestyle. I really think that's how you have to look at it. I'm doing my best to stay fit and active right now and as I get older.