My Fitness Journey (Prologue)

Hello friends!
It's almost the end of 2019. Where has this year gone?

   I'm not one to think too hard about resolutions every new year. But one thing I've started working towards, since around September, is bettering my physical and mental health. I do have long-term goals, but keeping short-term goals in mind along the way makes things more and more exciting.

   So welcome to a new series! I'm excited to share my goals, dietary changes, and mindset about fitness with you guys. I'm not yet sure how many parts there will be to this series, considering this fitness journey is hopefully a forever thing! I'm having fun with it right now and feeling great, so I want this series to help reflect how much hard work and determination can help both physical and mental health.

   Body positivity can be interpreted in so many different ways, making it super controversial. So I want to emphasis that what I do with my body is ultimately my choice. Where my goals are can be completely different from other peoples' goals. This series is no way intended to shame anyone else. I feel like, if you're happy and living healthily, go you! Doesn't matter the size.

   For me, I wanted to start this fitness journey for two reasons.

   1. I remember when my anxiety was at its lowest point. I could barely leave the house. With some professional help, and with frequent running, not only did my body feel generally better (more energized, etc.), but my mind felt so much happier. I felt mentally stronger.

   2, My body isn't where I want it to be, plain and simple. I gained a lot of weight in the last year, and I'm still getting tests done to determine why this has happened. I don't want to say that I necessarily don't think I'm beautiful at this weight; I just don't feel like myself. At all. My energetic spirit doesn't match how I see myself in the mirror. I have never been this heavy, and since it happened to quickly, I just don't feel like me.

   I think my ultimate fitness goals are not only to lose weight, but to also be super strong. I don't know where my numerical goals are, when it comes to lifting weights and such (I'm very focused on cardio first and foremost), but I want to at least flex my muscles on the haters.

   I love the competitive aspect of working out. Not only with other people, but within myself. I also enjoy setting goals for myself and challenging myself to push more and more as time goes on. It's also fun to mix up my strategies. It keeps things interesting so I never get bored of going to the gym. And as all the gym "sharks" say--showing up is the hardest part.

   One of the machines that kicks my butt the most is the rowing machine. It's super fun to challenge myself with this machine because it requires basically my entire body to use it. This gets my heart pumping and forces me to work on breath control. A month ago I could row 2000 meters in ten minutes and 23 seconds. Yesterday, I beat that record at nine minutes and 32 seconds, also rowing 2000 meters.

   I also hold myself accountable on my snapchat a lot. Besides making the gym shark jokes, I get super stoked when I'm able to up my leg press weight. I started around 80 lbs on the leg press, and as of yesterday, I'm now pressing 115 lbs. Having numerical value helps motivate me to grow more and more. It keeps me coming back to see how strong I can become, physically.

   As for dietary changes, stay tuned. So far I've made small alterations to what I'd normally eat, but deducting sugars and such. I also changed my go-to dinner from a pasta dish to broccoli and eggs (no salt or butter!), because sister loves her broccoli okay. And if I need to substitute a dessert if I'm having a sweet tooth, I'll just eat some strawberries with greek yogurt. It's the magic of substitution! 

   As I continue to find a diet plan that works for me, I'll let you know. That's what's going to happen with this series--me learning more and more about what works for me and holding myself accountable by sharing my findings with you!

As I finish up this prologue, I want to know--what dietary plans and workouts work best for you? What's some excellent advice one gym shark can give to another?

Keep on grinning!

​Lydia