Tomorrow I will begin the Blogilates 12-Week New Body Makeover. I am notorious for trying new fads and diets. I typically always see results too, but it’s just never something I want to stick with. I enjoy indulging. I enjoy eating late at night. I enjoy adding salt to whatever it is I’m eating. (Note to Future Taylor: beware of kidney stones).
But this time – it’s different. The last time I went grocery shopping was three months ago. That is amazingly impressive and very hard to believe at the same time. I know I’ve been eating – I just can’t for the life of me remember what exactly what I ate. Thankfully, my office is located next to a natural food store so I usually would grab my lunch from there. But what my meals lacked in preservatives and artificial flavors were made up in $$$.
Eating healthy isn’t hard for me to do. I actually enjoy kale and prefer water over any juice or soda. My problem is that I lack creativity, motivation and “time” (I know time is a real word – that’s not what the quotes are for. Keep reading … I’ll explain myself).
When left to my own devices, I will continually whip up the same clean meals: oatmeal with berries and PB, medium sized fruit or a handful of almonds for a snack, romaine lettuce, spinach and kale salad with tomatoes, bell peppers and lemon juice as a dressing and dinner is usually some dry, lean meat with broccoli. That is all I know! I’ve seen the pins, the recipes, the photos on my Instagram feed, but none of it was worth actually learning and making for myself.
In my brief 23 years of life, I have learned that if I am not motivated to do something, I pretty much won’t do it … at least, not up to my standards. I’ll probably do enough to get by but there’s no way I’m putting in 100% effort (This also applies to work, relationships, exercise, combing my hair…). This is the reason why I always need goals in my life, whether it’s set by my boss or by myself. They can be in any form, from metrics to crossing off at list five things from my to do list each day. When it comes to my diet, it takes too dang long to see “Abs are made in the kitchen” come to fruition. I’m an instant gratification type of soul, so I need results ASAP.
And concerning “time”, I work full-time, I just started classes for my MBA and I barely have a social life to begin with. I tend to have an important master to do list written neatly out as well as a scattered, frivolous mental to do list in my brain. You know what usually trumps my priorities? The pesky mental to do list because it is constantly burning in the back of my brain. Wouldn’t a simple solution be to just write it all down? You’d think! Except these tasks occur to me while I’m driving, in the shower, during a meeting, in the middle of a conversation, trying to clear my thoughts during savasana (if you don’t know what that is – you need to reevaluate your life and get in on it!) or right when I finally begin to wind down for bed. So in order to alleviate myself from the constant nagging, I handle the less urgent matters. That takes up quite a lot of time. Yes, I know I have the same 24 hours as Beyonce, but I mean, if you can marry Jay-Z, pretty sure you have an alternate source of power to begin with.
All that being said: I am excited to commence this 12 week journey. Why? Because Cassey Ho, the founder of Blogilates, came up with the yummiest meal plan I have ever read. It changes every single week! No longer can I avoid the grocery store – I have a set ingredient list and without it, I have absolutely no food to fall back on in my meager apartment. Secondly, the answer to my Type A need for lists and planning arrived at my door step last week! I now am the proud owner of the Fit Journal. I am solely using it for health purposes. All other tasks will be written in my daily life planner. This bad boy is to monitor my water intake, every little thing I eat each day, how much sleep I’m getting in and continually track my progress over the weeks. I love the compact, user friendly design and I cannot wait to fill this baby up! This journal actually solves my third problem and will help me prioritize exactly what needs to be addressed and my mental list will just have to work around it!
So after three months, $100 at Trader Joe’s and an enthusiastic post on my neglected Tumblr, I am ready to take these 12 weeks on!
I hope to continue sharing my experiences, feedback and updates with the world!
Cheers!
Taylor
delight & dwell 