The Next Step: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.

It’s been a year.  One whole year.

One year since I sang out, “It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day!”

One year since I made a resolution, and started out on a journey to lose weight, get healthier, and become a “better me”.

January 7th, 2013 was just the beginning.  It started out with “The 30 Before 30 Project”, which then became “The 50 Before 30 Project”; it allowed me to complete a major goal in running my first 5K, and eventually resulted in me reaching “The Magic Number”.

It was a big year for me.  It was a really good year for me.  I accomplished things that I never thought were possible.  I proved so many things to myself.  I made changes and followed through in all aspects of my health & fitness – and without trying to sound cocky, that’s pretty incredible for a girl who HATES change.

I often wonder what my dad would say if he could see me now.  His couch-potato-kid, the one who was “as graceful as an elephant”; the one he nicknamed “Treat Young” because of my penchant for stops at the treat store...  Would he believe how far I’ve come? I imagine he might be a little slack-jawed in disbelief if he could see me now.

November 2012

September 2013

December 2013

I don’t doubt that he would be proud of me.  As proud as my friends and family have told me they are of me.  I’m very lucky to have such supportive, wonderful people in my life.

It’s been quite a journey. 

And it’s not over.

I’ve said it many times before – but this is a journey that will never be over.  I reached most of the goals I set over the past year, and I’m currently just trying to maintain.  But that doesn’t mean I can’t set new goals to keep pushing myself.  I know if I keep saying “I just want to maintain”, that I will get bored, and I will lose my mojo.  I can’t relax too much; I can’t let things get stale.  I need to keep going.  I need to keep striving for more.  Maybe now it’s not weight loss, as I truly am happy with my current weight and size (give or take five pounds… holiday weight, y’know…)  - but maybe now it’s more about toning, building muscle, and trying to get some more definition.

So that’s why I’ve started a new fitness program.  On Monday, I began a 60-day program called Les Mills Combat.  It’s another Beachbody program, and after the success I had with Turbo Fire, I knew I wanted to move on to another workout that I will hopefully love just as much.  I used to really enjoy my Karate classes, and this mixed martial arts workout will hopefully reignite my love for that type of exercise.

Of course, I will also still be sticking with Shakeology – why change something that has worked so well for me for the past year?  Since I started Shakeology (a few weeks after I started Turbo Fire), I have only missed 2 shakes.  TWO.  One was the day after Relay For Life (because I pretty much slept all day), and one was on Christmas Day (I ate wayyyy too much that day, there was no room for responsibility! ;) )  I credit my shakes big-time for curbing my cravings for junk and helping to keep my daily calorie counts in check, so I plan to stick with them.  I will also be continuing to use MyFitnessPal to track my food consumption and exercise.

The new element that I have added is the fact that I recently signed up to be a Beachbody Coach myself.  My Coach, Jared, has been a huge source of support and encouragement over the course of the past year.  It only made sense to me to offer the same support to others who are struggling to get going on their own journeys.  I’m still learning the ins & outs of what it is to be a Beachbody Coach, but I’m looking forward to what it might bring in 2014!

So this is The Next Step:  more of the same, but always striving for more. 

To work harder.  To be better.  To get stronger.  To be faster.   Right now, it’s 60 days of Les Mills Combat, and a desire to get out and enjoy the fun outdoor activities winter has to offer, such as skiing, sliding and snowshoeing.  In the spring, I’ll start working again on that 5K and my goal of getting my time under 30 minutes.  I will be signing up again for The Army Run, and maybe I’ll sign up for some other 5 K runs as well.  And who knows… one of my long-term fitness goals was to one day get my Black Belt in Karate.  Perhaps the Combat program will get me set on the right track to accomplish that goal… we’ll see!

And I have one other small, selfish goal.  It’s one I’m almost afraid to admit, and I’m almost certain I’ll never reach it, but why not put it out there….

I want to be able to wear a bikini.  Just once in my life.  And not just be able to wear one, but to be able to do it with confidence.  I was just telling a friend of mine the other day that despite how happy I am with my weight loss and my body now, I would still not be comfortable “showing skin”.  There’s some serious tightening and toning to be done before I’d ever even think about it.

But I’d like to think it’s still a possibility.

So this year… I guess we’ll call it "The Bikini Project”.

Who knows.  A girl can dream.

This is The Next Step.  And I’m so ready for it!