Here we go....

(warning: this post may be a little long...I have a lot to say)

First off, THANK YOU for all of you kind and supporting words. I couldn't believe the outpouring of support from my friends and family! So many of you offered such motivating and supportive words that I was soooo excited to get started today! Second, I was touched by the amount of ladies that reached out who feel like they are fighting the same battle I am. With that being said, I want this to be OUR blog. I welcome anyone that wants to join me on this journey (even if you only want to shed 5lbs!) and I offer my support as well.

I'm very much a planner so writing down and vocalizing my plans make them more realistic to me (big fan of lists, too!). I wanted to share my recent purchase from amazon.com ($10 total, including shipping) and it makes me feel extremely organized. This little sucker (Diet & Fitness journal) fits in my pocketbook and is wonderful! It is a day by day planner with areas for you to write all your nutritional information and fitness...this way at the end of the day you know exactly what your net calories are (calories consumed-calories used). It also breaks everything down into daily calorie goals also logging your mood, energy level, and a spot to journal. This allows you to go back and reflect on the entire journey! In addition, there is a weekly progress page to journal weight loss, measurements, BMI, blood sugar, just about anything! Big fan of this! My BFF, Suzy (the fitness expert), is the biggest promoter of food journaling and swears by it!

Regarding exercise, I love group classes at the gym! My favorite is BodyPump (which covers my weight training needs) and I'm looking forward to getting back into spin. On top of that, I've recruited some of my employees to join me in my first 5K....we'll be doing the Rock n' Run on August 14th at the NC Music Factory. I started training last week to prepare and I have a lot of work to do. I knew running outside was more difficult than a treadmill but geeeezzzz! My goal is weight training 2-3 days per week and cardio 5 days a week. Which leads me to my biggest obstacle.....

Becoming a morning person. This is by far my hardest battle. I work 9am to 7pm Monday- Thursday and 9am-5ish on Friday. The logical thing to do is morning workouts, especially considering the only time I can catch the classes I like are 6AM (night classes generally start at 5:30/6PM, which is out of the question b/c of work). Anyone that knows me is very aware of my infactuation with sleeping....so morning workouts are going to be the hardest change. I do believe that once I get a few weeks under my belt, I'll love the new routine. Luckily, my buddy Amanda, is reincorporating morning workouts so she is a great support system and someone for me to "report" to. Acey is wanting to join us once her butt/hip is better, which will be awesome!

I'll be weighing myself every Friday morning (at the same time) to be consistant. I will be starting with this Friday, even though it hasn't been a full week, just so I can begin the schedule.

Until Friday.....

Allison

"Your body is the baggage you must carry through life. The more excess the baggage, the shorter the trip. "
Arnold H. Glasgow