My Fitness Journey

If you hadn’t notice the uptick in sporty tweets on my Twitter account allow me to reintroduce myself, my name is Kelly and today I am bringing my fitness journey to the blog.  (Do you see what I did there with a little Jay Z?  He and Bey dominate one of my favorite workout playlists).  You may remember I did a fashion/running post last month and since early May I have made a conscious lifestyle change to get healthier.

“But you look fine,” said one of my friends when I told her about this. Well, thank you, but as I think most people can attest, there is always room for improvement. I have a weight goal in mind but I’m not quite ready to share that with all of you. Instead, I will tell you that my journey is off to a good start thanks to my renewed commitment to the holy duo, fitness and diet. 

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Fitness: Last month I canceled my gym membership and joined Class Pass. For $100  per month I now have unlimited membership to studios all around New York City offering a variety of classes in barre, boxing, cycling, dance, martial arts, Pilates, strength training, and yoga.  I have taken over 20 classes and have found a great rhythm of cardio for day one, strength training or bootcamp for day two, and taking the third day off. Rinse (and there certainly has been an uptick in laundry) and repeat. 

This cadence has allowed my body time to adjust and recover from all of the new exercises while making visible gains. It is an added bonus that two of my good friends are also members of Class Pass and along with sharing our experiences and feedback on new studios we also encourage each other.  And as a side note, how great would it be if my form was as good as Jenn’s for TRX pushups? I’ll just add that to my goals! 

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Diet: For the first time in my adult life I sat down with a nutritionist and talked about food. Sure, I have tons of weaknesses like goldfish, mint chocolate chip ice cream, Smartfood popcorn, and Diet Coke but it was great to hear I can add those in to my diet in moderation.  One of my biggest takeaways was the amount of fiber I should be eating (30 grams per the NIH) and the proper carb / protein / fat breakdown to meet my goals.  

It between our meetings I am writing down every single thing I eat and logging it with My Fitness Pal on my iPhone.  Yes, it is annoying but it has held me tremendously accountable. When you have to write each item of food down those extra pastries in the kitchen at the office, the candy bowl at the front desk, and even another splash of salad dressing become top of mind.  And while it was only a small victory, the fact that I had to log my food helped me only have two bites of this delicious red velvet cake last Friday. 

I am cautious not to get too eager as I do not want to get hurt and I know weight loss slows after the initial few weeks but I hope by putting this out here in the open it will help hold me accountable.  I plan to check in every few weeks and maybe next time, share a few more specifics.   Here we go!