The Thing I Struggle With

I'll be the first to admit that exercise and eating healthy do not come naturally to me. For a few lucky people out there they LOVE and THRIVE on working out each day and eating a clean diet. I, unfortunately, am not one of those few.

So, why do I do it? For many reasons! Throughout high school and my early adulthood I struggled with my body image and would attempt crash diets, severely restricting my calorie intake and picking up a workout program, that I would be faithful for a week or two at, maybe a month if I was lucky. But I pressed on attempting to stay in shape because I wanted to feel good about how I looked and be that 'size' that would make me feel confident.

What I was lacking in all of this though is at least two things, the realization that if I didn't accept and love who I am in Christ I would never be satisfied with the outward image and that what I really needed was a healthy lifestyle, not a crash diet or quick fix.

I'm still a work in progress in the area of living a healthy lifestyle, but feel I have a pretty good handle on the exercise part. I have several Beachbody programs now that I can choose from and have consistently worked out at least five days a week since July.

So, what is the thing that I struggle with?? My diet! I am such a lover of all things SWEET! Be it ice cream, candy, cookies, pie, cake.... It doesn't matter, it just has to be sweet! What I am learning about myself though is that I have no self-control in this area. I often can't just enjoy a cookie or a reasonable slice of something, I tend to over indulge in it.

This year I want to focus more on eating a clean and healthy diet, at least 80% of the time. To get me started off on the right foot I decided to try out the 3 Day Refresh program, to clear my system of the holidays and to give me a boost towards my personal fitness goals. I am currently on day three of this program, and boy am I glad! It's not awful, but it is very limiting on what you can consume outside of Shakeology, Vanilla Refresh and the Fiber Sweep that you take each day. I keep reminding myself that it is ONLY 3 days though, and anyone can do anything for 3 days!

Would I do this program again, even though I'm looking forward to tomorrow? Yes! I'm honestly not hungry at all and do feel better! Plus I'm excited to share with you all my results on Friday :-)

The biggest reason I would do this again is that I know I'll need it. I know there will be times in the future where I choose to indulge in some not so healthy foods for a bit, and this program can help get me back on track after. The other reason I would do it again is that the first time I did the 21 Day Fix eating plan I really struggled with it, and found myself cheating many times! But, after what I've been limited to for these three days I'm looking forward to what I CAN have on the 21 DF plan, and can't wait for some eggs and turkey bacon  ;-)

If you would like to know more about the 3 Day Refresh feel free to contact me and I would love to tell you all about it! I'll be posting my results on Friday, so stay tuned!