Strive for Healthy Saturday #1

I feel like this is kind of a cliche post, but I'm hoping to continue this throughout the year. It's kind of an accountability thing.

And I've been working on this for a couple months. What encouraged me to do this was a woman I follow on youtube posting a video about the journey she hopes to take this year.

Here is her video in case you want to check it out:



My goal is not to lose weight.

I want to get healthier. And if that means I lose weight and/or tone up then that's great. There's really no quantifiable goal for me. I've done that before and it typically causes ultimate failure. I want to feel healthier and happier in my own body. And I want this to be a true life change so I continue to be healthy and happy.

Like I've said, I've already started this journey.

For about a year I've felt weak and occasionally depressed. I was struggling to find the energy to get out of bad or take a shower. I wanted to get healthy, but cooking and exercising felt impossible.

So, I started to analyze why I felt this way. Now, for a variety of reasons, I probably have an iron deficiency but don't want to take an iron supplement. I realized there are three things missing in my diet. First, is that I don't eat a lot of meat. This was not for moral reasons, but because I generally don't like the way it tastes. Because of this I'm not getting a lot of protein or vitamin B. The other thing I was missing was vitamin D. If you live in the north-east like I do it's almost impossible to get enough vitamin D. I've also had my doctor tell me I'm vitamin D deficient.

So, a few months ago I made some choices. I now take vitamin B and D supplements. I've also made a point of eating meat at least once a day. I've seen an increase in my energy level and assume it will only get better because supplements take a while to have a visible affect.

I've also made a point to increase my water and fruits/vegetables intake. I actually like all of thse things, but don't prioritize them when making my meals.

As we go into this new year I want to continue this and add some exercise. This is something I continuously struggle being consistent with. I think I'm going to begin with stretching and Blogilates' 30 Day Ab Challenge. I feel these are achievable things I can accomplish. After 30-days I plan to re-evaluate my exercise plan.

Actually, I think I lied earlier. I do have one more specific goal: flexibility. I really want my flexibility back. I danced for about fifteen years so I know how to stretch and what my limits are.

I do plan on weighing myself once a month and measure certain parts of my body. I'll probably go over any weight and inch lose at the beginning of each month.

Next week I think I'll talk more about food and my sort-of food journal. But I feel like my food journal is going to evolve as I use it.

Current Weight: 195 lbs.
Pant Size: 12

If I have any questions or suggestions feel free to let me know.

Thanks for reading!
Holly