Day 21: Motivation Monday

Shane and I started a new diet and workout plan today, and whoa, the diet portion is rough. We're talking lots of eggs, which I'm iffy on, and Shane kinda hates...tuna, ick...avocado, also ick...raw, unsalted almonds...lots of foods that I have texture issues with, basically. I've always been a picky eater, and thankfully over the past few years I've been able to expand my food horizons a lot. I'm hoping that this diet change will help expand them even further. They'd better, because we've got a ton of eggs in the fridge and a box of tuna packets in the pantry. 

The workout plan, well that's a different story. I love it. We'd been doing a routine (Ice Cream Fitness) that works with building lots of muscle through low reps using high weights. That means that I'd be bench pressing 80 lbs (whoa!) but only doing 5 of those at a time. The new plan has a lot more variety, with a little lower weight for more reps, and also short rest times to keep your heart rate up. It also has HIIT (high intensity interval training, like running intervals, etc) built in. HIIT and shorter rest times help you cycle through the important fat burning and cardio endurance phases. 

With the joint diet and exercise plan, we should be able to still maintain the muscles we have (and maybe grow some more) while shedding some fat. I'm not gonna lie, tonight's workout was tough and I'm going to ache in the morning, but it also made me feel exhilarated that my body could do these awesome things, like interval sprints. I am pretty nervous about Saturday's Core and Circuit day though. Reading over the routine had me thinking "I'm definitely gonna barf"...then I realized that was just one time through the circuit, you have to do the whole routine 5 times through. 

I decided that maybe it'd be a good idea to do some more motivational posts to keep myself, and any of you who are also trying to make changes, on the right track. The diet may be tough, and the workout may have me dripping with sweat and hair dye, but it's just one more step on my journey. I may not have to deal with orcs, ringwraiths, Gollum, or any other evil Middle Earth inhabitants, but if Frodo and Sam can carry that ring, I can certainly eat an avocado and do some jumping jacks. 

p.s. If you're interested in our new diet/exercise plan, we found it through Instagram (@instafemmefitness), or you can go to directly her website to get the guides (annavictoriafit.com).