The harsh truth

Burpees suck. Call me Captain Obvious, but until recently I did not know the evil that is burpees.

A little over two weeks ago I began a fitness program focusing on eating "clean" and working out regularly. My ultimate goal in starting the plan was to get healthy with the just-barely-in-second-place goal of losing weight. I'm not talking vanity weight for bikini season either.

Normally the term "clean eating" rubs me the wrong way. After all, I'm not eating raw sewage... It's just pop tarts, and French fries, and McDonalds. Okay okay, that last one is cutting it close. The issue is, I stopped thinking of those things as an occasional treat and began thinking of them as staples in my "super busy life" diet. After all, I have a job now. I'm WAY too busy to grocery shop or to *gasp* cook dinner. I have stuff to do. Important stuff. Like sitting on the couch reading and panicking about my never-been-to-yoga pants not fitting anymore while chugging hazelnut coffee.

After three different doctors told me I needed to do something to reduce my stress level and two of them suggested losing weight, I decided doctors were jerks who liked making people feel bad about themselves.

Then, I was talking with a friend about her recent spike in positivity and fitness and she told me about the fitness program she started doing. It involved working out every day, planning out your meals to ensure you eat the recommended amounts of fruits and veggies while also maintaining correct portion sizes. It sounded like a lot of work. After all, I'm living my super busy grown up life now. I don't have time to be all responsible and healthy.

Then I remembered she has a toddler and a full time job and a marriage and still managed to do the program and kick it's butt. So, I decided to give it a shot.

A little over two weeks later and I am amazed at how different I feel. Eating fresh, whole foods on a regular basis has given me tons of energy, my skin has never looked better, and I feel stronger. There has been weight loss too, but I feel more balanced in general and that is a better felling than any weight loss on its own could bring. Case-in-point: I can do burpees now, and plank for a full minute. It has also forced me to manage my time better. I still make time for reading on the couch and hazelnut coffee, but now it's after fitting in all of the other necessary things in my life rather than instead of them.

This Sunday is the end of my initial "challenge" period, but I intend to continue with the workouts and the eating philosophy. Hopefully it will lead to even more positive change in the future.