Achieving My Fitness Goals // What I'm Doing to be the Healthiest Me in 2018

This post is sponsored by & in partnership with Village Pointe! All thoughts expressed are sincerely my own. Thank you for supporting the collaborations that make Sabby Style possible!

Hi sweet friends and happy Thursday! How is your week treating you? Did you catch my latest post about my hopes and goals for 2018? If not, you can read it here, but in the meantime, I’ll fill you in! In that post I shared my goal, and the struggles I face, to make fitness and health a top priority in the new year. But it’s a goal I make year after year that always poses a challenge! As in it’s a challenge for me to follow through. Of course I want to be fit, toned, and in better shape, but I always fall short when it comes to taking the steps needed to achieve that goal. So many of you reached out and shared that same sentiment, which warmed my heart to know that I’m not alone in trying to find balance and how hard it is at times to put ourselves first to make our health a priority! So how are you doing with that goal thus far? I know we’re only two weeks into the new year, but we need to check ourselves before we wreck ourselves! I’m notorious for making goals at the start of the new year, new month, and new week (in regards to working out) and then that week, month, and even a year goes by (yes, I only worked out a handful of times in 2017) and I’m nowhere close to where I want to be. I knew in my heart of hearts that I NEEDED to change. I needed to take action. I needed to challenge myself to break bad habits and to stop pushing my workouts off to the next day, week, month, etc. So here I am, eleven days into 2018 and I’ve already worked out more in 1.5 weeks than I did all of last year!

**So what am I doing to be a healthier me?**

Well, I took a big step out of my comfort zone and signed up for Farrell’s Extreme Bodyshaping 10 Week Challenge! Yes, I signed up for a TEN WEEK kickboxing & strength training challenge. This is a challenge for me in more ways than one! First, I am not a morning person. A perk and drawback of being your own boss and working from home is that you can work (and sleep) whenever you want. I’ve always been a night owl and while I really want to be a morning person, I’m just not… yet. I signed up for the 8:30am class because that was the most realistic time for me. I applaud those 4 and 5am-ers, and they probably laugh at the idea of 8:30 being “early” but you have to start somewhere, right?! Second, this is a challenge because I haven’t worked out consistently or hard in well over a year, so needless to say I’m a bit out of shape. Third, you have to have 70% attendance, which is basically 5 workouts per week, to graduate from the challenge. I certainly have the time to do this, but it’s all about the follow through! Fourth, I have never in my life kickboxed before! Fifth, this challenge requires food logging (6 days a week) with clean eating and limited alcohol. The eating part isn’t super difficult because I’m already a pretty healthy eater and Tony isn’t picky, so he eats whatever I buy at the store and cook. But we are in a season of our lives where we don’t have any kids, we’re our own bosses & run our businesses, and we sure do have a lot of fun together! When my husband asks me to have a happy hour date, I never turn him down, so it will be a challenge to scale back on our fun and so far, he’s been a great sport about it! It’s a good thing we’re home bodies because I’ll be avoiding our favorite happy hour spots for a while!

It’s so important to realize and understand the challenges that may hold you back from achieving your goals, because once you acknowledge those potential road blocks, you can map out ways to overcome them!

First, I hate waking up but I have a diabetic dog that needs insulin every day at 7am. This must-do presented an opportunity for me to start my day and get going for that 8:30 class! Usually Tony gets up with the boys, because mama likes to sleep, but I told him NO; that I’ll get up with them on the mornings I have class. This has worked out great so far! I’m usually done feeding and letting the boys outside around 7:15 and then I make a cup of coffee, check emails and social channels, respond to anything immediate, and then get myself ready and out the door by 8:10. It also helps that I live just 8 minutes or so from the facility! Second, everyone is at a different fitness level and it is a very inclusive, welcoming environment, which makes a world of a difference when you’re stepping into a new situation. The Farrell’s motto, and what the coaches and instructors encourage, is for everyone to reach their Personal Level 10. No matter where you are on your fitness journey, they just want you to give your Personal Level 10 every class! Third, I feel confident in me making at least 70% attendance, especially with my morning routine established and the warm and welcoming community that is waiting for you to arrive! Also, once I’m up out of bed, I have no problem following through with what I need to do, it’s just that initial moment and putting those feet on the floor! Fourth, it turns out that it feels pretty stinkin’ good to punch that bag and I’ve gotten the hang of my punches! My kicks have a ways to go and I need to work on my form but I’m confident that as I get stronger and my flexibility increases, I’ll be able to nail those down. I also love how fast-paced the class goes and they play awesome music! I don’t realize how quickly the time flies and before I know it, the instructor is telling us we only have 5 minutes left. Maybe I’m so delirious that I have no concept of time haha but hey, whatever works, right? And fifth, when it comes to food logging, I first thought I would be restricted and hungry, but quite the contrary! This program encourages six, well balanced meals per day, as well as 80 ounces of water. At the beginning of the challenge, we’re provided with the number of carbs, protein, and fat that we should aim to take in at each meal, which totally takes all the guess work out of the “how much should I eat?” game!

I’m still not used to eating six meals throughout the day, which is why I started buying cold pressed organic juices to help fill in my meal gaps!

I’ve actually never juiced, nor have I ever bought a juice before this week, and now I’ve been wondering where this has been all my life! I stopped out to Simple Science Juices at Village Pointe on Monday after my class and picked up three different bottles – the Choc Almond Milk, the Hydro, and the Matcha Latte. They also have Alkaline Water with antioxidants, so I picked up three of those, as well. The nice young lady working that morning was very helpful and answered all of my (many) questions! The first bottle I tried was the Choc Almond Milk and oh my heavens, it was SO GOOD! And I don’t even really like sweets or chocolate, but I do love almond milk, and this was the perfect tasty, but not too sweet, drink. The ingredients used in all the juices are whole, raw, and simple; which align perfectly with my ten week food plan! The Hydro basically tastes like fresh watermelon and the Matcha Latte is hands down better than any Starbucks Matcha Latte I’ve ever had! If you’re in the Omaha area, I would highly encourage you to stop in and try a sample for yourself. They sell the 16oz bottles, as well as a smaller size. Oh, they also have Acai Bowls, yum yum!

And because this is a fashion blog after all, a fitness related post wouldn’t be complete without some cute workout gear!

We can all agree that fashionable workout wear can be very motivating and definitely puts a pep in your step! Since I’ve only been working out at home for the last year, my workout wear selection was pretty darn sad. Like ripped Victoria’s Secret boyfriend pants and tattered soccer shirts! Now that I’m going into public for my workout, I thought it would be in everyone’s best interest for me to invest in some new clothes haha. So I popped into Athleta at Village Pointe after my stop at Simple Science Juices and picked up these darling leggings and mint pullover! You girls know I’m a sucker for colors and prints, so these naturally had to be mine right when I spotted them. Not only are they super cute, but they feel like butter! No joke. This is the softest fabric EVER and the high-waistband keeps everything in place, which is super important when I’m doing any kind of workout! For size reference, I’m wearing a Small. I traded in my ratty t-shirts for this mint mock neck pullover with zip pockets and thumb holes. This material is also super soft and cozy but in a way where you can still work out in it – plus it’s on sale for under $48!! And it looks perfect with the Springy leggings! And the final upgrade to my workout wardrobe was a new pair of sneakers! Even though we don’t wear regular tennis shoes on the mat at kickboxing, I needed a super comfy shoe that can take me from class to errands to home. I’ve been on the hunt for a cute yet equally comfortable sneaker and I’ve been disappointed with everything I’ve tried on thus far. I had heard positive reviews about the Nike Roshe and was pleasantly surprised when I tried these on at Scheels at Village Pointe! I typically wear a 5.5 but went with a six for more room in my toes. I’ve seen these in black and gray, but was super pumped when Scheels carried them in white. In my opinion, there’s nothing better than a crisp pair of white sneaks! And these can be tossed into the washer for easy cleaning!

Whew, that was a short novel but if you’re still reading, then that must mean you are also on the fitness train and I hope you found this post to be helpful and motivating!