"It's not about perfect. It's about effort.
And when you bring that effort every single day, that's where transformation happens.
That's how change occurs."
-Jillian Michaels
Morning all! How was your weekend?
Mine was quite the whirlwind- three cookouts in three different cities- all the way from Delaware to Winchester!
I did get in a little workout, though! I enjoyed the most glorious four-mile run on Saturday morning, where I snapped the above photo of the World War II memorial and saw this beautiful beam of light shining on our nation's monument in DC.
It felt great to run again. I haven't been running much this year. After the marathon (and some IT band issues), I knew I needed some time off, but I didn't expect to take this much time! It's been about a year and a half! It was nice to know I still had it in me, though, to run my favorite route: from Iwo Jima to the Lincoln Memorial and back. Wanna know a secret? As I run, I often daydream about leading a group of fit brides with me! Maybe one day!
I want to transition to talk a little about the May-ke it Happen challenge. I'm really proud of my efforts this month to meal prep and workout on the weekends, and overall, I'm going to give myself a B, because I stuck to my meal plan 80 percent of the time and worked out 3 out of the 4 weekends in the month.
However, as you can see from the orange highlighted areas, I didn't stick to a meal plan 100 percent of the time. (I'm learning that's impossible!)
I have to say that this past month was one of the first times in my whole entire life that I felt like this healthy-living thing was truly my lifestyle... and even with several slip-ups this past weekend (holidays really are the hardest time to eat clean!), I feel really good about where I am today!
As I think back on this past month, I realize that it's not about perfect. It's about effort. Effort pays off-- maybe not in a huge way, right away, but in little triumphs along the way.
In that spirit, here is a list of my little triumphs this month; most of which were documented on Instagram:
- *My first time making protein pancakes (and a slew of other new recipes).
- *Falling in love with eggs, avocado, and sriracha (that happened this past weekend).
- *Ordering oatmeal at Ihop and realizing, I don't miss the french toast combo! (THIS WAS A BIGGIE!)
- *Not beating myself up for a few bits of dark chocolate... each night.
- *Planking it out while videotaping myself to get some cool insta-photos (which everyone seemed to love)!
- *Meal prepping breakfast for my in-laws. They love the egg white casserole!
- *Going from Whole Foods to the kitchen to serving spaghetti squash Friday night!
- (And realizing there's no other way I'd rather spend my evening!)
- Fitting into a pair of work pants I got for Christmas that were too tight before! (That happened today!)
One other big triumph I have to mention is the fact that I logged in MyFitnessPal EVERYDAY this weekend-- the good, bad, and ugly. That's such a great feeling y'all.
Progress, not perfection, right?
Tell me what you learned this month!
Were you able to stick to your commitments, even partially?
I'd love to hear about it!
