And so it begins...

 Started my “lifestyle change” on Monday and I must say, it’s a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. I have cut out my diet sodas completely. I figured by now my caffeine deprivation would lead to a murder/mangling of someone…but so far so good! Keeping my calorie count around where it should be. I’m not starving or depriving myself of normal meals just controlling my portions. I am finding this way a lot easier than cutting myself off completely from the goods and watching my family continue to eat pizza/pasta etc. If you knew how terrible my eating habits were before than this alone would blow your mind. I’ll put it to you this way; a bag of chips would become an empty bag WHILE I would be cooking dinner. No bags have been emptied by me in the last few days, or even touched for that matter. My sweet husband, after my extreme workout mind you, goes and buys a cook-out milkshake and eats it in front of me. That was a true test of my willpower. I passed! I had my own sweet treat of honey nut cheerios and light almond milk. Take that cook out! (I still love you but not in the i-want-to-eat-you-everyday way).

If you are wondering about my new workout excursion at Next Level Personal Training, here is the breakdown of my first “boot camp”…

• The trainers were phenomenal. I never once felt out of my comfort zone (which wasn’t very big considering I haven’t worked out in years)
• The exercises which consisted of using ropes, weight sleds, resistance bands, medicine balls, kettle bell weights and other tools, were very user friendly. Most of them sound intimidating but they truly were not. I’m not going to lie, I was terrified when I walked in early and saw what the earlier class was doing. I broke out in a sweat just watching them.
• The other members were super supportive and approached me with a brief synopsis of their relationship with Next Level. They were very inspiring and welcoming.
• The time flew by and I felt like I had really accomplished something at the end. I felt it all over my body. It was awesome and I am definitely looking forward to round two tonight…I can see how people get addicted to this kind of stuff. 

My sister in-law is the one who pushed me to check them out and we endured it together. I’m sure she would agree wholeheartedly with the above. Here is a link to their FB page if you are looking for an out-of-gym experience https://www.facebook.com/NextLevelPT

On a less exciting note, yesterday I had to go to my endocrinologist and was told what I didn’t want to hear “you will have to be on thyroid medication for the rest of your life.” I’ve been praying for the alternative, that the thyroiditis hadn’t damaged my thyroid to the point of no return…but, everything happens for a reason. Oh, and my vitamin D is still entirely too low…in other words I need a warm, sunny beach stat. or just take a larger dose than I’ve been taking. I’m sure my husband would go for the more vitamin supplement choice unless the beach trip would be free. Ehh, not happening :)

So far so good. Just gotta keep pushing myself. I don’t have the courage to post my starting stats yet, but I know I will gain the needed courage as this whole thing progresses.

Until next time.
-Erica