Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall!  While I have to admit I am a Summer girl at heart, there is a part of me that really enjoys the Fall as well.  Honestly, I think the only thing wrong with the Fall is that Winter is right behind it and that definitely makes me a little sad as I do not at all enjoy the cold!! But back to the Fall, I do love the crisper weather, ability to throw on flannel or my favorite article of clothing, a hoodie, and go and I love, love, love Thanksgiving!

The change in season this year also inspired me to sit down and really think about a fresh set of goals to go along with the new cooler weather.  The beginning of Fall also just happen to coincide with the end of the AMAZING 8 week program I had been following since July.  I have to admit to you guys that when the program ended I was both sad and a little lost at first.  I had every day of every week planned out for me for two months and I did sincerely love the workouts and results I got from this program (see pic below for my first and last day of LIIFT4).   I got leaner, built a good amount of muscle and definitely got stronger!  I was able to up my weights a full five to seven pounds by the end of the program which was awesome in only two months!  This feeling of needing to get myself into a new program also spurred on my desire to sit down with myself and regroup/refocus so as to not to lose the momentum I had built while getting my butt kicked by Joel Freeman!

When I started this journey almost ten months ago, my goal really was just to slim down.  I definitely was in the mindset that I should just do a bunch of cardio each week and avoid doing really any lifting because I did not want to look bulky or unfeminine.  I think a lot of people who are looking to get into shape and/or just to lose a few pounds think that way but after getting really serious about my health and doing a bunch of research I realized just how valuable weight training really can be.  It can burn just as many if not more calories than cardio does and once I started I was almost instantly addicted!  I’ve talked about the benefits of weight training in previous posts and I am sure I will again at some point because I really want to shout it from the roof tops especially to other women out there but today I want to focus on where I am in my journey and where I want to go.

For the Fall and beyond one of my main goals is to keep getting stronger!  I absolutely love seeing my muscles develop and get bigger and I want to keep working on building on the progress I have already made. While I really enjoy working out my arms/upper  body (shoulder day is my favorite!) I want to focus more on developing my legs. I find leg day the most challenging and the hardest muscle group to train which I think has led me to not develop those muscles as much as the rest of my body.  That is definitely something I will be working on the rest of this year and also leads me to my second goal for the Fall/Winter….working on my endurance and stamina so I can run more races next year!

I have participated in a few runs this past year and now I am hooked!  I love the feeling of crossing the finish line and feeling like I have accomplished something that even ten months ago I don’t think I would have been able to do or even have attempted!  Along with developing stronger leg muscles I also want to work on being able to run longer distances.  I have completed a handful of 5ks and now I would really like to cross a 10k off my bucket list and possibly think about doing a spartan race.  I know in order to do these things I will have to start running more so I am planning on adding a bit more focused cardio to my weekly routine. One way I am planning on incorporating more cardio is I am going to start the 21 Day Fix Extreme program next week.  I am looking forward to being back on a scheduled program and this one in particular will focus more on cardio than the last one I did.

My third goal for the rest of this year is to eat a little cleaner!!  We are coming into the holiday season when food becomes a focal point of the festivities and I want to make sure I stay on track and even get better with meal prepping and eating only whole foods. I have been doing great with getting my shakes in every day to make sure I get all the nutrition I need but I have been slacking a bit when it comes to meal prep and not just grabbing something quick especially during the days at work.  I have been really busy the past couple months and I need to settle back in to a routine of prepping for the week on Sunday’s like I used to do.

I will keep you all updated on how I am doing holding myself accountable to these goals and would love to hear about some of yours as well!  We can do this together!!  Happy Fall everyone!

xoxoxo,

Beth