In late April of this year, I decided to make a change. A fitness change. A life change. I felt like I had hit a plateau in working out. My diet consisted of in n out burgers, pizza, macaroni and cheese, and cereal. I needed to hire a professional to teach me the best workouts and eating habits for my body type.   And that’s just what I did.

Two months later I have visibly noticed results, I feel healthier, stronger, and I’ve drastically cut back (but not given up) the junk food. And my waist thanks me.

It wasn’t easy…there were plenty of times I wanted to quit. Give up and go eat a popsicle. I think having someone there, whether it be a trainer or a workout partner, is so helpful.

Here are 5 things I’ve learned since I started my personal training:

– Little to no carbs after lunch. This makes figuring out what to eat for dinner a little challenging. Yeah, there’s your standard chicken breast and veggies…but sometimes that can get a little old. Mixing it up with turkey burgers and lettuce wraps makes me happy. And full. I’d be happy to share what I’ve come up with.

– Interval cardio is the best thing to get rid of my lovies. I call them lovies, yes. And I should be doing that 20-30 minutes every time I work out.

– Keeping my heart rate up will help me burn fat faster. The challenge is actually keeping that heart rate up.

– The tredmill and I have a love/hate relationship. Sometimes I pretend to race the person next to me to pass the time. Or listen to Britney.

– My trainer, Riley, told me this and it will be forever engrained in my brain…”One unhealthy meal won’t make you unhealthy…just like one healthy meal won’t make you healthy…just don’t overdo it.” TRUE DAT! And I may have justified my in-n-out burger (for lunch) with that saying.

Riley was also kind enough to send over some progress results…

The biggest jump that I’ve been excited about is my Abdominal region. I measured 39 at the end of April….

…Currently I am down to 35.

If you made it through all of this, thank you for reading! I truly believe that if I put this kind of stuff out there, I feel way more accountable for accomplishing my goals.

Happy Thursday!