I actually wrote this post awhile ago, but never got to share it! I’ve made some adjustments to how I am sticking to my goals while staying at home, so hopefully this inspires you to stay on track with your 2020 goals, too!
Honestly, I never make New Year’s Resolutions because I know myself, and I know that I won’t even last two weeks until I break it. I’ve learned it’s better to save myself the disappointment, and just not make them! However, with a wedding this year and a new life with my fiance ahead of me, I had some serious goals that I knew I wanted to accomplish before I got married. The first was to pay off all of my student loan debt, which I already did! Yay! Y’all, I cannot even explain to you how amazing it felt once I made that final student loan payment. It is the best feeling ever!
My second goal was to *actually* get in shape. This past summer, we moved across the country from Kentucky to Texas. With the stress of a new job, a new city, and feeling like a chicken with my head cut off about 90% of the time, my diet was the least of my worries. In between setting up my classroom and new teacher meetings I had, I would just go through the drive-thru at Chick-Fil-A, or grab a sugary scone from Starbucks on my way to work. Needless to say, I gained weight. I put on a total of about 6 pounds just this summer, and I felt it. When it was finally time for school to start, it hit me just how much weight I had gained when none of my old teaching clothes fit me anymore. Pants were tight, dresses were suddenly snug in the hips where they hadn’t been, and tops felt skin-tight!
I felt horrible. Not only because ill-fitting clothes are uncomfortable, but I just felt bad. I felt sluggish and kept craving the fast food that I had lived on when I first moved. I knew that I had to make a change and lose the weight I had lost, and towards the end of 2019, I did a few things that set me up for success in 2020. First, I signed up for Orange Theory. I also incorporated pilates into my weekly workout routine at least once! I began meal-prepping healthy snacks, like grapes, celery, and carrots to bring to work with me. I feel like since I started this towards the end of last year, it wasn’t so bad for me to continue to do these things in 2020!
However, as we all know, these classes are unavailable right now due to the Covid-19 quarantine. Just because I can’t physically go to these classes, doesn’t mean I still can’t complete a workout! Orange Theory has done an amazing job of posting at-home workouts on their social media and through their app that I have been following. ClassPass has also offered some virtual classes, and I even started using Obe Fitness classes, too! What I love about Obe is that there is every kind of workout that I could ever want, so it has made this whole “workout from home” routine exciting! I have a ton of different options to choose from, and can pick my workout based on my mood. For example, I might not want to take a hip-hop dance class at 7:00 am, so I can choose yoga instead!
Another thing that has kept me successful is trying different snacks and foods that I know I will enjoy and eat regularly. In 2019 when I started packing healthy meals and snacks for work, I packed what I thought would help me lose weight. At first, I stuck to fruits, vegetables, and salads as my main food for the day. I quickly learned that although these all have great benefits, I was still starving. A salad and some celery just weren’t cutting it for me. However, I continued this trend through the end of 2019, and even into the start of 2020. I would come home after my workouts absolutely famished, and I would eat everything in sight. Shocker- I wasn’t losing any weight!
It wasn’t until February that my fiance really started questioning what I was eating during the day. The reason why I was starving is because, again, *shocker*, I wasn’t eating enough protein! I began incorporating yogurt, almonds, and dipping my celery in almond butter as sources of protein throughout the day. I can happily say that I no longer feel famished and like I am depriving myself during the work day. These snacks help me feel full and actually give me energy! If anyone is feeling burnout or like they are depriving themselves of food, I highly suggest incorporating some higher-protein snacks into your diet. Nuts, yogurt, cheese, nut butters, are all great sources of protein that can help you feel full and energized throughout the day!
Now that I am home all day, it can be so tempting to just wander to the kitchen and mindlessly start snacking. To prevent myself from doing so, I have created a schedule of when and what I should eat! When I first wake up, I have my cup of coffee around 8:00 am. I don’t eat breakfast until around 10:00, and it’s typically something with a lot of protein (almond butter or eggs are my go-to’s!). This holds me off until around 1:00, when I eat a salad for lunch, and then around 3:00 I get hungry for a snack. I have been careful to keep fruits in the house, as well as healthy snacks like almonds and cheese sticks. I’ll have a small, healthy snack to hold me over until dinner!
Just because we are in quarantine does not mean that we should just throw our goals out the window! Whatever it is, now is honestly probably the best time to be working on it, because you can give it your full attention! I find it has been easier for me to keep track of my workouts and what I am eating because I can organize my days the way I want, not by my crazy school schedule. Plus, think about how awesome it will feel to come out of this quarantine having crushed some personal goals of yours?! You can totally brag to everyone about how you used your quarantine time to truly benefit yourself!
Stay healthy friends, and wash your hands.