The holidays are now behind us and I am happy to say that it was not a huge struggle to stay healthy though all the celebrations which has helped me get ready for what’s ahead…my wedding! Controlling my weight is top of mind of course but above all, my focus when joining this challenge was to lower my A1C. I am a month away from my wedding abroad and while speaking to the caterers, I was really aware of my food choices on my special day. It has been a pleasant experience thus far during all my celebrations w/ my friends as we are all into health and fitness. The support of our mentors in this food challenge has also helped inspire me to continue this health journey and I now find myself looking for healthy food options everywhere I go. This next month will be stressful due to tight deadlines at work and wedding planning. The new challenge for me is to find a way to relieve stress. Outdoor cycling has always been my go to options to free my mind from every day stress but with Houston weather being so unpredictable, I decided to join a gym that is on my way home from work. In other words, no excuses to miss my daily workouts. Since joining this challenge I have found myself being more observant of healthy choices and habits others are into. I have also started doing more research on food labeling and fully understanding how I am fueling my body.
Thus far, I have increased my activity level, increased my intake of healthy fruits and veggies in every meal I eat and can happily say that I have seen a drastic change in my energy level and a positive impact on my A1C. Surrounding myself w/ healthy people helps keep me motivated and looking forward to creating new challenges for myself. My first week challenge I set for myself w/ my mentors was to increase my water intake. It was then when I realized that I was nowhere close to hydrating my body as much as I thought I was. I found myself carrying my water bottle everywhere I went, but I was not refilling it enough throughout the day. I don’t want to make any false statements but by hydrating myself constantly though the day and especially w/ every meal, I have drastically had to reduce the amount of insulin. This is also a result of increasing my daily intake of healthy fiber and other healthy lifestyle changes I have decided to take on of course, but water has had an amazing impact on me. The second week challenge was to prep my meals the night before so I would not have any excuses in the morning of running out the door late and having to eat out for lunch every day. I look forward to making these challenges a daily routine moving forward and not referring to them as a “challenge” moving forward.
Bring it February!
