Okay, so 2017 officially began five days ago, but it’s still within a week of the new year, so I think that means my post title is still okay!

In preparation for this new year, new me plan, I decided I was going to participate in the Little Black Dress challenge through a local gym called Evolve Fitness. Every few months, Evolve advertises that they’re going to be running a LBD challenge, where you can join and work out for those 6 weeks and get nutritional counseling also. Since I do Beachbody and have the Beachbody On Demand, I didn’t really want to pay for something else, but I knew I really am in desperate need for accountability these days! My friend Lauren and I decided we’d take this on together, and my friends Sarah and Ann decided to join us. Sarah, being the amazing, discount-oriented person that she is (she’s my soulmate in this!), found a Groupon for a 3-month unlimited class pass for Evolve which was much cheaper than the LBD challenge price. We wouldn’t be getting the nutritional counseling, but I felt pretty comfortable doing that portion on my own and I said I could help any of them who needed/wanted advice on that. We all purchased the Groupons and resolved to get started in January!

On Monday, January 2, Lauren and I went to our first class at 9:15 am. It’s a typical boot camp style class that completely kicked our asses! I love that the classes are only 35 minutes long. That seems like just enough to really get you sweating and burning calories, but not so much that you’re looking at the clock every few minutes wondering when the torture will end! There were too many mountain climbers and burpees for my liking (I prefer none, actually, haha!) but there seemed to be a good amount of variety in what we were doing.

Lauren and I returned the next morning to what is going to be our usual 5:30 am class. We had the same instructor, Ginni. She’s cute and perky and fun, but not TOO perky, which is a good thing at 5:30 a.m.! The Tuesday workout was another ass kicker with what seemed like a zillion squats and jumping squats. I knew I was going to be feeling that one the next day!

Ann and Sarah still hadn’t started but had plans to start this same week with us. Ann ended up going to her first workout on Wednesday evening, and Sarah joined me for the early morning class on Thursday. Everyone agrees that it has obviously been far too long since we all have worked out, as evidenced by our limping around the office this week, but we are all glad to be doing it and to be doing it together, even if we sometimes go on different days/times! I love having the accountability and motivation of having friends doing a workout program with me!

So far, I’m also doing a GREAT job with my nutrition! It’s only Day 4, but that’s a great start! I’m hoping to see some results before my birthday (in 20 days!). The one thing that I must remember is that traditionally, my body seems to freak out and hold on to EVERY LAST OUNCE when I start a new workout regimen, especially one that involves weight bearing activities. It seems like it usually takes 2-3 weeks before I start seeing my body let go of some of what it’s holding onto. This is a key fact that I have got to keep in my mind as I weigh myself and, you know, put on pants each day!

Here’s to keeping up this motivation and continuing on with my journey!