On this day of New Years’ Resolutions and with many of them being fitness related, I thought it was a good time to share this post.

Before Chad and I got married and the first year or so of marriage, we were fortunate enough to enjoy traveling a little. We decided for our 10 year wedding Anniversary we would take a trip to Hawaii. Of course these newlywed versions of ourselves had no idea we would have two busy (and expensive) children and would have just bought a new home the year prior to this deadline. But life was good, so when our Anniversary came and we spent the evening at our daughter, Marissa’s 3rd grade program instead of on the beach, neither of us mentioned Hawaii. Although we both admitted later it had crossed our minds.

Two weeks later Chad calls on the way home from a meeting and asks what we are doing the second week of April. It’s October mind you. I am already slightly frustrated because he was running later than expected coming home from the meeting and I had dinner on the stove and now was going to have to leave in the middle of cooking it to pick up Marissa from gymnastics. “Are you serious?” I replied followed by “How in the heck am I supposed to know?”. That’s when he said “Ok, well we are going to Hawaii”. WHAT? He won a trip to Hawaii at his meeting just two weeks after our “Hawaii Anniversary” that we thought wasn’t going to happen. God is so good. But I was no where near ready to spend that much time in a swim suit. That is where the fitness part comes in.

The beginning of October my wonderful friend convinced me to try a workout at 9 Round Kickboxing. It hurt to move for a few days after this trial workout, but I was really excited about what a great total body workout I was able to get in just 30 minutes and knew that if I was going to invest time and money into working out, this was where I wanted to do it. I had kind of put it on my “someday” list but now with the trip to Hawaii and my 40th birthday approaching (I had already decided I was going to make 40 Fabulous), I knew NOW was the time. I told Chad all I wanted for my birthday was a 9 Round membership and I got started. It was hard at first but most things worth doing are. It’s only been a month and a half though and I have made my goal of going every weekday morning. Two days ago I went jeans shopping because none of mine fit and I am now back into my pre-kiddo size! I have a six pack and I feel GREAT! One of the coolest “Happy Accidents” is that I am being a healthy role model for my kids. I wanted to stay on track this week even though they were out of school so after dropping Marissa off at gymnastics practice (she is actually MY fitness role model) I took Chase with me to workout. He sat in a chair with his tablet or DS to keep him busy and happy but most of the time when I looked at him he was staring with his mouth hanging open, shocked to see his mama kicking booty. He drew this picture of me with my boxing gloves on and a speedbag. The heart with his name is of course my favorite color. <3 It proudly hangs on my fridge and is the best motivation I could ask for. If you are wanting to find a new workout this year and get in shape, I would love for you to come with me sometime for your free trial. It's only 30 minutes so time is no excuse, there is always a trainer there, there are no workout times so you go when it's convenient for YOU, and the workout is always different so you never get bored and it keeps your body guessing. Happy New Year!