..SO IT BEGINS!

I was going to start on JAN 1st, but I should have known better. I went to a small house party with my boyfriend, my best friend & his girlfriend, thinking that I was only going to have a drink or two.. hell, I even mentioned it on here (I think) that I was only going to drink a few. Well, the small house party turned out to be armed with more liquor than I thought. And people who, while very nice, were very competitive and... encouraging... drinkers. Hell, the first 3 drinks alone [on my part at least] consisted of Irish car bombs. And I was already drunk within the first hour of being there, at 9pm. So yeah, one thing led to another, and 4-5 Coronas, some dozen shots of rum and whatever else was given to me, 3 rounds of very aggressive Flippy Cup, and some champagne at the end of the night... I can't remember it in order! It was that kind of night. At least the night ended in tamales...

But the next morning, the first day of the new year, I was still slightly drunk and majorly hungover. All the events of the previous night came flooding in like some bad flash-back-filled teen party movie. And I dry-heaved twice and swallowed some mouthwash by accident (your gag reflex tends to be messed up after all that toilet non-fun). It was NOT good. But it taught me something, and demonstrated well: I'M NOT GOING TO DO THAT EVER AGAIN. I'm 23, and not getting younger, and will no longer bounce back from a night of heavy drinking as I used to when I was 21 or younger.

Most importantly, I have gotten those days out of my system. It is now time to have my head on straight and focus, focus, focus. Time for new changes. New, GOOD changes.

So far, it's still extremely difficult to get up at 5 in the morning. I have to do it for work every day, but that doesn't help me get used to it. It's cold in my apartment (the bathroom window was covered in ice!! DAFUQ!), I don't wanna leave the warmth, I hit the snooze frequently, and my boyfriend begins to cuddle me in his deep slumber, which makes it almost impossible to leave bed. If it wasn't for my sense of duty and responsibility, I would have been out of a job long time ago due to the sheer fact that I HATE GETTING UP BEFORE 8AM.

I did have enough time this morning to start the car, get my kid ready for school (he's sooooooooo slow to get ready, lol) and prep the majority of my meals for the day. 4 tupperware containers, all containing turkey meatloaf muffins, brown rice, and broccoli. I also packed my gym clothes and shoes. Gotta prepare, it saves so much crisis and time lost in the end!!!

I am loosely following the structure of Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer for ease of tracking. I have created my own nutrition guide based specifically on my macros, but I will do the workouts based on the training split she has laid out, and even add some of my own preference. For instance, I will add glute-specific exercises. Because believe it or not, just training with squats and lunges is not really going to activate your glute muscles primarily, but your legs will be ripped as hell. Just ask Bret Contreras if you must doubt.

Today is also my Day 1 of Phase 1. Which means I am going to work my chest and triceps. These will consist of various 3x12 sets using weights. I am to do NO cardio during this phase, which will be weird, because as a woman of today's society, it is drilled in our heads that we somehow have to run (and run only) to get in shape. So hopefully this will change my mindset on that stupid myth. Besides, I hate running like a hamster on the treadmill.

I'm checking out for now, but this is only the beginning! So you will see more of me in the future. Figuratively, and literally. :-)