Ah! January!  As a fitness professional this is the time of the year we look forward to and also dread.  For me, my hope is that maybe, just maybe, I can take one of the couch potatoes who decides to join the gym and inspire them to keep on coming after February.  So my word to everyone who has made those New Year’s resolutions to get fit and healthy……..Bravo!  Take it slowly.  Miracles take time.  Stick with it and be patient.

It has been too long since my last blog.  The end of the year just soared.  I honestly don’t know where it went.  I’ve had so much on my mind as far as training and racing goes.  Let me share a bit 🙂

First, earlier this month I was notified that I received a spot on the PowerTri Elite Triathlon Team for 2011!  My!  Oh my!  I am so humbled by the faith that PowerTri has put in me for the upcoming season.  The team consists of a group of amazing athletes who I am so proud to be able to learn from and compete beside.  Follow our team on Facebook and a PowerTri.com.  I’m just a little bit excited!

With a sponsorship like PowerTri behind me, I’m really feeling the motivation to make 2011 the best season of my racing and professional life.  I’m going into the first season in a very long time that I haven’t been “coming back”  from a pregnancy.  I have my 2010 season under my belt to bolster me into all new challenges in 2011.  In my previous posts I’ve set some pretty high standards for myself this coming year and am committed to work hard to see them through.  I also want to use this opportunity to go out into the community and share my talents, my knowledge and my passion for health and wellness.

So here I am at the precipice of this New Year.  First on the agenda is the ever popular nutrition challenge.  Coach Keena (PowerTri athlete and triathlon coach.  Check out her website.) put forth her “Commit to Be Fit” Nutrition Challenge.  She has put together a great program and my favorite part is that it is not only for “Joe Couch Potato”, but also for serious athletes (something that many nutrition plans do not include).

Last year, BodyBugg changed my life.  It is a wonderful method for tracking caloric burn and intake.  It taught me a lot about paying attention to what I’m eating, why I’m eating it and how much work goes into doing it right.  With that knowledge, I feel that I’m ready to take my nutrition to the next level.  To fuel my body in such a way to achieve peak performance.  I think Keena’s recommendations are spot on when it comes to this.  Starting next week, I’m cleaning it up.  The plan differs most from what I am currently doing by including more complex carbohydrate sources, reducing gluten, and increasing protein.

Friday, I head into the Gateway to Wellness at Dixie Regional Medical Center for my BodPod.  If you don’t know what a BodPod is, you need to find out and find one close to you.  It is a very accurate way of measuring body composition.  Not only accurate, but non-invasive and affordable.  It takes no longer than 10 minutes to complete the entire process and only about 2 minutes of being in your skivvies.  I refer my clients to Gateway to Wellness frequently and have used BodPod measurements for myself for over a year.  It had been over 6 months since my last one and I’m a little nervous.  I know it will not be exactly where I want to be come racing season, but all information is good information.  You should never be afraid of information, especially this kind.  As difficult as it can be to find out that you are not where you want to be, there has to be a starting place.  Better to know and move forward than to not know and stay stationary.  So onward and upward I go.

Like I said before, January is a busy time.  At the Washington City Community Center we join up with Planet 94.1 FM for a Big Loser contest.  We take 10 contestants and change their lives…..Biggest Loser Style.  It is wonderful and so exciting to follow.  So tune into the Planet on your local radio (in Southern Utah) or online.  If it doesn’t inspire you……I don’t know what will.

So what are you big plans for this New Year?  Share them with others.  Write them down and post them on your bathroom mirror.  Keep focused and keep moving forward no matter what life throws your way.

Next up………Trainers, Towels, Treadmills, Oh My!