As I’ve written about before, 2019 I decided to tackle a consistent physical issue I found to be interwoven through many areas of my life: fatigue. I do not have any medical conditions that lead to this, it’s simply a part of being a toddler mom life. My fatigue made it more challenging to be loving to my husband and children, I found that my patience was always thin. My lack of patience was not as a result of being so tired, but because of my selfishness. So while I worked on the heart issues behind it, I also wanted to see if I could do anything to make the journey towards being a more loving wife and mom easier… how to better set myself up for success in being kind, if I was finding that fatigue made me crankier. To add further pressure to make some changes, I believe that God has given me my body as a gift, and He will call me into account for how I choose to treat my body. I’m called to be a wise steward of my body and to use it for His glory alone — I’ve been bought with a price!

The first thing I did was cut down on the amount of caffeine I was taking in. It was an adjustment, as are all lifestyle changes. But now I’m content with enjoying my two cups a day of coffee. And yes, I do understand that cutting down to two cups a day meant I was drinking too much before. 😉 But I realized that the more caffeine I was drinking, the more tired I was.

Next I started exercising on a regular basis. I know that 30 minutes, three times a week is the minimum of what a healthy lifestyle should look like so that’s what I aimed for in the beginning. That helped increase my energy, but I really did not enjoy it. I felt like I was dragging through each workout. Part of this was I was not really focusing on eating healthy. I knew it was time to take another step towards getting over this hill, but I wasn’t sure what to do.

And then I met Kim this year. She is the owner of an online fitness and nutritional program called Refine YOU. She shared with me how her program works and I thought — hm, this sounds awesome. I wasn’t sure if I had the capacity to invest yet. But I realized that I didn’t really have the mental energy to design my own workout plan. Which sounds insane because I have been a group fitness instructor and yoga teacher for seven years! However, I needed to get realistic with this season of life. Two toddlers and a baby on the way. I knew I wanted to make some changes so I decided to take the change. It’s only six weeks so if it didn’t work, that’s ok. At least I tried.

I’m now over halfway through the Refine YOU program and I have been SHOCKED at how much I am enjoying it. I have noticed drastic changes in my energy! Kim customizes the program based upon each client’s fitness level and current needs. I am doing the advanced fitness track and it is kicking my butt. It’s great that I can stay home and do my workout or go to the gym and use that equipment — she has workouts for both environments. I just open the program on my phone, do what it says to do, and then I’m done. Pretty easy as far as planning my workout goes!

Probably the area where I am most impressed with Refine YOU is the nutritional plan. Kim has customized my plan so that I am eating for whichever activity level I’m doing that day: strength training, cardio, or rest day. It is teaching me how to eat to fuel the activity I’m doing that day. WOW!! This alone is worth the weight in gold. I’ve heard of tracking your macros but wasn’t sure where to start. Kim has a prep week in her program where you learn how to easily track your foods. What’s crazy is that I’m actually eating more food but I’m less bloated and less tired.

Refine YOU also has daily accountability with the nutrition program to help keep me on track. Which is really what I need right now in making these changes to my eating and fitness! I am really enjoying what I’m learning and how my body is changing for the better as a result of Refine YOU. Let me know if you’re thinking of trying out this program!

I plan to post a second part to this blog when I’ve finished the program. Click here to learn more about details in signing up for the Refine YOU program!

xo,
Alexandra