Over the past year, I’ve gained 12 pounds. While that doesn’t seem like a lot, and really it’s not and I’m not ashamed of my body by any means, it does make me sad though because just a few years ago I had lost nearly 30 pounds.  I was sitting at 165 pounds and trained for a half marathon and became the healthiest version of myself.

This past year has been trying. I moved, I lost a job, I gained a new job ( a very stressful one) and just moved again. Through all of this, I’ve stopped taking care of myself and need to get back to my healthy self.

I’ve decided to take the 30 Day Challenge at Xtend Barre. This means I will be committing to a number of classes per week,  I’m committing to 3, but I want to go as much as possible.  This also means trying to eat cleaner. There are different levels they set for this. I do not want to adhere to a super strict Clean Eating diet, yet so I’m gradually replacing meals with clean meals.

Waldorf Chicken Salad with Greek yogurt

The Challenge started Thursday and I’ve made one dinner meal, an almond crusted chicken. I also made clean Waldorf Chicken Salad for my lunches this week, which I will put in half of an avocado instead of on bread.

I will probably be going back to my running diet of baked chicken, sweet potatoes and egg white. Again, it was the healthiest I’ve ever been and would like to be back in that place. If you eat clean or any variations of that, post your favorite recipes below, I’d love to try them!

I recently tried a TRX class at the barre studio. Holy cow…it is hard but I’m going to stick with it because it makes me feel so much stronger! Here goes nothing! Thank goodness for having a summer break to allow me to embark on this challenge.  I’ll continue to share my progress and favorite recipes I find!