June–to me this month represents the start of summer. The weather is finally warming up (we’ve had a strangely cold spring here in Utah) and with that come summery clothing–think shorts, dresses and bikinis. While I have lost a significant amount of fat and gained some muscle, I’ve been kind of all over the place the past 3-weeks. Normally, I am quite good about planning my meals for the week and being a bit more relaxed over the weekend. But these past 3-weeks, I’ve been eating way more cheat-type meals than I would like to admit. 

I’m quite a task-oriented person and as such, I’ve challenged myself to have ‘my best month.’ And I want to challenge you to join me.

What is My Best Month?

This idea is inspired by the beautiful Chinae’s (@getfitbrooklyn) ‘1 perfect week’ challenge. However, instead of just a week, I will be challenging myself to meet certain goals throughout the month. I like the wording of ‘my best month’ because the tasks you set yourself will be unique to your needs and will help you become your best self. If you are a beginner to working out and eating healthily, it’s crazy to think that you will eat a 100% perfect diet and exercise 6x a week. We need to acknowledge that no one person, no one body is the same, and that we need to set goals that make sense for us, and only us.

That being said, it does make sense to have different variations of the same goal. For example, two people may want to eat more vegetables as a whole, so one person may decide to try 1 new vegetable per week, while the other person may commit to trying 3 new vegetables per week.

How Do I Start?

Easy! I am starting tomorrow, June 1st, but you can start whenever you want. Just give yourself a checklist of goals you want to achieve for the month that will make you feel healthier, fitter and stronger. Either comment below to let me know you’re ‘in’ or head over to my Instagram page and let me know! Tag me in your photos and remember to hashtag #mybestmonth so we can support each other–I will need it!

Here are my Goals for ‘My Best Month’

I personally like to be a little strict on myself. It just works for me and makes me feel proud of being able to overcome any shortcomings I may have. Do what works for you, always!

1. Stop drinking diet soda and replace it with sparkling water and a slice of lemon

YES, I know. Diet soda is the worst and it is truly my one vice. I can turn down so many fatty and sugary treats, but diet soda is extremely addictive to me. I’ve found that sparkling water with a slice of lemon is actually a wonderful substitute. It satisfies my need for a carbonated drink and gives a hint of flavor. Plus, it’s much healthier and probably far less harmful to my teeth!

2. Make sure to plan all of my meals every Sunday so I can accurately keep track of my macros

Okay, so for the most part, I’ve been doing well at this. However, the last 3-weeks, I’ve been very, veryyyy sporadic. I want to become better at planning my week’s worth of meals, so I am not surprised when I go over my macros. I’ve been using a Pinterest board to save healthy and yummy meals, and it really helps to have them all in one place!

3. Continue working out 5-6x a week

I’m so proud that for the past year or so, I’ve successfully been waking up early to workout. I want to continue working out early as it definitely works best for me–I feel more energized throughout the day and the gym is much emptier too. If you don’t think that you can wake up early, try reading this.

4. Diversify my meals and try not to eat the same thing day after day

So guilty of this. SO GUILTY. I am a true creature of habit in that when I find something I like, I stick to it. For weeks on end! While I do not want to completely give up my favorite meals, I will be trying more new recipes. I have a ton of recipe magazines and recipe cookbooks so rest assured that I will be posting about which ones I try. 

5. Do not eat over my macros

I’ve noticed that lately I have been tracking my macros but … I’ve been going over them. Sometimes by 50 calories at a time, other times by 100 calories. While it may not seem like much, it adds up after a while. I figure that if I am working hard to properly track my macros, I should stick to them, properly! It’s a bad habit I have gotten into and I want to break it. It’s not fair to myself to workout so hard only to undo all of my hard work by not putting in the same amount of work into the nutritional aspect of things. 

6. No cheat meals, including alcohol

A little extreme for some, and my husband was a little confused to hear this one too! Yes, I am a huge advocate for balance, but I have gotten into far too much of a ‘laissez-faire’ attitude. I find that when I have treats in this frame of mind, I am way too loose with myself, and instead of having one lovely treat a week, suddenly I’ll have had 4 in a week! Do you guys know what I mean? It feels like a bit of a domino effect and I want to get back into the mindset of a treat being a real treat and not an everyday thing.

7. Be kinder to myself

This is honestly the most important goal of all–too often, I am harsh upon myself despite all of my hard work over the months and years. Furthermore, I tend to neglect my mental health and will put off important practices such as yoga and meditation because ‘I have no time.’ So not true. We make time for what is important, and we need to make time to be kinder to ourselves–on the inside and outside.

I am really excited, if nervous for this ‘My Best Month’ challenge, and I hope, hope, hope that you all join me or at least shout out at me when I am feeling demotivated and craving a stupid diet soda 😛

So tell me, will you join me? 🙂 

Honestly yours,
Alice

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