What have I been doing, you ask?? Well, first and most importantly, I have been doing the Chic New Year, Do You Challenge that Rachel Hollis started on January 1 over on the Chic Site. Guys. If you have not checked out her site yet …. WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING WITH YOUR LIVES?!?! She is like Martha Stewart meets Kate Hudson with a little Beth Moore mixed in there too. So basically, she is the bomb.com. If you need a little inspiration in any area of your life, she’s your girl. If you want to learn more about the New Year, Do You challenge, go check out her page and sign up for her emails! You can join the #chictribe and hop on the challenge with us!

How has this challenge changed me, personally? SO. MANY. WAYS. So Rach challenges you to do her “Five to Thrive” she calls it. Again, you can check out her site if you want to know more. I have personally taken her outline and made it my own. There are certain things that apply to me and others that I just know are a no go. But it has been such a great foundational base. Because of the “Five to Thrive” I have not had a Diet Coke in 29 days. Not even once! Which is HUGE. I used to drink at least one, most times two of those puppies every day. Can I tell you something?? I have not had a headache once since I threw that habit out the window. Again. HUGE. I used to suffer from chronic headaches, to the point where my husband was about to force me to go to the doctor. But now they are no more. Hallelujah!

Another part of the challenge has been drinking more water. Before I started this, I actually thought I was pretty good at getting enough H2O. Boy was I wrong. Rachel suggests drinking half of your body weight in ounces of water. It is a game changer! Now, I am not going to lie and say that I have reached my number of ounces every day. But even just pushing myself to try and get there has made all the difference. One way that really helps me keep track of my water intake is my FitBit app! I got a FitBit Blaze for Christmas and having the capability to quickly track your water makes it so much easier! I used to try and have it be a part of my planner but I would always forget to write it down! Now, all I have to do is enter it into the app and it tracks it for a whole week! I love being able to visually see progress being made!



Working out every day is another aspect of the challenge. I am 26 years old and I can honestly say that I have never ever been consistent with working out. I used to hate it. Dread it. If I had plans to work out, I would think about it all day and try to come up with 1,200 excuses as to why I just could not fit it in. Last November, though, my mom and I decided to do the Couch to 5K training. We downloaded this app which makes it so easy! This was not the norm for either of us. We are not active worker outers. HA. But this program was so manageable and helpful that we actually did it! We completed all 8 weeks! Which was such a success for us. When we started, I thought there was no way we would finish. But here we are, on our second round of it! We started again on New Year's Day and have been sticking with it! I have been adding in additional workouts on the days we do not run though, so I am working out every day. My husband has started working out with me now, too and it makes it so much more fun! It is like we are on a mini date every time we go to the gym together!





So there you have it, friends. This is the base foundation of how I am learning to thrive in 2017. I cannot wait for this to continue and grow and change as I go through 2017 and I am excited to bring you guys along with me!