Hello 2011

Going from Fat 2 Fab has not gone as well as I hoped since I began this 2 years ago so here we go starting over AGAIN. I keep hoping for an epiphany that really sticks but people can I be honest here for a minute? Of course, I can. If I wasn't you'd be annoyed by me. In all honesty, you hit a point where you're like well I worked hard for a while and didn't have much to show for it and I really want that fucking large pizza with pepperoni and jalepeno's. If I'm not going to be skinny when trying to be healthy I might as well be fat and enjoy myself. And I have hit that point, despite still weighing 10 lbs less than I did at this point last year (175 1/1/10 v 165 1/1/11). Maybe it is turning 27 in a week but I'm just frustrated I haven't found something that works for me that I, with my lack of discipline, can stick with. Anyway, pity party over. Here we go again:

New Year's Resolutions:

1. Run 4 days a week at the minimum
2. Eat at least one serving of veggies and one serving of fruits a day (this will be the hardest)
3. Get 8 hours of sleep a night
4. Lift weights at least 2 days a week
5. Blog more!

So, you're turn. Tell me what your New Year's Resolutions are!

Also, since no one really participated in my last giveaway and the hat thing hasn't occurred yet because I blew the money on sporting events (which I will share with you in future post), I have a new giveaway! I got an iTunes gift card for Christmas and need some new running tunes. The winner of the giveaway gets a $10 iTunes giftcard to buy their own music with! To enter:

1. Become a follower (1 entry)

2. You're already a follower? Cool (2 entries for you)

3. Tell me about your New Year's Resolution (1 entry)

4. Tell me your favorite running song (1 entry)

5. Share this giveaway on your blog, facebook, twitter, whatever (1 entry)

6. Become a follower of me on facebook (2 entries)

So there you have it- tons of opportunities to win this giftcard. I expect a lot of love for this giftcard. And by love I mean, comments. Because I thrive off the comments, yo! You have until January 9th at midnight to enter. I will choose a winner on Monday, January 10 and announce it in that day's blog.

And Remember: No one has ever drowned in their own sweat

I am pretty excited to be doing the review I am about to do for a number of reasons:

1. I don't do enough reviews

2. I happen to know the author and it gives me an enormous amount of pleasure to see what he's done with this book

3. I have a reviewed sense of motivation just in time for the holidays

Today I sat down and read Real Fitness Real Nutrition by fit2dmax founder Maxim Nazaire, CSCS. I know Max from Team Challenge as the past two sessions he has been one of the coaches. He is incredibly motivational, positive, energetic and intelligent. It makes for a great combination and one that I think really shines through in his book.

"Hollywood Results with a Brooklyn Approach"

I think Brooklyn and I think of someone who has lived life. They've been thrown more than a few curveballs- made some great decisions as well as some terrible ones. No matter what they have faith and they work hard. The Hollywood side of it seems to be quick results. Fabulous results. Put the two together and you have a hell of result.

The thing that struck me about the book is it is a quick read. Too many times, books about getting healthy are laden with shit I quite frankly don't understand or give a damn about. I want to open this book and get a basic understanding of my health and an easy to follow approach to wellness. Maxim delivers in 146 pages without insulting your intelligence or making you feel like you need to google every other word to understand what he is saying. And many times with longer books, by the time you're done (if you even finish it) you've forgotten half of what you read. You'll read this and want to start making changes immediately!

It is a no nonsense approach that tells you what you need to know. It is a book that equips you with the knowledge you need with a dose of reality and a healthy serving of encouragement. He's not going to coddle you; nor, will he beat you down. Instead he'll give it to you straight. Then after he's told you like it is...well, the ball is in your court.

The best part of this book (aside from the awesome workouts included as well as diagrams in the back and resources to hit up when you need it) is that it's a journey to wellness. Not just physical wellness. A lot of the ideas in the book can and should be applied to every day life. It is a true testament to positive thinking and hard work.

So, in honor of the upcoming new year I'm giving away a copy of Real Fitness Real Nutrition to one lucky reader! The entries are simple: email me at fromfat2fab2009@gmail.com with the reasons why this book should be yours. Make sure they're well thought out because I'm going to post them on the blog and let the readers help me decide who wants/needs it most! Entries can be turned in through December 25th at midnight. On December 26th I'll reveal the winner. Make sure you include your address in the email so I can ship the book to you before the start of the new year and a new you!

New Year...new resolutions

1. Eat healthy. How will I make this happen? Well, I started today by making a list on this awesome notepad my mom got me for Christmas. It has a menu planner on one side and the grocery list on the other and is magnetic. So I went through Fitness magazine and picked a few recipes to try and then planned it out! I'll let you know how it goes.
2. Run three times a week. I will be training for a half marathon and I've done one before. The last one I didn't train for LIKE AT ALL and I ran 2 hrs and 39 minutes. In June, I would like to run below 2 1/2 hours so I'm hoping this will motivate me to actually train and therefore run at least three days a week.
3. Take one group fitness class a week. For my birthday, I am getting a gym membership to Gold's Gym again. It's the closest gym so there are no excuses on the weekend for not going. I am hoping they have added Zumba to their lineup because I took it in NJ and had a blast.
4. Weekend Warrior. I want to make Saturday and Sunday intense days for working out- trying new workouts from magazines and videos and just putting in more hours walking, running, biking, hiking, swimming or whatever. Anything active.
5. Join a league. I took a break from kickball for the winter but in the spring season I would like to sign up for that or softball. It's been a while since I played softball though so I might be a little rusty.

I think 5 goals is good. Not too difficult and with a clear plan of action. I will reevaluate in 3 months and we'll see where I am going. Since all this starts tomorrow, I went shopping and then picked up Chinese for the last time. And beer. Gotta enjoy my last meal before I start really focusing :)

The grocery list:

• Bananas
• Apples
• Cucumbers
• Grape Tomatoes
• Skim Milk
• Grapefruit Juice
• Yogurt
• Turkey Bacon
• Veggie Burgers
• Extra fiber english muffins
• Feta Cheese
• Hummus
• Turkey
• Fat Free Cheddar Cheese
• Hashbrowns
• Lettuce
• Chicken