Today, I, Kimberly Tapia, vow to complete 21 consecutive days of exercise and absolutely no alcohol consumption. 

Why am I doing this?

After spending the last couple of years as a self-proclaimed foodie, craft beer drinker and whiskey indulger, I have, much to my chagrin, gained about 20 pounds and lost self-esteem and confidence. As someone who talks about healthy cooking and eating on a regular basis, I have started to feel like a fraud with my ever-expanding waistline. But don’t misunderstand. I am not by any means obese or ridiculously overweight; I am what you would consider “skinny-fat”. I also don’t shove mounds of junk food into my mouth everyday. My diet consists of approximately 70% healthy food cooked at home and 30% unhealthy food (SEE: all the deliciously bad #foodporn I post on my instagram account). It’s not completely out of whack but I do want to reel it in and make sure that I am focusing on creating a better balance within myself.

What triggered this?

Over the weekend, my boyfriend and I went up to Central California to visit his family. His sister, whom I hadn’t seen since October 2014 was looking incredibly fit and healthy. After complimenting her on how great she looked, I asked her what she had done to drop the weight and look so great and toned. She proceeded to tell me that she had finished 2 rounds of BeachBody’s 21 Day Fix, changed her nutrition and during the process dropped 12 pounds! I asked her how many days she had actually worked out and if she had missed any days of working out and when she answered back, “none”, my jaw dropped. I was so proud of her but mostly I was jealous – the good kind of jealous. Never in my life have I been able to successfully commit myself to anything fitness-related and actually follow through with it until the very end. And, to be quite honest, I’ve become tired of starting personal fitness challenges and never finishing them. It makes me feel irresponsible and unreliable with myself.

But why get rid of alcohol? Everything in moderation, right?

The decision to also rid myself of alcohol consumption during these next 21 days along with my exercise regimen came from my desire to  feel 100% on top of my game every single day during these tough 3 weeks. I want to make sure that I don’t skip a workout due to a self-inflicted hangover. I usually indulge at least once a week and when I do, it is usually in excess of 4 drinks in a night. The result is a surplus of unnecessary calories and a head-splitting hangover the next day. I don’t plan on competely eliminating alcohol from my life after this 21 Day challenge but I do hope that the exclusion of it from my diet during this time period will help me get into the habit of moderation and, honestly, I just want to prove myself that I can do it. Will it be hard to say no to a deliciously cold and crisp IPA from a hip new brew pub in my area? YES. But I am going to exercise my willpower and say no until I have succesfully completed this promise to myself.

What I hope to get out of this:

I had a really hard time deciding wether or not I was going to make this information public. I was scared that I would announce this and then not go through with it and my friends would laugh and say “There she goes again. I knew she couldn’t do it.”. And, while I am scared of attempting and failing, I’m more scared of not attempting at all. I need a change in my life and health.

I NEED:
√ better health
√ more energy
√ weight loss
√ gain of confidence
√ to prove to myself that I CAN
√ HAPPINESS

What you can expect:

1. Weekly updates detailing my struggles and triumphs throughout the process. This 21 day series on my blog will serve as a journal of my experience.
2. Recipes that I’ve come up with that will complement a healthy and balanced diet.
3. Progress photos (this is the one I’m most nervous about but I want to hold myself accountable and I want both myself and you, my readers, to see what a 21 day challenge will do to someones body).

That’s it for now. Talk to you guys in 1 week! Wish me luck 🙂

XOXO,
♥Kimmy