One of my favourite Simpsons episodes is the one where Homer was walking around at night and comes across an “All Night Gym”. Here’s a link to the YouTube video: http://youtu.be/R4i8SpNgzA4 My favourite line is “Go over to the abdominator and I will shout slogans at you!” That’s one of the most important parts of Inner Athletes for me- that someone shouting slogans at me. And, someone was making sure I was doing the exercises properly. I did the work this year- I kept showing up at the gym- I probably could have worked out at home– but I never did…. I tried for years to exercise at home- I’d start then stop or I would give up halfway through the workout or I would skip exercises that were hard. This is why I think joining a gym worked for me:
1. The instructor (in my case Sarah) is super awesome at building exercise routines for each part of my body. I’ve worked muscles I didn’t even know existed!
2. Motivation!!! The class is so much fun, I want to go to every class! When I’m there, I’m motivated by Sarah to not quit- to keep going- to try harder.
3. Group classes are awesome. I feel a comradery with the other women in the class. We have something in common- we survived the class together.

So hopefully you’ve taken my advice and joined a gym. So now what? GO TO THE GYM! Then start trying to find these people to make your gym experience like mine! You will need:
a Louise- who will make you laugh; a Kelly-who will make you feel included; a Tammy- who laughs at all of your jokes even after the twentieth time for the same joke; a Nicole- who greets you with the biggest smile; a Carina- who makes you want to lift heavier weights; and a Kerri- who is your workout BFF and is always there for you. And a Kathy and all the other Inner Athletes who always give compliments on your changing shape and offer so much encouragement. These people have been really key to my success this year. I’m super grateful to them for making it such a fun year at the gym. I hope you join a gym with people like that or better yet join my gym innerathletes.net!

Then next thing you need to do is change your eating habits! I wish I would have changed my eating right away last September instead of waiting until February. Clean Eating is time consuming- I know! If you are organized and cook smart like me, you will have the time to work full time, parent your kids, eat healthy AND still have time to go to the gym. Last week (my first week of work), I still managed to hit the gym every day (except Friday because I went to a movie instead). This week is my 1 year Inner Athletes anniversary! I plan on celebrating by going to as many workouts as I can! It has taken some planning and organization but I’m determined to make it work! To take away the excuses, I’ve pre made a few meals so my family will still be eating healthy meals this week. Saturday night I made a clean “oven fried” chicken and twice baked potatoes. I made double the food and froze the leftovers- we will eat the leftovers on Thursday (since my fitness class is right after work so reheating a dinner is all I will have time to do). My kids LOVED these chicken drumsticks. You will need:

3 lb chicken pieces with skin and bone (I used just drumsticks)
2 cups almond flour
1 egg
1/2 cup almond milk
3-5 TBSP melted butter or olive oil
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp oregano
4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp Cajun spices
1 tsp paprika

You can find the directions at http://crunchymama.net/easy-oven-fried-chicken-paleo-gluten-free/ Super yummy!

Don’t they look amazing??!!!

I served them with twice baked potatoes (I made double as well and froze them) and sliced raw veggies and dip. (I skipped the cheese on my potato but my kids still eat a bit of cheese)
I’m trying to do it all, stay sane in the process and still stay happy. I’m sure with all the support I have, I can rock it out- and maybe inspire you to rock it out too!

Choose happy 🙂