Day 15: Healthier Addictions

I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been participating in a fitness program called My Peak Challenge (affectionately referred to as “MPC”) that has helped me to lose 90 pounds (so far) since January 2016. I can’t say enough good things about this program. It has literally changed my life. Before MPC, I was upwards of 250 pounds, and I felt every bit of it. I was uncomfortable in my own skin, and my feet hurt pretty much constantly. I live within sight of the Pacific Ocean, and I never wanted to walk to the beach, because it was too hard to walk back home again up 197 steps and a 1/4 mile trail. Exercise in general just didn’t happen, and my eating habits were terrible. And then, I met Sam.

Well, ok, technically I haven’t met him…though he has commented on my Facebook posts once or twice. But, I digress…

Sam Heughan is the Scottish actor playing Jamie Fraser in the Starz hit, “Outlander”. He is also the founder of My Peak Challenge. In 2015, he wanted to inspire people to live healthier lives and challenge themselves to set and achieve goals – both fitness-related and non-physical – as well as to raise money for the UK-based charity, Bloodwise. It started out quite simply, utilizing social media to encourage people to work out and donate to Bloodwise. In 2016, as word spread about the program, it evolved into a 60-day prep program complete with daily workouts and meal plans to help prepare participants for their May challenge month. In 2017, it’s been bigger than ever. More than 9,000 “Peakers” have enrolled in what is now a 12-month program of daily workouts designed to build strength and endurance paired with a nutrition plan that offers daily menus for the entire year. And it can be scaled to fit any fitness level, whether you’re starting out completely sedentary, or you’re an Olympic athlete.

The best part – half of the $99 membership fee goes to Bloodwise to fund blood cancer research. Half!

I didn’t hear about MPC until December of 2015. Completely obsessed with Outlander (both the books and the tv series are fabulous!), I followed Sam on Twitter. He kept going on about this Peak Challenge 2016 thing, and I wanted to find out what it was all about. I had reached the point where I knew I had to do *something,* and this seemed like it might be what I needed. When I learned that there would be videos of Sam demonstrating the workouts, I decided to sign up. Even if I never did a workout, it’d be worth it. (If you’ve ever seen Sam Heughan, you know I speak the truth!)

But I did do the workouts, and when 2017 came around with a year-long program, I signed up for that, too. And now, here I am. I walk the dog to the beach, down and up all of those stairs nearly every day. My feet don’t hurt anymore. I basically have a full gym in the house, and actually use all of the equipment in it regularly. (I know, it boggles the mind.)

With this newfound appreciation for getting fit has come some healthier addictions, too. I have a strawberry protein smoothie pretty much every day. It’s better than scarfing down a box of chocolate chip cookies, and it tastes pretty darned good. My day doesn’t feel complete without it.

My other new addiction is goofy workout tanks. I seem to have amassed quite a collection. Here are just a few: