Dem Goals

I did a thing, ya'll!

I FINALLY posted my intro vlog for my fitness series on YouTube :)

You can watch it here:







I hope this helps hold me accountable AND helps inspire others on their fitness and health journeys too!

Please feel free, as always, to comment or message me if you want someone to talk to during your own journey, or if you have tips for mine!

xoxo,
Alexandra Anne

my friend on my wrist

So there's this craze going on that I'm totally on board with, I didn't get into it because it is trendy but I'm totally aware that it is. Who cares?? It's AWESOME.

Oh I should explain what I'm talking about; my fitbit! For Christmas my then-fiance-now-husband got me what I had been desiring for MONTHS, a Fitbit Charge HR. :) :) :) And since I have opened said present, I am obsessed. There are tons of articles out there on the pros and cons of having a fitbit, and how others are equally obsessed, I recommend you Pinterest them or YouTube them.

But this is my post about it, because I love it :)

Here's why!


*It tracks my daily steps, duh; I've read around the internet that it is recommended to walk at least 5k steps a day to maintain health, and 10k steps a day to lose weight. When I hit 10k steps in a day my fitbit starts buzzing like crazy and gives me a virtual high five! It's awesome! It also encourages me to walk around more, one night I was so close to beating a friend in a challenge (I'll get to that below) so I went outside at 11:57 pm to get as many steps in 3 minutes as I could! Yeah, like I said, obsessed!

*It tracks my heart rate, which helps me know how certain activities affect me whether it is stress levels or workouts, or lovey times with the husband ;) 

*Due to the heart rate tracking, my fitbit tells me how many calories I've burned in a day! Now, I am one of those people who DETEST tracking calories. So. Much. But if I can see how many I'm burning, I'm more likely to track my intake and then I can see true progress and hold myself accountable!

*It's comfy. I am so used to wearing now, I feel naked without it (I have to take it off to charge it or when I shower, and when I got married!) 

*It's also a watch. I just have to flip my wrist over and it appears, no touch required (but sometimes I touch it too, it has a touch sensitive screen and a tiny button on the side to make the different options show up) 

*It tracks stairs and hills climbed in a day too!

*The app is the other cool part- I can see my sleep (tracked by the fitbit's heart monitor) and see how restless I am or how many times I wake up at night. I can also track my food on the app and it'll tell me if I still have calories allowed to consume based on how much I've burned!

*On the app I can challenge and be challenged by my friends! There are daily challenges, week-long challenges, and weekend challenges, and several people can join at once! It's another awesome motivation. 

Do I need a fitbit to be healthier? No. But does it help inspire me to make healthier choices? YES. I love it so so much. I'm super grateful to the husband for getting it for me! 

***** 

If you have a fitbit, add me as a friend and we can challenge each other!

Check out my #commitedtothesexy board on pinterest (and on instagram) for fitbit ideas, workout ideas, recipes, and more! 

Happy walking!'

xoxo,

Alexandra Anne 

re-ignite your spark

*****

So I'm trying to let myself open up more on this corner of the internet because I know it used to be so therapeutic and amazing for me to write and write and to connect with others through our words on the internet. But being real is hard, it's so much easier to fake a smile and only give the highlights of life and act all la-di-da. That would be so much simpler and easier, and I wouldn't have to write as much!

Heh, but that's not real life. Facebook and social media are lies, I get so fed up with the B.S. that people post, acting like that's truth and that they just have perfect lives. So fake.

(Oh and then there are the people that get WAY too personal and just downright whiny on their statuses.... oh oh and vague-booking, that's pretty bad too).

I digress. I want to be real, I want to help others by sharing my stories and struggles. I want to inspire someone. I want someone to know that if they need me I will be there, I am loyal and dedicated.

*****

Here I go, *breathes in, breathes out* phew.


I need to make changes in my life. I'm recently married and that is wonderful, but I live 2 hours away from my husband during the week and it's one of the hardest things I've gone through (and believe me, I have been through some horrific things, maybe someday I'll be brave enough to write about those). I'm also a senior in college and have a difficult degree full of drama and high emotions and stress and quite frankly some mean and rude people. I'm super sensitive so if someone ignores me blatantly, or curses me out during rehearsal, I take it pretty badly.


I could look at my schedule for the week and find all the things I dread, and count the minutes til I see my husband again (and yeah, ok, no matter what I still countdown til I see my love again, he gets me through the hard times). But if I focus only on the negatives, I will not be living my life to the fullest. I will not have joy, I will just be going through the motions (cue Buffy's musical episode) and I will be wasting my time.

Life isn't supposed to be just day-to-day fulfillment of obligations. There is no passion in that life, and if there is no passion, then what is the point? As a believer in Christianity, I am convinced by scripture and by personal experience that God has given us certain talents and passions for a reason, His glory and our joy. In my life I have been my happiest when I was using my talents and working hard for them. ("Find something you love and you'll never work a day in your life," great quote!!)

For 2016, my word for the year (cheesy right? Eh, at least it isn't just another fake resolution on the internet) is PASSION. And to accomplish this I will focus on some goals.



*I will find passion again for my music as I finish this last year of my Vocal Performance degree

*I will learn about the passions of a new marriage, and keep it alive and strong despite not seeing my husband every day

*I will find a church home to keep me grounded, and in the meantime discover more truths in God's Word

*I will open myself up in friendships and learn to trust and be vulnerable, despite the risks of being hurt (again)

*I will be passionate about my health and keep committing to taking care of myself physically and mentally!

*****

What are you passionate about?

Are you looking to connect with someone as flawed as you? Leave a comment or contact me if you like :)


xoxo,
Alexandra Anne


ps. Both pics in today's post were from my Summer trip to Europe!! Future blog post to come!

New Beginnings (Ooh, Is That Too Cheesy?)

Ciao, blog world! I've missed you! Now that summer break is approaching I seriously will be committing more time to writing here. I will especially be committed because of all the new things in my life I want to share with you! Phew, it's been a crazy year and it's only April!

I got engaged February 28th

I joined a FANTASTIC company in Jamberry the same day!

I was in an opera at my university (Mozart's The Magic Flute)

I've joined as a coach for Beachbody and will be starting my 21 Day Fix very soon!

I'm going to Europe for a week in June!

Sooooo many of my friends are getting married, and so am I :) so I guess I need to learn how to plan a wedding. I am sure I will be blogging about that journey.

I'm so excited for my fitness journey as a coach and as prep for my upcoming marriage (I want to be a healthy and fit wife!). My fiance is SO encouraging and does a lot of the healthy eating with me! (He also fences regularly, which is just plain hot; if we still dueled nowadays, he would kick butt). We have a phrase to get us through: #committedtothesexy ;)

Showing off my Jamberry nails, my drink of choice, and my gorgeous diamond!

And of course I'm excited for my journey to Europe for the 3rd time! Our university choir will be going to Vienna, Prague, and Budapest! Many many pictures to come ;)

I'm loving Jamberry, and feel wrong when I have naked nails haha. I never used to do my nails (I suck at polish, and it always smudges and chips the day after or DAY OF!) but now I'm hooked. And I love the friendships I've made through this journey of business! It's so much more than that, but it also helps me pay my bills. Crazy stuff.

Oh oh and in May I'm going to see Nightwish (right??) and one of my favorite bands EVER, Sabaton!!! Nashville, we're coming for you!!! (Who knew that this opera chick would love metal? Yeah, it's wonderful) Back in October the man and I saw Sabaton and absolutely loved their show (we already loved their music, turns out they're fantastic performers live too!) so we had to go find them again!

Total fangirl for their lead singer, Joakim <3 <3 <3

Hopefully in June I can go see Lindsey Stirling for the second time; she's truly amazing!! As a musician myself, going to live concerts is very important to me and keeps me going. I feel that we should support these artists who have given their everything for us to enjoy! Music is love. Seriously. Go see a concert. (or come to one of mine ;) )


Have I mentioned how much I love being engaged? It's the best. I have the best man in the world as my fiance and I have a gorgeous ring! So so happy!

So much excitement going on!
Time to study for finals, catch up on blogs, and get back to my journey of life!

xoxo,
Alexandra Anne