When the going gets tough, you discover who you really are: adding fitness to my health makeover.

Yesterday I posted about the nutritional aspect of my health changes and how my drastic change in diet completely turned my world upside down. As in everything else in life, once you start mastering one thing it is necessary to add upon it to make your life exponentially more miserable. To follow this need, I decided this summer to add a fitness regiment to my new healthy lifestyle.

For the first several months I just walked. Every day. Sounds easy, I know, but it was embarrassingly difficult at first. Eventually I felt strong enough that I was no longer dying before I got to the end of the block. It was time to step up my challenge.

I decided to try out the 21 Day Fix by BeachBody. It consists of a nutritional guidance plan, DVD's with different workouts for each day of the week, and an online support coach who keeps you motivated and accountable.

My first workout was a monster. I was sweating buckets and by the end of the 30 minute session my legs and arms were rubber. I was miserable for three days. I could feel the misery in my muscles every time I bent down to pick something up, stepped up into the car, or walked down the stairs. I learned firsthand what the expression to "shred" your muscles comes from, because it described exactly how I felt. I couldn't believe how badly I hurt. I wondered how I could possibly do this day in and day out. My body was simply not strong enough. I was not strong enough.

I don't know how, but I pushed through anyway.

The second week was a little easier. The more intense workouts were still difficult, but somehow it was more tolerable. By the third week, I felt fantastic.

I have just completed my second round of 21 days. I feel stronger every day. This does not mean, however, that everything has suddenly become easy. Some days I just don't want to do it. I'm tired, I have projects to work on, and the effort seems too much for me to bear. Last week, for example, was rough. A few of the days I didn't work out and my nutrition was junk. I stayed up way too late, not turning into bed until midnight. I literally lay in bed thinking of all the reasons why I shouldn't set that alarm to 5am so I could do my workout. And then I heard a voice in my head saying "If you're tired of starting over again, then stop quitting!" It was the voice of the woman in my exercise DVD's, Autumn Calabrese. I hear her saying it every morning, hammering it into my head as we are struggling to hold that plank for 5 more seconds, or push that sumo squat a few more inches lower. I set my alarm, did my 5am workout, and rocked the nutrition all day. Day Conquered.

Wherever you are on your own journey, remember that tomorrow brings a new day of opportunities and challenges, full of hope and sometimes heartache. It is a fresh start to reaching your goal, even when the road gets bumpy. I am thankful to be surrounded by supporters who encourage, rather than tear down my frequently wobbling wall of resolve.

Through this journey of ups and downs, I am discovering my deep inner strength. I am finding my true self that was buried so deep inside of me I had almost forgotten she was there. I am stronger than I realized, and more capable than I ever dreamed.

I've got this.