A New Year Means 5 New Changes

Happy New Year! #knights #theknightshall #newyearseve #helmets #helmet #metal #armor #armoredcombatleague #aclusa #aclusaknights

A post shared by Caitlyn Nichols (@caitlynjnichols) on Dec 31, 2017 at 9:43pm PST

I hope everyone had a great holiday and a fun New Years Eve/Day!

I found my holiday to by quite relaxing and heartwarming seeing relatives up at my Aunt's camp in Maine - it was a lovely day to spend Christmas Eve on a beautiful lake! Christmas Day we spent the morning sleeping in and waiting for my father to return from plowing (its sad when he gets calls during this time of year - feeling as though he misses out on the festivities due to snow storms.) Thankfully there wasn't much for snow that day and he came home earlier than expected.

The Knights Hall has been very busy this month! We had two chapter fights and the 2nd Annual New Years Bash Knight Fight; we had a few folks from my classes fight for the first time at the Knight Fight and did phenomenal. My lady warriors also fought long and hard, and I look forward to fighting alongside with them once I have my full armor kit.

Speaking of armor, I am halfway there! I had to recently upgrade my money jar to a full size 4 pint mason jar as my pesky one pint jar couldn't handle all the small change and bills I've collected over the course of four months. The amor-ritis I call it (like the familiar college saying we've heard called Senior-ritus) is kicking inside me brutally.

So many changes are happening in my work and personal life its mind boggling, knowing soon I'll be able to show what I've got as a warrior. Let's get to it:

1. New Eating

There has been a change in diet for me – the "Knight Fit Diet" (pretty much Paleo) is recommended to new and current fighters in my class. I have switched over to Paleo to meet these guidelines (meaning I am no longer full blown vegetarian. It was a great experience overall, learning a lot about my body and how much better I feel, and I will definitely incorporate some recipes on a later date.) This new years means a change in food habits going the Paleo route: no carbs (OH GOD TORTURE! I HEART BREAD!), no legumes (RIP HUMMUS), no dairy (eh, I had trouble with some dairy, so it isn't a major loss), no starches (goodbye french fries and loaded baked potatoes), and alcohol (OH [insert swear word here]). I'm told to stick with this routine until I reach a healthy manageable weight, so I'm seeing potential at the end.

2. Class Attendance

A goal of mine for this year is to increase class attendance from 3 a week to 4. I've been very pleased with results from attending three classes a week that I feel four shouldn't be that difficult to manage as long as I have one night to work on Grad school work. With my work life changing, I can drive directly to Nashua from my work to get to the Hall earlier to work on stuff before class.

3. Do You Even Lift?

I want to learn weight lifting. I want to successfully pull through a set of Burpees and do the perfect push up. I want to sprint faster without falling flat on my face. There is much I want to learn and this year I wish to learn new fitness techniques and challenges to push myself in a positive direction.

4. Fitbit Challenge

I LOVE my Fitbit and enjoy the weekly challenges I have with classmates to see who completes the most steps in a week: two challenges I compete in are Weekday Warrior and Weekend Warrior. I've been nailing my Weekday Challenges (thanks again to new work schedules) month long. A certain someone though (*COUGH* COUGH* Jaye *COUGH* COUGH*) recently got a Fitbit for Christmas and smashed my title for first place last week...

If you are reading this Jaye, challenge accepted.

So my goal is to continue exceeding my step goal of 8K a day to 10K a day.

5. A Better Mindset

The past five months have been the best not just physically but mentally as well. I've changed my mindset to focus solely on my overall health and I plan to continue this change into the new year. "Be a Warrior" is what I repeat to myself on occasion on my good and bad days – it has brought much benefit. I will try my hardest to not stress myself out as much or have anxiety get in the way of my warrior life.

Bring it on 2018

I have a good feeling 2018 will be a year of many changes and for good things to fall into place. The Hall is whom I have to thank for it. This crazy knight family welcomed me into their arms back in August and welcomed me again in full bear-hug mode at the strike of 12 a.m. New Years Day. My family at home has witnessed changes within a few months and have seen how much happier I have become. It was a tough beginning 2017, but as soon as August rolled the corner it started to turn for the better. And now, this path continues to lead onto an adventure of a lifetime for warrior Cait...