Goodbye 2019
Hello out there. Happy New Years Eve! It's almost a new decade. Reflecting back on this year I would have to say it's been one of the best and most challenging of my life. Between wedding festivities and all the fitness accomplishments; this year has given me so much clarity on who I am and what I want to become. I managed to lose 50 pounds this year and also made my new years resolution of successfully doing a pull up. I can't wait to see the amazing things 2020 has to offer.
First off, as promised, I'll give you my top 10 favorite films of 2019. These are in no particular order whatsoever.
Little Women
Honeyboy
Brittany Runs a Marathon
Ford vs Ferrari
JoJo Rabbit
Midsommar
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Parasite
Knives Out
The Farewell
2019 was a great year for film. Lots of great movies came out. I managed to watch 51 of them! That’s the most I’ve been able to watch in a year since I first started tracking them a couple years ago. Full list of movies I’ve watched this year is HERE.
I debated which movie to write about in this entry. I was originally going to do Knives Out and Brittany Runs a Marathon but I wanted to cut it to just 1 since this post has already gotten way too long. While I really loved both films, I have a feeling less people have heard about Brittany Runs a Marathon and so hopefully this will inspire more people to check it out (It’s free to watch on Amazon Prime Video right now).
Brittany Runs A Marathon (RT 89%)
Cut to the chase: A truly inspiring tale of a woman in her late 20’s trying to get her life back on track by setting a goal to run the NY Marathon.
That description sucks. This movie is really hard to just cut to the chase. As I watched it I saw the past 10 years of my life unfolding on the screen, it made me cry. I wanted to watch this in theaters but I couldn’t find it playing anywhere so I ended up watching it at home on Amazon Prime Video.
The story is about Brittany (played by Jillian Bell), a 27 year old who has always been the life of the party until the drinking and drugs over the years finally caught up to her. While at the doctors office attempting to get an Adderall prescription she learns some scary news about her health and is forced to make some changes. Hiding her depression behind a party mask, she is hesitant to change her lifestyle at first but once she starts she meets some friends who encourage and give her the mental strength to change her life. You see her start from the very beginning, barely able to run a lap around the block to then making a goal to finish the New York Marathon. I was really impressed by Jillian Bell’s acting. I had only ever seen her in comedies before so seeing her in something so emotionally heavy as this was different. She did a great job portraying her character and I saw so much of myself in her. I related so much to the personal shame she felt, the guilt, and perseverance it took to accomplish such a huge transformation as this.
The thing I really liked about this film was the raw-ness of it. Jillian Bell actually did lose 40 pounds over the course of this film, no prosthetics. This made it seem much more real. It was inspiring to watch her positive transformation but they also showed the mental ups and downs that come with making a serious lifestyle change. I know because I was Brittany… for most of my adult life. Drinking, drugs, fast food, naps. This was pretty much my lifestyle from age 18-28. I didn’t think about any of the food that was going into my mouth. I always saw myself as “athletic” but could never make a consistent workout routine. I made excuses for EVERYTHING and never took accountability to how it was affecting my body and mind. I never weighed myself so my weight just spiraled out of control. I wasn’t taking care of myself. It was a slow process and it took me 10 years to realize the choices I was making were what was making me depressed and were going to eventually kill me. This is very close to Brittany’s story.
I didn’t mean to make this review all about me but this movie resonated with me so much I thought I would admit to you how. I hope you will check it out and get inspired to make your own fitness goals. Mine was to be able to do a pull-up by the end of this year and I fucking did it. The great thing about fitness is that it just takes perseverance. As long as you put in the time, little by little, you'll develop the skills and be able to do more. It's so gratifying to look back and see how far you have come.
Last post of 2019! Still getting back in the swing of things. I’m excited to find out this years Oscar nominations on January 13th (please nominate Greta Gerwig again). Happy New Years everyone, see you in 2020!
First off, as promised, I'll give you my top 10 favorite films of 2019. These are in no particular order whatsoever.
Little Women
Honeyboy
Brittany Runs a Marathon
Ford vs Ferrari
JoJo Rabbit
Midsommar
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Parasite
Knives Out
The Farewell
2019 was a great year for film. Lots of great movies came out. I managed to watch 51 of them! That’s the most I’ve been able to watch in a year since I first started tracking them a couple years ago. Full list of movies I’ve watched this year is HERE.
I debated which movie to write about in this entry. I was originally going to do Knives Out and Brittany Runs a Marathon but I wanted to cut it to just 1 since this post has already gotten way too long. While I really loved both films, I have a feeling less people have heard about Brittany Runs a Marathon and so hopefully this will inspire more people to check it out (It’s free to watch on Amazon Prime Video right now).
Cut to the chase: A truly inspiring tale of a woman in her late 20’s trying to get her life back on track by setting a goal to run the NY Marathon.
That description sucks. This movie is really hard to just cut to the chase. As I watched it I saw the past 10 years of my life unfolding on the screen, it made me cry. I wanted to watch this in theaters but I couldn’t find it playing anywhere so I ended up watching it at home on Amazon Prime Video.
The story is about Brittany (played by Jillian Bell), a 27 year old who has always been the life of the party until the drinking and drugs over the years finally caught up to her. While at the doctors office attempting to get an Adderall prescription she learns some scary news about her health and is forced to make some changes. Hiding her depression behind a party mask, she is hesitant to change her lifestyle at first but once she starts she meets some friends who encourage and give her the mental strength to change her life. You see her start from the very beginning, barely able to run a lap around the block to then making a goal to finish the New York Marathon. I was really impressed by Jillian Bell’s acting. I had only ever seen her in comedies before so seeing her in something so emotionally heavy as this was different. She did a great job portraying her character and I saw so much of myself in her. I related so much to the personal shame she felt, the guilt, and perseverance it took to accomplish such a huge transformation as this.
The thing I really liked about this film was the raw-ness of it. Jillian Bell actually did lose 40 pounds over the course of this film, no prosthetics. This made it seem much more real. It was inspiring to watch her positive transformation but they also showed the mental ups and downs that come with making a serious lifestyle change. I know because I was Brittany… for most of my adult life. Drinking, drugs, fast food, naps. This was pretty much my lifestyle from age 18-28. I didn’t think about any of the food that was going into my mouth. I always saw myself as “athletic” but could never make a consistent workout routine. I made excuses for EVERYTHING and never took accountability to how it was affecting my body and mind. I never weighed myself so my weight just spiraled out of control. I wasn’t taking care of myself. It was a slow process and it took me 10 years to realize the choices I was making were what was making me depressed and were going to eventually kill me. This is very close to Brittany’s story.
I didn’t mean to make this review all about me but this movie resonated with me so much I thought I would admit to you how. I hope you will check it out and get inspired to make your own fitness goals. Mine was to be able to do a pull-up by the end of this year and I fucking did it. The great thing about fitness is that it just takes perseverance. As long as you put in the time, little by little, you'll develop the skills and be able to do more. It's so gratifying to look back and see how far you have come.
Last post of 2019! Still getting back in the swing of things. I’m excited to find out this years Oscar nominations on January 13th (please nominate Greta Gerwig again). Happy New Years everyone, see you in 2020!
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