21 Day Fix - Round 2 - Week 1 Recap

I didn't want to keep documenting my daily 21 Day Fix routine, considering I documented the entire first round, but I did want to recap the week for you.

First of all, everything is easier! Yay! The workouts are getting easier, even Cardio Fix, but I still hate that one!  In fact, I am actually going out shopping this week to bump up my weights. I use 5lbs and 8lbs. I now need 12lbs for some of the workouts, so basically, I'll be switching between 5lb, 8lb, and 12lbs! I cannot believe how fast I needed to bump up my weights. I've definitely been getting stronger and my ability to hold plank is getting better too. I'm able to hold much longer than I could at the beginning of all of this.

Here's my plank:

As for meal planning, it's really starting to become second nature. I'm not struggling to think of what to eat and I'm finding it more natural to eat within the portions given to me. I switched up a lot of my meals this week, which is really daring for me. I usually eat the same boring stuff, but it was fun to try new things!

As for body changes, I'm not losing anymore pounds yet, but I am down another 2 inches! Yipee!! I'm really looking forward to my summer clothes fitting this year!

21 Day Fix Before and After

I have completely finished the 21 Day Fix! I'm pretty impressed with this program. It's kind of amazing the results you can get in 3 weeks. That's hardly any time at all and only 30 minutes a day, plus eating right.

Impressions of the workouts:

1. I love the way Autumn encourages you the entire workout. She pushes just enough, but encourages right along with you.

2. I also love how the countdown ticker is right there at the bottom of the screen. This keeps me motivated!

3. I love, love, love the modifier. Autumn doesn't make you feel guilty for having to modify. This is great because I've done plenty of workouts before where the instructor makes you feel bad for having to modify. I used the modifier a lot the first week, but by week two I was already moving away from some modified moves. You know what though? I still used the modifier during week three and I will probably need to modify this next cycle as well.

4. Bonus rounds! I have never liked bonus rounds on any workout, but Autumn makes them quick and easy and I love that about her instruction.

5. One thing that Autumn says a lot is "you can do anything for one minute." This keeps me going! I keep reminding myself that and it motivates me. This is a good life motivator too!

Impressions of eating:

1. Switching my eating habits was not too bad. I mostly ate well to begin with, but the 21 Day Fix helped me to see that I was way out of control with portions. I loved the containers and found them to be so easy to use and understand. Plus, who doesn't love a whole bunch of fun colors around their kitchen?

2. I thought meal prep was easy and by the time I got to week three, I felt like a pro!

3. Shakeology: I was really hesitant to use Shakeology, mostly because of the price, but I wanted to go all in. I wanted to make sure I got the best possible results, so I went ahead and bought it. I figured if I didn't think it was worth it, then I wouldn't keep buying it for future cycles. Well, I love it. It's like dessert in a cup. I enjoy it the most right after working out and I really feel like it makes a difference. I've gone ahead and ordered another bag for this next cycle.

As far as I'm concerned, I'm sold on this program. It's really great how quick the results are and how there's nothing gimmicky about it. It's just hard work and eating well. I still need to do another cycle or two to get to my goal weight, but for now, I'm really happy with the first 21 Day Fix results.

I lost a total of 4.5lbs and 6.4 inches all over.

So, without further ado, my before and after photos:

21 Day Fix- Day 20 & 21 Weekend Recap

Day 20:

Today was a busy day for me. I was in First-Aid and CPR training from 9:00am-3:00pm. We had to eat lunch out, which was actually pretty easy to fit into my meal plan. I was exhausted at the end of the day and still had to work out when I got home, yuk! I managed to get Dirty 30 in with no problem and then did a modified yoga routine before bed.

I can't believe tomorrow is the last day of the Fix!! Woohoo!


Day 21:

Today is the last day of the 21 Day Fix. I MADE IT!!! I did my yoga today and threw in some 10-minute abs for an extra push right here at the end. It was awesome. Today was so beautiful outside that I opened the doors and did my routine with the fresh breeze blowing in. Eating today was pretty normal, although I did have a small sliver of dessert this evening. I already took my measurements and can't wait to post about my before and after.

Stay Tuned!!!

Sorry, no pictures today, how boring! I was so busy this weekend, I didn't snap pictures other than my before and afters, which you'll see soon. :)

21 Day Fix - Day 19 Recap

Today was cardio fix day. I'm not even going to elaborate anymore on cardio fix day, other than to say it's complete.

I ate lunch out today, but did pretty well. I did sneak in one small piece of chocolate after lunch. It was a chocolate egg, about the size of hershey kiss. It was pretty good, but surprisingly sweet. This is pretty normal. When we give up sweets, then have them, they are overwhelmingly sweet sometimes.

I worked out before lunch, but wish I had worked out first thing in the morning. I've got to get back on track with that. For dinner tonight, we had fish, green beans, and salad. It was great! :)

I don't have too much else to say, but am definitely looking forward to the weekend recap. Can you believe I only have 2 days left?? CRAZY!

21 Day Fix - Day 18 Recap

Today was a very busy day for me. I think I'm having a really hard time adjusting to the time change. I have had the worst time getting out of bed! I slept in again this morning, which made me rush all morning long in order to get out the door in time for my daughter's gymnastics class. I squeezed in my workout just before lunch, then I rushed to get dressed, eat lunch, and head out. While we were out, we had to stop at the bank and the grocery store. We ran out of lettuce!! I can't handle not having a salad with my dinner, so I had to get some more ASAP!

After we got home, I had to start on dinner, run a meeting for work, get my daughter to bed, then do homework for my class. I was exhausted. Today was supposed to be a two-a-day, but I didn't make it to the second workout. I was really worn out, so I did a few yoga poses and called it a night. I don't feel bad about that because I did my Pilates workout earlier and I think it's really important to listen to our bodies. I really believe my body needed a break from the two-a-days, plus tomorrow is
CARDIO! I'm screaming with excitement, can't you tell?

I decided today that I would focus on drinking my water. I noticed the past few days I hadn't really been drinking as much water as I should, so today I made that my focus and goal. I'm happy to report I drank all of my water and then some!

Ultimately, today was a good day. It was busy, but I still got in at least one of my workouts, I ate well, and I drank all of my water. I'd say success. It's crazy to think I only have 3 days left on this program. I can't wait to compare my before an after!

Sorry I didn't have any pictures from today, but at least you get to see my cute water bottle, monogram and all!

21 Day Fix - Day 17 Recap

It happened. I hit a slump today. I felt so unmotivated to workout. I kept putting it off and putting it off, until it was close to 4pm and I knew I had to get my workout in ASAP because we had to go to church at 7pm. I watched the clock and 4pm rolled around and rolled away. I finally worked out at 4:30pm and I was dreading it the entire time. In fact, I kept checking my phone and work to see if something had come in that needed my attention right away, but of course, nothing did, so at 4:34pm I turned on the DVD.

Today was leg day. You'd think I'd be happy about that, but these two-a-days are getting the best of me. I still felt worn from the cardio fix last night. I finally just decided to suck it up and do it. I slugged through the workout. I mean, honestly, my muscles felt so heavy. I wasn't even sure I was going to finish. It felt so hard working out at 4:30pm. I kept pushing though and it hurt more than usual. There is definitely a brain/body connection because I felt unmotivated and my muscles didn't want to work as hard as a result. The good news is though, that I got through the workout and not only did I get through it, I didn't use the modifier at all, even though I felt like being lazy.

These kind of days happen and I wanted to be real about it because it happens to all of us. We will all hit that wall of feeling unmotivated, but we have to push through it and we will see the results of our labor when we do. After I was done working out, I actually started to feel a lot better. My mood literally changed within 30 minutes of working out. I felt happier, more focused, and noticed a slight pep in my step. I felt so good that when we got home from church, I did my second workout for the day. It helped that it was only 10 minutes (10-Minute abs), but still, I did it and I felt motivated while doing it.

It's OK to feel unmotivated. It's OK when we have slump days. It's OK when we mess up a little on eating, but what's not OK is quitting. When slump days happen, we have to push through them, because the next day we probably won't feel that way. I don't want to be an "I wish" girl anymore, I want to be an "I will" girl and I want to stay that way.

21 Day Fix - Day 16 Recap

Well, well, well, would you look at that, day 16! I have never, in the history of my life, worked out for 16 days in a row. Happy Sweet 16 to me!! Woohoo! This is pretty amazing!

Today I stuck to my meal plan exactly! I did not nibble like I did the other day and I spaced out all of my meals evenly. It's easy to feel overconfident when we're on eating plans, but that overconfidence is what leads to poor choices, like "little bites" here and there. Those little bites add up and I paid the consequence for that on the scale. Today I'm back in the saddle!

I also had two-a-days again today. This morning was upper fix. Easy, peasy! I love upper fix. It's challenging and fun and my arms are the area I really want to change, so I feel super motivated on arms day. I got through the workout fine, but I was dreading tonight.

Tonight was...wait for it... CARDIO FIX! Yes, I'm yelling, because that's how I feel when I do cardio fix. I feel like yelling and I do most of the way through. You know I'm crazy when I choose to do cardio fix as a second workout in the middle of the week. What is wrong with me? Needless to say, I made it through. Not only did I make it through, I actually didn't use the modifier for some of the sequences. I give myself a big thumbs up for that! I still look like a fool doing cardio, but that's just the nature of the beast I guess and at least I'm doing it!

For your viewing pleasure and my embarrassment, I've posted a video for you to see me attempt to do burpees. I'm struggling, as you can see, but I'm not giving up and one day I will be able to do this perfectly well! :)