CIZE - WEEK 3 Recap - FINAL REVIEW

I finally wrapped up CIZE!

Let's just say this was the MOST FUN I have ever had with a workout program. It was right on point (dance pun intended) for what I wanted to be doing at the time I started this program.

The third week of the program was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Seriously, awesome. The dances were so much fun.

"Go for it" workout was a lot of fun, but slightly confusing at first. Once I got the hang of it though I really enjoyed it, but it didn't quite live up to "Living in the 8s." Living in the 8s is the LAST workout and it was by far the most fun. At first I was all mixed up and I couldn't stop laughing because I felt silly and the music was cracking me up because it didn't feel like it should go with the actual dance. After A LOT of practicing, I finally got the moves down and I actually started to feel how well it went with the music.

Overall, I was super impressed with this program. There was technically a fourth week of the program that recapped all the previous workouts, but I have to admit, I was ready to go back to strength, so I didn't really follow through the last week.

The only downside to this program (this is only personal to me), but I didn't really lose weight. My body really doesn't respond well to cardio. I don't usually lose weight doing cardio. I'm more of the strength type.  This is totally unique to my body though and a lot of my other challengers DID lose weight, so if you're the cardio type and you love to dance, or you're willing to try dancing, this program is totally for you!

Here's a video of me doing my FINALE!

If you're interested in joining my next challenge group, or want more information, please email me at fitwithkelli@gmail.com or sign up here: Challenge Group Interest form

PiYo - Day 1

Soooo, I'm back! Phew! I had to get through this grad school class and finally it's OVER!! Celebrate with some chocolate! Just kidding, celebrate by doing more work and maybe having a chocolate Shakelogy.

Anyway, today I started a new fitness program: PiYo! This is done by Chalene Johnson. I've been eyeing this baby for a long time now and finally, I'm doing it. I'm going to stick to the eating plan of the 21 Day Fix, but focus on the workouts from PiYo.

Today was just the fundamentals day. It was about 45 minutes, but it was just working on alignment. Surprisingly, I felt really worked out afterward! I can't wait to get into the meat of things tomorrow. :) I really miss doing yoga all the time, so I'm super pumped about this.

I'll keep you posted!

21 Day Fix - Round Two FINAL RESULTS

I apologize for not updating week 2 of round 2, but I'm actually in grad school, so I have been SWAMPED!!

I have my results from Round 2 of the 21 Day Fix and I'm impressed! This time around was a lot easier than the first round. I really got into the flow of things and I was able to plan and prep without as much thought as I did the first round.

I have LOVED this program. It's amazing how great the results are in such a short amount of time. I love Autum's motivation throughout the program. I also decided to keep drinking Shakeology. This time I went with vegan chocolate... Umm... YUM!!! It's really rich tasting. I added some unsweetened vanilla almond milk and it taste pretty amazing!

I have just begun Round 3 of the 21 Day Fix, as I'm still not at my goal weight, but I'm going to switch it up some. I started doing TurboFire with Chalene Johnson. It's really awesome. I'm also going to test out a few other programs and once I decide on one, I'll walk everyone through it, just like I did with the 21 Day Fix. No matter which program I use for working out, I will still use the nutrition plan for the 21 Day Fix because it's so easy to use and really keeps me on track with my eating.

So, the moment you've been waiting for... MY RESULTS!

This time I am down 1 more pound and 3 inches!

FRONT:

BACK: 

SIDE: 

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 12 Recap

Today was Cardio Fix day. Do I need to say more? Here's what it looked like:

I was exhausted! I noticed that I was able to last a bit longer for each round before switching to the modifier, so that was good. I also realized how glad I am that this workout is on Friday, because once it's over, I have the weekend!! 

Nothing crazy for eating today. Normal stuff, wasn't that hungry, super satisfied with moving Shakeology to afternoon snack. I'm actually leaving to go out of town this weekend, so I'm a bit nervous about how that will impact me, but I'm prepared. I have tried to plan out my meals for most of the weekend, so hopefully I can stay on track. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend and I'll update you as to how it is doing the 21 Day Fix while being out of town! 

21 Day Fix - Day 11 Recap

Today was Pilates day. Pilates is really tough. I'm not sure I like it that much, but I could see a major difference in my strength between last week and this week. I was able to hold the plank position for the entire time this time. I was shaking, but I did it! Out of all the workouts, I feel like Pilates goes by the slowest. It does work my lower body really well though and I feel great afterward, but I have a difficult time getting through the workouts sometimes. At least there is no cardio in Pilates, so that helps!

Today I had eggs and waffle for breakfast, fruit for a snack, ground turkey and veggies for lunch, Shakeology for snack, meatloaf and veggies for dinner and a handful of popcorn for an evening snack. I was pretty full all day. I really think moving my Shakeology to a snack as opposed to breakfast made all the difference in my hunger and cravings. Love my Shakeology!

I'm officially down 5lbs today and I can tell I'm down some inches too. I haven't measured yet, though. I'm going to wait and measure at the end of the 21 days. I can't believe I'm halfway there. It's amazing, I can already see major body changes. I'm not really looking forward to tomorrow because I don't like cardio, but I'm betting that I will be able to get through it better tomorrow than I did last week, which means I'm progressing and that's all that matters!

Here's a picture of me doing the lower fix yesterday!

21 Day Fix - Day 10 Recap

Because yesterday was so emotionally draining, I thought I'd sleep in this morning. At the time, this felt like a good idea and really it was, but then it messed up my entire day in terms of exercising and eating. I like to do my workouts first thing in the morning, so that it's done and over with, but today I couldn't because I needed to get my daughter's breakfast, get dinner in the crockpot, log into work, wash the dishes, etc. One thing led to another and I didn't workout until 4:00pm! My meals were all at different times of the day, which was fine, but remember I'm a creature of habit, so this really threw me off! 

Today was lower fix again. I really like the lower fix, but I pushed myself more this time than I did

This is what the grocery store looked like on Monday.
Doesn't it look amazing? 

last time and now I'm pretty sore! I'm really starting to see a difference in my abilities and an increase in my strength.  

I never posted last week about my meals. I forgot, my apologies. I basically had Shakeology for breakfast, fruit for snack, lunch was turkey burgers and broccoli, greek yogurt for snack, chicken and veggies for dinner/ pork and veggies for dinner. I had some trouble with getting overly hungry, so this week I decided to move my Shakeology from breakfast to a snack and that seemed to solve the problem. I have not been struggling with hunger this week. We grocery shop on Mondays, so I usually just find stuff around the house on the weekend to fit my containers. I would not suggest this approach if food is an area you struggle with, but we were already eating healthy before this program, so I feel comfortable with finding things around the house to work in my meal plans for the weekends. 

I'm really loving this program and today I was just thinking about how it is the perfect, "intro back into working out" program. I love how easy it was to start working out again and how easy it was to get my nutrition back on track! I really cannot wait until Day 21 to see my full results! 

21 Day Fix - Day 9 Recap

Today was a rough day for me, not because of the 21 Day Fix, but because I got sad news that my undergraduate college is closing. This is a very sad moment in my life. I went to a small women's liberal arts school, where we all felt like sisters. It has felt so unbelievably sad all day and I've been going through the phases of grief from sadness to anger back and forth all day. If you never attended a small school like this, it would be hard for you to understand, but know it was an emotionally draining day.

Although, I am very sad about this, I learned something about myself today that I think was a huge personal moment. Today was the first time that I was emotionally upset about something and I didn't immediately turn to food for comfort. This, folks, is B-I-G! The 21 Day Fix has taught me so much about nutrition, taking care of my body, and not losing sight of what's important. Turning to food never even crossed my mind. This is really a huge moment for me and if you are the type that struggles with emotional eating, you understand what I mean! Progress, people, progress!

Today was upper fix again. This time I used the 5lb weights as my light weights and the 8lb weights as my heavy weights. This was fine for me and I honestly should have done that last week. I felt great after the workout and my arms are still burning a bit this evening! I really love the strength training workouts a lot.

Eating today was really off. Like I said, I didn't turn to food for emotional support, but honestly, I didn't turn to food much at all. I ended up having to squeeze in all my stuff that I missed throughout the day toward the end of the day, which was fine, but it would have been more beneficial had I eaten every 2-3 hours. Either way, the victory of not emotionally eating was there!

Tomorrow is lower fix. I'm hoping that I can workout some of this emotion tomorrow with exercise!

I'll leave you with this beautiful picture of my college to give you a slight glimpse of my heart.

21 Day Fix - Day 8 Recap

Mondays are the worst! No, really, my Mondays are so hectic I cannot even remember what happens. Here's what my Monday looks like: Get up, exercise, eat breakfast, play with daughter, shower, eat lunch, take daughter to violin, go to the grocery store, come home, unload groceries, scarf down dinner, go to my online graduate class, get daughter to bed late, read Bible with husband, go online, go to bed. It's all day, non-stop. I've always been so worn down by Mondays, but today was a bit different. I was still tired by the end of the day, but I had so much more energy!

I really believe working out, drinking my Shakeology, and eating well is making a huge difference in my life. I am feeling all kinds of awesome! Today was Cardio Fix Total Body, which is different than the regular Cardio Fix that I hardly got through on Day 5! Today's was tough because I really do struggle with cardio, but there was a bit of strength training thrown in as well, so that helped a lot. I noticed a difference in how I preformed on Day 1 versus how I performed today. My energy level was much higher and I only used the modifier for half of the ski jumping move. On Day 1, I used the modifier the entire time. It's not about perfection, it's about progress, which I'm making, so I'm proud of myself even when I use the modifier!

I posted this picture on my Facebook page today:

I think about how far I've come in only a week and I felt the truth behind this quote. I kept telling myself, "I wish I looked like that" or "I wish I could just lose 10 lbs" or various other "I wish" statements, but the reality is I didn't want to put in the work to get there. I finally decided that I wasn't going to be an "I wish" kind of girl anymore, I was going to be an "I WILL" and here I am, living out my "I Will" statement! 

Are you ready to be an "I WILL?" 

21 Day Fix - Day 6 and Day 7 (Weekend Recap)

Day 6: Today was Dirty 30. I had no idea what that was and honestly, I still don't really get it. Maybe that's a pop cultural thing, or maybe it's just clever because it rhymes? Anyway, I liked this workout a lot. I really liked the lower fix and Dirty 30 is right behind that in terms of what has been my favorite so far. It was much better than that disaster I faced on Day 5. Today I got my rhythm back and felt like I was really working it!

Eating was a bit challenging today. We were invited to dinner at a friend's house and  I didn't want to be rude by asking what was for dinner, so I just brought a salad for everyone to ensure I got some veggies and then ate what they had prepared. It was a little heavy on the carbs because I already used my yellow containers, but that's OK! Building relationships with people is much more important than one off meal. Instead of worrying about it, I just decided ahead of time that when I got home tonight I'd do the 10 minute abs fix. Umm... HELLO!! That was insane. I was thinking 10 minutes of abs would be doable, but wow, my abs were burning! It did go by pretty quickly, but they were on fire!

Tomorrow is Yoga Fix, the day I've been waiting for!!! Yay! I love yoga. Can't wait to enjoy my active recovery day.


Day 7: Today was Yoga Fix!! Yay! It was just as great as I had imagined. There I was doing yoga next to the fire place and stretching out all of my muscles from the week and I kept thinking to myself, "I can't believe I completed an entire week of working out!" It felt pretty amazing and is probably one of the biggest fitness goals I've reached in a long time. I can't even remember the last time I truly worked out seven days in a row. This is big! Seriously, if I can do this, I honestly feel like anyone can. I am the queen of making excuses as to why I can't exercise, but I'm done with that now and I'm ready to commit my life to being healthy. I'm really looking forward to this second week.

Eating was fairly normal today, but I did eat a very small sliver of chocolate cake tonight and I didn't feel bad. I knew ahead of time that my mother-in-law was going to have it, so I planned accordingly and I told myself that I was going to have a slice and it would be small and I would not hate myself afterward. You know what? I did eat the cake, it was good, and I don't feel guilty about it. I still feel healthy and I know that I will still continue to eat healthy as I enter this next week. Eating sweets isn't a terrible thing, it's only terrible if that's what we do everyday.

Finally, I thought I'd share some progress results:

1. I have more energy than I had prior to starting the 21 Day Fix

2. I honestly just feel healthy.

3. I didn't really "get" what Shakeology was all about and why the price was so high, but after drinking it for a week, I get it now. It taste amazing, it honestly gives me more energy, and I have noticed a significant difference in blemishes on my face. I believe that the nutrients in the shake has helped clear my skin a lot! I also contribute that to the added greens I've been eating as well.

4. Not only am I seeing definition in my muscles, (remember this?) but I have also lost a total of 4.5lbs in only 7 days! AMAZING!!

I'm really happy with my results so far. I love this program and I love my challenge group. Those girls are so awesome with helping me stay on track, keeping me motivated, and encouraging me along the way. I don't think I could do this without my challenge group ladies and of course my coach!

Here's to the second week and even more results!

21 Day Fix - Day 5 Recap

Today was cardio. (cue crickets...)  I'm pretty sure I lied yesterday when I said I was looking forward to cardio. I seriously must have been high on endorphins from the Pilates workout or something when I said that, because who am I kidding? When I do cardio, I kind of resemble a 150 year old woman, who has smoked her entire life. I cannot catch my breath for anything and finding a breathing rhythm is next to impossible for me. Can you believe I actually ran a half-marathon once? Seriously, I did and somehow I was able to find my breathing rhythm then, but when I'm doing burpees, mountain climbers, and high knees I think I forget what lung function is and suddenly I'm no longer breathing and my face is beet red.

So needless to say, cardio was awesome today!! Just kidding. The workout was intense and clearly worked parts of my body I didn't know existed. The workout was actually great for what it was, but me and cardio have a long way to go in our relationship. If you're a cardio person, then you'll really like this. On the upside, this is only Day 5, so I'm certain that I will learn to deal with  enjoy cardio! Also, I pretty much modified everything. I love that there is a modifier in every workout because I use it more often than I thought I would.

No real changes in food. I basically eat the same things every day. That's just me. You do not have to do that. You can change your meals everyday. I'm a creature of habit. I pick something and stick to it for a very long time. I'll recap my meals at the end of the week. Nothing too exciting. In addition to being habitual, I'm also kind of boring, so my food choices are usually bare minimum. This program allows a lot more creative options, I just don't need much to satisfy my palate, I'm totally cool with styrofoam rice cakes.

I was going to post this awesome picture of me looking strong and working out, but based on what I told you, you can guess how that picture looked, so I took a picture of my Vitamix for you. Enjoy!

Tomorrow is Dirty 30. I have no idea what that is, so I'm not even going to write that I'm looking forward to it. It will be a surprise and then I can share it with you!

21 Day Fix - Day 4 Recap

Remember when I said that I hoped Pilates would be like yoga? Well, it kind of was, except this active "rest" day didn't feel so restful! It was a great workout, but it definitely pushed me. Don't be fooled by the word rest. The workout was great, but I'm not lying at all when I say that I was breaking a sweat during the warmup. It was intense, but in a good way, not in a "I can't do this" kind of way. It felt really awesome.

After my morning workout, I decided to have my Shakeology for breakfast. I finally figured out how to make it, which was awesome and I didn't break my blender. It's really not hard to make, I just apparently have no idea how to work a Vitamix, so there's that. I personally like my Shakeology pretty plain and not very cold, so I don't do all the add-ins, but a lot of people do and they love it. Now that I finally figured out the perfect consistency for my preference, I am really looking forward to my shake tomorrow! I wasn't sure I was going to do Shakeology, but I am so glad I did. It's awesome!

Eating today was fine. I was really busy today and I think that distracted me from hunger, so I managed to make it through the entire day. That being said, I had my breakfast later than I have been, so I think that helped me a lot.

I'm looking forward to Cardio tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to Yoga on Sunday!! I'll keep you posted!

Oh, and one more thing... check out my arms. Three days people, three days!! I can't make this stuff up!

21 Day Fix - Day 3 Recap

LEG DAY!!! I was so worried about today because I was really sore from Monday's Cardio Fix, but to my surprise, leg day was great. It was tough, but it stretched out those muscles that hurt from Monday, which made me feel so much better the rest of the day.

I love Disney. This was so funny, I had to share it!

I loved how Autumn (21 Day Fix Instructor) used the weights in this routine and I loved the variety. This has been my favorite workout so far, not that the others weren't great, because they were, I just really liked the Lower Fix.

Eating was the same as yesterday, I felt a little hungry at the end of the day. Part of the problem is that my days are really long, so breakfast is early and dinner is late. That makes for a lot of hours in between to space out my foods. If I feel like that again tomorrow, then I'll add some more veggies.

Here's how I looked and felt after leg day!

Tomorrow is Pilates day, I'm looking forward to that! Pilates and yoga are similar and I'm a yoga kind of girl, so I'm hoping the Pilates workout will be fun!

21 Day Fix - Day 2 Recap

I have one word to describe today: SORE!!! Wowzers! I am so sore. Yesterday I felt great after the workout, but toward the end of the day I started to feel a little sore. I woke up this morning to get up for my workout and I could hardly move. Fortunately, there was a nice little warm up that got me through today's workout, but I'm a bit worried about tomorrow.

Today was upper arm fix. I had to use a set of light weights and a set of heavy weights and I couldn't decide which size to use. I have 2lb, 5lb, and 8lb weights. I decided to go with the 2lb and 5lb as my light and heavy, but now I think I should have gone 5lb and 8lb. I'll do that next week when I do the upper fix again and see how it goes.  I only had to modify one exercise, which involved the abs. My abs were on FIRE!!

Eating was so-so today. I didn't have any temptations, but today I felt hungry all day long! I think my body is just adjusting to the working out and new eating routine, but it was kind of hard to get through it today. I also had to run my daughter to ballet today, so I grabbed an apple to-go to eat my second purple container (fruit).

OH, and how could I forget?! I already lost 1 pound and I haven't felt bloated or stuffed at all in the past 48 hours. It's amazing how much nutrition impacts weight loss! Tomorrow is lower fix. I'm really nervous about that because my legs are still in pain, but I will get through it and I will feel better for doing it!

21 Day Fix - Day 1 Recap

Today was the first official day of my challenge group for the 21 Day Fix. I woke up at 7:00am, which is crazy early for me. Anyone who knows me personally, knows that mornings aren't my thing, but I'm committed and I want to succeed, so I woke up early! The workout was awesome. It went by so fast! It was only 30 minutes and that included the cool down. I was pretty exhausted after the workout, but I'm pretty sure that's the point. ;)

As for the food, meal prep was pretty easy. I somehow managed to "break" my Vitamix. Who does that?? Seriously! Fortunately, it wasn't really broken, it was just overheated. (Note to self: learn to use a blender correctly) I got through all of my meals and snacks well today with only one temptation after dinner. I managed to down some iced tea (unsweetend) and moved on. Chocolate temptation #1 out of the way!

Here's a picture of lunch. Monday is our grocery store day, so I didn't have the foods around that I planned for the rest of the week, which meant I needed to find stuff around the house to fit my meal plan. I used eggs, cheese, and broccoli. I'm not very good at "plating," so excuse the poor presentation, but you get the point. This meal took care of 1 Red container, 1 Blue container, and 1 Green container.

Day 2 is going to be the upper fix. I'm really nervous for that, as arms are not really my thing!

Looking forward to Day 2!

My Order Came Today!

I got my 21 Day Fix and Shakeology in the mail today. I am so excited! Monday is the big day. I can't wait to get started! No more excuses!!