Results, Round 1 of 21dayfix

Today I share with you my results. 

But before I do so I want to share some of my thoughts on this process.

This wasn't easy. Fitness isn't easy. You have to want it enough to do something about it. If you still have excuses: "I'm to tired", "I worked all day", "I don't have time", "I won't be any good at it", "I can't eat that way".... Let me tell you something about me to counter act all those excuses. I am a full time working mom of a toddler boy who makes homemade meals for her family 4-5 times a week and cleans up after wards. I do the laundry. I clean the house. I get up early and get myself and my kiddo ready for the day. I drop my him off at daycare every morning before work. I work 8 hours and then pick him up 5-6 times a week (1-2 days Daddy can). The only time I have to myself is when my sweet son is asleep or when I get lucky enough to have my partner home early that given day (rare). If I can dedicate a 1/2 hour every night after my child is in bed.... If I can do this... You can do it. 

I'm not in perfect shape but these 21 days have certainly set me on my path to better the health of my body and mind so far as eating healthy and exercise goes. 

So far as the eating plan goes... It can seem scary to some people but honestly it took out the guessing and I didn't have to think about what I could eat, when or from where. I did my weekly shopping and I prepared myself for errands and work. I very EASILY stuck to the clean eating plan and love it. I will likely continue to eat this way (with a few more calories for maintenance). 

I'm excited for what my next round will bring me. I'm excited to see what my fitness levels will be like during that process and how my body might change again. 

I will certainly document my second round via this blog as well....

For now, I leave you with my results of my first 21 day fix challenge. 

Day 1 stats.             

155 lbs.                   

36" belly (naval)        

38-1/2" hips.           

24" thighs.                

12-1/2" arms           

Day 21 stats.

146lbs

30-1/2" belly 

36-1/4" hips

22" L thigh.   21-3/4" R thigh

11-1/2" L & R bicep

Before (top) and after (bottom)

As Autumn would say... Don't quit, you're only quitting yourself. Don't cheat, you're only cheating yourself. Put in the work and get the results. 

Day 21, I made it!!

Oh thank goodness. I did it!! Now if I can just get through the end of the day. 

This morning was rough as a result of a non-so-good sleeping toddler. I pushed through and got busy at work. 

But first... Let me take a "stashie" (no? Ok, I won't do that again)

For breakfast I had a approved protein bar (1 Red and 1 Yellow). 

For a mid-morning snack I had 1 Purple of an apple with a tsp of peanut butter and 1 Yellow of a 1/2 a whole grain English muffin. 

Lunch looked like this pre-spread. 

And like this when it was all out 

This is 1 Red of chicken breast, 2 Green of spring mix lettuce and carrots and 1 Orange of black and green olives. I topped this with red wine and balsalmic vinegar mix. 

Later in the afternoon I had coffee. Of corse! And this immaculate duo: 

As usual... 1 Purple of strawberries and 1 Red of Greek yogurt. 

My day dragged on, not quite the expeditious ending I was hoping for. 

After I picked up little spawn from daycare I came home and made dinner: 

That's 1 Red, pork baked with a mix of Dijon and yellow mustard on top, 2 Greens of greenbeans roasted in coconut oil and fresh cherry tomatoes from our own garden. Oh yum! 

Tonight was Yoga Fix, appropriately. After 3 weeks of workouts every night and following a eating plan that gets you clean it would be only right to end with Yoga. 

I did not take a pic of me tonight post workout. 

I plan to post my results tomorrow.... 

And go to Tijuiana Flats for lunch as a celebration! Don't worry, I'll take it easy on the queso. 

The moral of my 21dayfix journey is... 

I needed to push myself to commit to physical exercise and eating clean. I loved the food I was eating. My portions were perfect. I had plenty of food and enjoyed my options. 

Until tomorrow... Hasta

Day 20, alright, alright!!!

Today is an awesome day! Why? Because I feel awesome. I feel fit. I feel healthy.

And because tomorrow is my final day of my first round of the 21 day fix with awesome Autumn. One more time... Awesome!!!

Ok. Sorry, I'm a LITTLE excited.

Today I packed this:

For Breakfast I had a 1 Red of Greek yogurt and 1 Yellow of oatmeal. 

For Lunch I devoured this:

That's 1 Red of chicken, 2 Greens of spring mix lettuce, tomato and carrot pieces. For dressing I mixed red and white wine vinegars and added some parsley. You know, for fun. 

I was feeling pretty full. I got busy at work and had more coffee (duh). 

Later on I had a wonderous snack of the following: 

1 Purple of strawberries and 1 Red of yogurt. It was a yogurt-y kind of day. I'm sure my tummy was happy about it. Sorry, that was mommy speak. Ahem. 

I took a nice 15min brisk walk at work with my awesome friend Julie. It was just what I needed to get over my 2:30 feeling. Well, that and coffee. (Insert big grin)

I'm over using awesome aren't I? Awesome. I'll try to stop but I make no promises. 

I finished up my day at work and trekked to the daycare to procure my child. After making him dinner my partner took over parenting watch while I raced upstairs to get my workout in early. 

Problem. The upstairs A/C was off all day. So I worked out in a 90 degree room. So much for hot yoga, we have hot Dirty 30 over here people! I'm convinced the temperature helped me burn more calories. Yessss. 

I accomplished Dirty 30 and did an extra 2 minutes of crunches at the end. Why not, my abs were already in fire with those oblique everything she makes you do. Autumn loves her oblique moves, I'll tell you that. 

Day 20 is done! ONE MORE DAY! 

Day 19, wait what?

Today is day 19! It's day 19!!!!

I'm so excited but more than that I am proud of myself for sticking to this program and seeing it through. I had urges to quit mid workout or grab a brownie so many times but I didn't. I decided I was done with my sorry excuses and I wanted my bikini body back and I want it NOW! 

I'm a true believer in the idea that you can't push someone else to change themselves but that they will change when they're ready. That applies to the body and mind. Sometimes events in life come along to make you ready other times you just wake up one day and look at yourself in the mirror and say, "what the fuck, self." From that day on you dedicate yourself to a different version of you no matter what that means to you. For me this was about me and how I feel about what I see. This isn't about what others think about me. I wasn't happy and I finally got the gall to do something about it. 

Enough of that stuff... 

Since today was Sunday I had the opportunity to make myself breakfast at home: 

1 Red of eggs (topped with paprika and black pepper), 1 Yellow of a 1/2 whole wheat English muffin and 1 Purple of a 1/2 banana. Note: I did not put anything on the English muffin. I used it to enjoy the yolk of the egg once I broke it.

I was famished today... About an hour later I had a snack: 

I love my fruit and yogurt! 

1 Red of yogurt and 1/2 Purple of strawberries. My kiddo also enjoyed this snack :) 

Another bit O' snack-age before errands:

1 Green of spinach, tomato and 1 Orange of black olives. Topped this little sucker with red wine vinegar. 

Lunch was fun..

1 Red of sliced ham and turkey filled with 1 Green of spinach, peeled carrot pieces and topped with, you guess it, mustard! (I also had 1 Blue of pistachios) Do this. You know you want to. Be like Nike and just do it. 

My afternoon snack was very satisfying. 

I left the peanut butter container so you could see my ginormous coffee mug. That's how I roll. 

1 Yellow of whole wheat English muffin, 1/2 Purple of sliced apple with 2 Tsp of peanut butter and COFFEE. 

My day was full of a cranky toddler and errands. I was already tired by 3pm and I hadn't worked out yet. 

I will admit to a mistake I made today. I whipped up a batch of banana muffins for my little man. What toddler doesn't appreciate those?! Usually I fill the muffin tins up and scrape the remainder of the mixing bowl with a spatula and eat it. Well, I prepared his muffins and scraped the bowl and ate off the spatula... and then the light bulb went on.

I was chastising myself, "Oh no! Oh no! No, no, no!" My child was looking at me like I lost my mind. Haha, I probably had at the moment. So what did I do? I chugged an unreasonable amount of water justifying that it would flush the sugar out of my system. Who knows if that helped but I do know that I ate something extremely healthy for dinner. So there's that. 

Dinner: 

2 greens of sautéed spinach in Coconut oil and lemon juice with 1 Red of chicken breast topped with HOT SAUUUUUCE. 

I highly recommend this..... Just so good. 

I had an exhausting weekend. With the less sleep and busy days I feel like I ran marathons both days. I just wanted to curl up into a ball and sleep tonight but I hadn't done my workout yet. 

So I did it. 

Tonight was the Cardio Fix. I was going to double up and had zero energy to do so. Make no mistake, my entire body hurts from exhaustion and working out. I could use about 4 ibprophen. 

Anyhoo...

Day 19 is finally over. 2 more stinkin' days to go! WOO!

Someone call me a waaa-mbulance. 

I need a stretcher. 

Day 18, this is why I'm hot.

The Florida heat. The yucky, hot, hotness that is the state of Florida. This is why I'm  hot today. It could also possibly be because I was so active today. 

Let's begin with food and we will get to the activity portion. 

Breakfast: 1 Yellow of whole grain cereal and 1 Purple of a sliced up Orange. 

For Brunch I made this Piece of heaven:

2 Reds of 4 egg omelette filled with 1 Green if scallions, tomatoes and spinach. Topped with 1/4 Purple of salsa and HOT SAUCE. Dude, this was soooo good. 

Little man and I had errands to run so I cleaned the house this morning, laundry, gave the dog a bath (which is physically demanding, He is 120lb Bloodhound), did errands and came home to hang for a bit before we went back out. Before leaving again I made a simple salad: 

1 Green of spinach, carrot and cucumber topped with balsalmic and coconut oil. 

While we were out I planned to drop my car off for brakes and oil change for about an hour. I figured I would walk with the kiddo to the nearby shopping center and just browse for an hour.... Well plan foiled, kind of. After an hour of waiting the mechanics called to let me know it would be another hour and a half. We had already walked to the shopping center. I  had the stroller. So I just kept going. There was a nearby state park with wildlife trails so we ventured over there. We walked a total of 4 miles (delayed mapmyfitness log by .6 miles). I tried to keep posture, pull in my abs and push faster and longer strides to stretch out and make my body work harder. Boy did it! By the time we got home at 4:30pm I was thoroughly exhausted.  

And famished. I ate this:

1 Yellow of 1/2 whole wheat English muffin and 3/4 Purple of chopped strawberries. I had to fight the urge to eat more. My body was screaming for carbs. I was all like, look here brain you tell that stomach it's full, ya hear! Then I chugged some water. My cravings disappeared. That's what you call rawr-some. 

A little later on I threw together a simple dinner: 

1 Green of spring mix lettuce and tomato topped with 1 Blue of Parmesan and 1 Red if chicken breast topped with, wait for it...

HOT SAUCE & MUSTARD! 

I know this sounds like a crazy combo but I have come to fully appreciate mustard. Being a former put-ketchup-on-everything addict I never paid good enough attention to this under appreciated and fairly healthy condiment. 

I'm sorry mustard. Forgive me? 

Alrighty then.

Tonight I did my Pilates Fix and included an extra 3 minutes of traditional crunches just for fun. 

Day 18 is over. 3 more measles days to go! I got this! 

Here's a good sweaty McSweaterson pic for ya! 

Day 17, a day of obstacles.

Today was busy. We got up early. Got going and I packed this for snackage: 

I knew I would have a veggie burger at work so I didn't bring extra protein (Red) items. 

For breakfast I had an approved protein bar for which I deducted 1 Red, 1 Yellow and an Orange for. 

Later on in the morning I had this: 

I don't think I could ever over eat yogurt and fruit together. It's my precious. 

1 Red for the yogurt and 1 Purple for the orange and watermelon mix. (As pictured)

I also downed this gem before lunch... 

What? I was a hungry hippo this morning. 

That's 1 Purple for the apple and a tsp of peanut butter.... Annnnnd coffee. Of corse! 

Today at work we had a charity event and I signed up with a team mate to do an obstacle course. It was fun! Basically we were up against several other teams of 2. We had to maneuver this obstacle course as fast as possible and the key was to not receive any penalties for falling off something, dropping something or not completing a task properly... Well... 

We won! How's that for dedication? Yay us! 

During the charity event they were serving burgers, dogs, chips, soda and root beer floats. Man those hot dogs smelled so good! 

I had a veggie burger (1 Red) with mustard and 2 slices of tomato. It was quite satisfying actually... I had packed other foods so I wasn't worried about not eating later on.

When I got back to my desk I ate left overs from last night of 1 Yellow of brown rice and 1 Green of steamed vegetables. 

For an afternoon snack I had 1 Blue of pistachios and 1 Green of a spinach and tomato salad. For the salad I topped it with balsalmic mixed with coconut oil. Can you say yum-E? Because it was quite so. 

I snagged my kiddo from daycare and came home to make him a Friday night sandwich (traditional dinner for him now-a/days on Friday). 

I ate this: 

That's 1 Red of tuna with balsalmic, parsley, garlic powder and coconut oil and 2 Greens of spinach, tomatoes, cabbage slices and cucumber. You know how I feel about my balsalmic in my tuna. 

It an amazing mix. 

I can't believe I'm almost done with the 21 days. It's flown by. I could probably do it longer and not even think about it. But the booklet says not to stay on this eating plan forever. It's ok to do it again for more rounds but with breaks in between. 

I plan to join a challenge group for my next round. I just need to find one. 

For now... It's day 17, and I ONLY have 4 days left! 

No selfies tonight.

I just finished the Lower Fix aka leg day. My glutes are on fire as well as other parts of my legs.

Tonight had some of this but with weights: 

 Just some inspiration tonight instead of a pic of me post workout. 

Day 16, the end is near!!

Today I woke up to a little tiny person calling for me at 5am. Such is life as a mommy. 

I packed my goods: 

That's a mighty fine pile of goodies, you might say. Yes indeed sir. Yes. Indeed. 

I set off for the day and shortly after arriving at work I devoured 1 Yellow of oatmeal and a 1 Red of Greek yogurt. 

Morning snack I had 1 Orange of green olives and more coffee. Strange mix. I know. Whatever... Moving along... 

Lunch was SO good: 

1 Yellow of whole grain tortillas topped with 1 Green of spinach and cucumbers, 1 Blue of avocado and lemon juice, 1 Red of turkey slices and 1/4 Purple of salsa. Sometimes I impress myself. Sometimes.

An hour later I finished off the leftovers: 

1 Green of spinach and cucumbers topped with 1/4 Purple of salsa. 

For my afternoon snackage I feasted in this gorgeous duo: 

1 Red of yogurt and 1 Purple of diced strawberries. 

I was craving Sushi/Asian food for dinner so I ordered in! 

Guess what? I made it work for me! 

1 Red of chicken and 2 pieces of tuna sushi sans rice. 1 Green of cucumber salad drenched in rice wine vinegar and 4 pieces of cucumber sushi wrapped in seaweed. Note: the cucumber sushi roll was NOT supposed to have rice on it. It did come with a teeny bit O' rice. I can't count this as even a 1/4 of a yellow. So I will just suck it up and make myself pay for it tomorrow. 

Tonight I did the Upper Fix work out and followed it up with the 10 minute Ab fix. 

Whew I'm tired but feel good. 

Day 16 is accomplished!!! 5 more days to  go! 

Day 15, exhaustion.

Today I was feeling a bit sick. I might have caught the respiratory bug that's going around. I also barely slept last night on account of my toddler and maybe his molars?!

Anyhoo...

I packed the following: 

Before I left for work I had 1 Purple, a 1/2 of a banana. 

For breakfast I had 1 Red of yogurt and 1 Yellow of oatmeal with a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg. 

Morning snack was 1 Red, 6 slices of Ham and 1 Blue, pistachios. 

For lunch I had:

2 Greens of a cabbage mix, carrot peels and spinach topped with 1 Orange of the Dijon Vinagrette. 

Snack was 1 Purple of orange slices. 

I had several cups of amazing coffee today and really needed then in account if my lack of sleep. Remember, not only did I not sleep well but I doubled my workouts last night... And I'm having trouble breathing through my faccceee. 

I threw dinner together: 

1-1/2 Red of chicken smothered in paprika and cumin and baked. 1-1/2 Greens of roasted cauliflower with carrots and sautéed red bell pepper and 1/2 Yellow of wild and brown rice mix. 

I almost caved and didn't work out. 

But, I can't. I've gone this far! I can't give up. 

I was NOT excited before I started. 

But I'm glad I did it! 

I did only one work out: Total Body Cardio Fix. Hopefully so will have the energy to do 2 tomorrow! 

Day 15 done. 6 more days to go!

Day 14, 2 weeks in!

With 1 week to go I'm feeling super motivated. In the beginning I was hoping my excitement would last and honestly it has! 

I've had moments when I wanted to stuff my face with chocolate or eat a ginormous waffle from the nearby waffle house but I held off. I put my goal above my cravings. I decided to be better then my excuses and really do this. 

So, today I packed lunch and forgot, again, to snap a pic of my stash. The horror! 

Breakfast was 1 Purple of a sliced navel orange and 1 Red of Greek yogurt. 

Lunch:

That's 2 Greens of spring lettuce and cucumbers, 1 Red of Turkey slices pulled apart, 1 Yellow of a edamame and black bean mix, 1 Blue of parm cheese and 1 Orange of a EVOO and balsalmic mix as dressing. Oh de-lish-ous!

My afternoon snack was: 

1/2 Purple of sliced apple and 1 tsp of peanut butter. 

I was hungry around 5 and knew we weren't eating dinner until about 8 so I had another snack of 1/2 Orange of 5 green olives and 1 Yellow of a few (6) whole grain crackers. 

Dinner was cooked by my man. I asked for herbs and no salt on my portions. He happily complied. 

That's 1 Red of a lean ground beef BURGER seasoned with garlic powder, parsley, oregano and pepper. 2 Greens of asparagus grilled in EVOO, red pepper flakes and black pepper and sliced tomatoes drizzled with lemon juice and parsley. Oh, and Mustard.... Of course :) 

Yes that's 2 kinds of mustard. I like mustard, ok?

I had mentally prepped for a double work out tonight. I want to finish strong and push myself. 

So when it was time to follow through and actually do it I almost stopped after The Dirty 30. Then I reminded myself of the bikini I want to not just wear but look damned good in.... so I pushed through. Before I knew it I had completed not just The Dirty 30 but also The Yoga Fix. I'm tired but I'll sure be so happy about my results! :) 

Day 14 is over! 7 more days to gooooo!

Finish strong! 

Day 13, lucky thirteen!

Overall my energy today was low. For non-workout related reasons. I didn't sleep well, my baby boy was up at 5:45am, I was running late to work, I made someone else's day worse at work accidentally (Jewish guilt pours, it doesn't drizzle), my back was achy and my contacts were bonkers all day and driving me batty.

Alas, the day went on and so I kept moving forward (quick! Name the movie that comes from). 

I didn't take a pic of my packed stash today as I was in a hurry and forgot. Oh! That's what I forgot this morning. [hangs head]

Breakfast was a 1 Purple of a 1/2 banana and 1 Red of Greek yogurt with 1/2 Purple topping of fresh diced strawberries. 

For a snack I enjoyed pistachios and 1/2 Red of 3 slices of ham. Weird? Yes. Good? Oh yes. 

Lunch was amazing: 

1-1/2 Greens of a cabbage, tomato and onion mix drizzled with white wine vinegar (overnight) and peeled carrots. 1/2 Red of 3 slices of Turkey. 

2 Yellows, the first was black beans and the second 2 small whole wheat organic tortillas. Finally, 1 Orange of the 21dayfix Dijon Vinagrette (recipe in booklet). 

Here's a better shot: 

This was sofreakinggood!! And man, oh man, healthy as ever. 

I drank my weight in water... Maybe. Ok not that much, but I sure did drink a whole lot of water today. Did you? I believe I consumed about 64oz. Helllloooo hydration. 

Later on I made a man-who-isn't-on-diet friendly meal: 

1 Red of pork loin smothered in dijon mustard, parsley, black pepper and baked until done with a side of 2 Greens,  spinach, mushrooms, onion mix sautéed in lemon juice and EVOO and a sliced tomato. The man got a side of a traditional Italian pasta dish: spaghetti, EVOO, red pepper flakes, minced garlic and parm.... instead of tomatoes. He really liked the pork. :) go me! 

Please note I did NOT eat any of the pasta. I only made it for him. That's a no, no, because I already had 2 yellows today. 

I was exhausted and just wanted to lay around and do nothing.... 

Even after all my stressors today. Guess what? I STILL DID MY WORK OUT. No excuses here. CardioFix routine for me tonight... All I have to say about that is: 

I hate burpees. I do. Mostly because I suck at them... I'll get better some day. 

Signing off for some hopefully good sleep. 

Day 13 is done! 8 more days! 

I'm so sweaty and I know it.