21 Day Fix : Round 1

As mentioned in the first post, I started up a blog again to document the journey of getting healthier and fit again.

I've recently completed the 21 Day Fix and here are a few of my thoughts about the process. I'm going to point out what I feel are my biggest achievements as single sentences so they stand out for re-reading in the future, or when I need a reminder.

I started out wanting to just do the diet and not the fitness, I thought I could do the portions using regular measuring cups, the basic guidelines and workout a few days a week. Luckily a friend of mine, (J) who loves the program, let me borrow her DVDs and the containers. PHEW! I'm not sure I would have lasted otherwise.

The containers make it a lot easier, looking at just the colors, versus trying to remember what color is what size. And it does make a difference, because the meal planning is the toughest part. It's not hard to eat and stay within the guidelines, it just takes quite a bit more thought to decide what you're going to have and how you're going to fit it all in throughout the day. It was surprisingly hard to eat 4 cups of veggies and 3 cups of fruit a day!

I was also pretty lax about the whole thing. I wasn't going to go into the 21 days hating it and starving. I wasn't going to give up coffee. Now I know, you can drink all the coffee you want. But it should be decaf and shouldn't be half creamer! I did cut back on the size of the cup, the number of cups per day, and how much creamer I did put in the coffee though.

About half way through I noticed I wasn't even drinking a full cup of coffee any more. I would start the morning with a glass of water and by the time my coffee was half empty, while getting ready for work, it would be cold and I'd end up dumping it. I just didn't want it.

I'm down to only 1 cup a day of coffee, and sometimes I don't even finish that cup.

Meal planning became easier, but it still took some time to pack my lunch. I do need to find some other red container options that I can have on-hand because I'm getting a little sick of meat or yogurt or eggs. Honestly though, I fee like I eat all. day. long. I have breakfast. Then a few hours later I have a snack, usually a red and purple. Then lunch consists typically of 2 greens, a red, and a yellow. Another snack comes mid-day of another green and purple. Before I know it, I'm prepping for dinner and using up the rest of my containers. I may not always use an orange or a blue container, but I figure calorie wise, I've used them up with my coffee and creamer. Although, I do love adding sunflower seeds if I'm having a salad for lunch. They are my favorite part.

I've noticed that by eating the suggested fruits, I don't crave sweets like I used to. I must be getting the sugar/carb fulfillment through the fresh or frozen fruits I'm eating.

I didn't crave cake, cookies or donuts for the full 21 days. That's very unlike me!

 My biggest craving was chips. And I actually broke down, whined, and complained until my husband [my hero] went to the store and bought me sour cream and onion potato chips! It wasn't until week 3 that I realized that I could still have these, I could treat myself and not ruin everything. I just had to plan for it. If I really needed wanted those chips, I should've planned accordingly and saved a yellow container for them. That's probably the best aspect of the 21 Day Fix;

I don't have to sacrifice everything, I just have to plan accordingly and use my portions.

Other than realizing that I don't like leftover frozen broccoli, the food has been great. The grocery bill is higher each week because I'm buying more fresh veggies and fruit and NO processed foods. But we also haven't gone out to eat in 21 days, except twice. We ordered pizza one night, I had one slice of veggie pizza on thin crust and a salad. The 2nd time I didn't feel like packing lunch so I bought lunch at the grocery store. I had a greens salad and shrimp cocktail.

Now onto the fitness aspect of it. Day 1 SUCKED. Autumn is so nice, and motivating, and you don't want to disappoint her, even if she doesn't know. That first workout, full body cardio, really put into perspective how out of shape I was. I modified everything but the warm-up AND couldn't finish anything without whining. I was sweating like crazy, out of breath, and thought I would collapse. But I pushed on.

After the workout I climbed into the shower and my shampoo bottle felt like it weighed 50 lbs! By the next day I could barely move. I wobbled into work, reminiscent of being pregnant. It was painful to sit down, but then I had to get back up. It was awful. Never mind the idea that I had to do Upper Fix later.

I was still pretty sore on day 3. Dreading Lower Fix. But I pushed through. And I kept pushing through for 20 days. I did miss 1 workout. The very last day. Shame on me.

By the end of the 3 weeks I felt stronger.

I was still modifying many of the exercises, but not all of them. I was using weights when you're supposed to, and by the third week I was realizing that it won't be long before I need to buy 8 lbs weights because 5 and 3 are becoming too light.

The last hurdle, and probably the biggest was drinking water. When you're used to drinking coffee all. day. long. You don't really have time for water. I'd be lucky to drink 8 oz. in any given day. I bought a new water bottle and pushed myself to drink at least 64 oz. a day. It was hard!

Then my friend, J, challenged me to drink at least 90 oz. just one day. I had to message her when I completed it. I think it was like 9:30 at night when I finally did it. But I did and I continue to drink about 90 oz. a day.

I'm drinking 90 oz. of water every day.

In the end, without getting super strict, I think I did pretty well.

I lost 5 lbs.

I lost 6.5" overall. 2" were lost from my belly at it's biggest point.

I'm feeling more confident and I feel like this works. I don't feel deprived or overworked. In fact, I've convinced my husband to join me. He started his first round, and I started my second on February 22, 2016.

I took before and after photos, but don't feel THAT confident to share them. I need to take updated photos and maybe I'll share next time. I'm looking forward to these 21 days. Three down, 19 to go.

Hello World.

That's still the first thing you do right? Step one; say hello.

Wow, it's been a long time since I have blogged. It used to be a daily routine of mine. I documented many years of trying to conceive through infertility, gaining many followers, even being interviewed by the Baltimore Sun about infertility and blogging.

I blogged through my pregnancy. I lost many followers. I understand this. It's hard to read about the success of a pregnancy when in the throws of infertility. But the pregnancy blogging was short lived. My very short 27 weeks 6 days pregnancy was the cause.

I then blogged about my premature son. It served as a diary through his 66 days in the NICU. My corner of the world wide web became my very own mommy blog. But it didn't make any money.

Full time motherhood and full time employment put a damper on my writing. I started working more in marketing, actually landing a director of marketing position and I started spending most of the time when my fingers hit the keyboard, writing copy. Short. To the point. Barely forming complete sentences.

I miss it. I miss writing, documenting, venting, sharing.

So here I am again.

I've moved back to my home state, Maine. I am definitely a Maine girl. I feel the most complete and comfortable here. The air is crisp. Time moves a little slower. People are nice. I worry less and I can take care of me and my family.

And that's just what I'm doing.

Yeah, this may turn into one of those fitness mom blogs. But that's totally OK. A friend of mine suggested that I keep track of all the little milestone messages I keep sending her. A reminder of the achievements I've made I'm making in my fitness and health journey.

So there you have it. My intentions. In what appears to still look a bit like ad copy, but I'll get there. Here's to documenting, sharing, and getting back to writing while getting healthy and improving life for my family.