Starting Week 2!

Yesterday was a ROUGH day. I am not one to get up early, I take all the sleep I can get. So yesterday I was up at 5:30 and on the road by 7:00. After a 2 hour drive to work (with one of my FAVORITE people in the world), a 2 hour drive back, and then an hour drive to and from a 3.5 hour gymnastics practice (home at 9:30pm) in wind and sometimes near white-out conditions... I think you get the picture. I was tired.

So at 9:45 last night I forced myself to do my workout! My husband even gave me an out and agreed with me that I was not a horrible person if I didn't get it in (sweet guy) and I did it anyway! Win! I can feel myself getting stronger - I'm doing fewer and fewer of the modifications in the routines. I'm also gaining flexibility quickly. I could tell that after just a couple of days, but I can really tell now, a week in.

The key to this program working is definitely planning. People see my meal plan and think it's a lot of work, but to me it was pretty simple to set up, and I enjoy being organized. It's mindless, and something I can control, and easy, and that's not something I can say about many things in my life.

Rylee made me do conditioning on the beam with her tonight. Have you ever tried to do lunges on a balance beam? Then add step up into a kick. And a hop. First of all, new respect for those little girls. Second of all, I have to say this momma actually did pretty well! Then, even though today was Upper Fix, she also had me do arm and ab workouts on the beam. She is a great coach, very empathetic, but I struggled! I also whined. Rylee did not. She told me at gymnastics that's just not what they do. Oh, how much I love that girl!

Another exciting thing to note this week - my sister has joined our challenge group! I know I have a ton of awesome ladies in my challenge group who are totally supportive, but I'm so excited to have my sister! We have plans to work out together this weekend and I am so excited to have a partner. That will definitely help mix things up a little bit. 

Side note - I know it's hard to tell from this picture, but I just felt like my portion of pasta was HUGE tonight, even though I measured it in the container. Is anyone else feeling this way? It's whole wheat thin spaghetti

I am SO excited for my lunch tomorrow! Stay tuned!

Today's Biggest: 
Challenge(s): I'm STILL struggling to get my purples/yellows in before 6pm. Thoughts on this? I know it comes down to planning, but I can't cut these things out of my family's diet completely for dinner, because who knows what they eat the rest of the day - however, we just don't usually eat that early. I'm almost always done by 7:00. Maybe that's the best I can do for now. 

Success: Working out late Monday night even though I was exhausted (I know that wasn't today, but I think it needs to be mentioned anyway), 

Tomorrow I will try to:

• Go harder during my workout - need to remember to push myself as I get better at them
• Prep my lunches for the rest of the week so I don't get stuck

Yoga Schmoga... food choices and my weigh-in

Ugh. I tried the yoga. I really did. It just didn't do it for me. To be fair, I only got about 6 minutes in before I couldn't take it anymore. In addition to not being a fan, I don't know the names of any of the poses. So I was trying to do the moves and watch the screen (which didn't work) and it all just moved too fast. I felt dumb! This was by far my LEAST favorite workout, and I'm glad that even though today was supposed to be a light, recovery day, I did Plyo Fix instead. I am happy to report that I did not come nearly as close to dying this time as when I first did it a week ago! That's a win, for sure!

The other piece of today that really hit me was the lunch that I passed up. Most weekends we do Sunday dinner with my in-laws. It is a fabulous tradition and today we had some of my FAVORITE foods. But I ate my packed lunch of pork tenderloin, cottage cheese, and carrots. With an avocado & tortilla chips snack. I was really proud of that.

Seriously, there was a time when I could have had 1/2 that pan of potatoes by myself. But I started breaking down the portions - meatballs: 2 reds, part green (tomato sauce), part yellow (breading), scalloped corn I don't actually eat, but lots of yellows here! Then "my potatoes," lots, lots more yellows and blues (potatoes, cornflakes, cheese, cream), and green bean casserole (yellows, yellows, more yellows, blue, green). So it really made me think about it in a different way. As much as I love all this food, ONE of these with other healthy things - plain green beans or a baked potato would be a much better choice for me. So I've gained perspective, I guess, and eating my pork chop wasn't completely sad, as much as I wanted to take the potatoes into the truck and hide and eat them all. ;-)

7 Days Later...
Now on to the big topic of the day. My one week weigh in. Now let me preface this with: I lost 4.5in, which is wonderful, and I get that. But I was only down .2lb. That's the lowest amount of weight I've ever lost in one week while actually trying to lose weight. Pardon me for being crass, but I could pee and lose more than that. So it was very frustrating.

People say inches are more important, but here's my problem with inches.
1. I don't trust myself to actually measure accurately. I could have moved the tape measure just slightly or been in a different position (because obviously a week ago is a long time to remember!) and those inches that I "lost" are gone.
2. I didn't actually lose any inches in either of the areas that I'm most concerned about (hips and thighs).

So yeah. I'm having a rough day. It really got to me this morning, and my poor husband wasn't quite sure what to do with me, I don't think. But I packed up my meals just like I'm supposed to and am going to keep at it and trust the program.

I'm trying to get more variety in my meals this next week, and I have every intention of doing doubles and the 3 Day Quick Fix next week. I'm going to keep working hard and hopefully have a much happier post about my results next week.

Regardless of my end results though, the change I have already seen in my children and my family and how we eat and discuss food and exercise is worth every drop of sweat and every penny I've spent on groceries and this program.

Today's Biggest: 
Challenge(s): Hated the yoga, and did not come anywhere close to seeing the results I was hoping for. 

Success(es): Pushing through, even though I am extremely frustrated. I also tried greek yogurt today, with a splash of raw honey and blueberries, and it was excellent!

Tomorrow I will try to:

• Find a place to fit in my workout - I'll be leaving the house at 7am and not getting home until after 9pm. I feel like my choices are either get up early (which I hate and am rarely able to do) or do it late (which might keep me awake half the night...). 
• Drink more water! I'm struggling with this again today.  

Amazing food, my story, and more!

I had the most AMAZING, you'd never believe I was on a diet, meal tonight! But more about that later!

I got to sleep in this morning, which was nice, but it sort of threw off my schedule. I went to my moms today to visit and ended up assembling her treadmill. This was definitely my upper body workout for today! Between tightening tough screws and lifting the base to get to the pieces

underneath, it definitely worked my arms! But I had a VERY cute helper, and I was glad to do it. It was kind of fun to build something, and it was a fun family activity (with some friends, too).

I ran to the grocery store after that and picked up some different groceries - I've been having trouble meeting my reds (about 50/50), so I picked up more cottage cheese, some greek yogurt (which I've never had), and some ricotta cheese. I would love to know exactly what people do with ricotta cheese. I only bought it because I knew it was on the red list. I don't actually know what people do with it, other than maybe put it in lasagna. Recipes or tips in the comments for both the ricotta and the plain greek yogurt are VERY welcome (and encouraged)!

Today was Dirty 30. A lot of people on the message boards liked this one, so I was excited, but I don't think it's one of my favorites. I know they are good for me, but I am not a fan of using weights. Oh well. I still worked hard. Tomorrow is yoga, but I'm considering throwing in Plyo Fix with it... We'll see how my schedule goes tomorrow!

So my meal. Wow. I saved up some of my categories, and I did cheat just the tiniest bit (I had 2 blues instead of 1 - but I didn't eat an orange to try and balance it out). Here it is, a grilled cheese sandwich on whole wheat, stuffed with turkey bacon, peppers, and avocado (the extra blue). It was absolutely amazing!!! I highly recommend it.

One of the things I really struggled with over the last several months was motivation. I had my baby in April, gave myself 2 weeks to relax, and then really started focusing on eating better. After two more weeks of that I started running and working out. I lost 20lb of baby weight, and had another 5-10 to go. I shed those too, but got a new job in the mean time that involved a lot of travel (flight and driving) and a lot more eating out than I'm used to. Since then I've bounced around in my weight between 145 and 155. This is not a good look on me. My clothes don't fit right and I don't feel good about myself. I wasn't making healthy choices and I was finding it much easier to just feel bad about myself than to actually do anything about it. I joined a gym in November and went for about a month, and then found it really hard again to get motivated and to make myself drive over there. 

This is where 21 Day Fix came in for me. My awesome friend Jody always tell me that anyone can do anything for _________ (insert period of time here). So I told myself, "anyone can do anything for 21 days." And here I am. I found my "thing". I found the thing that I was excited enough about to commit to, wholeheartedly. So now I'm on a fitness journey that I hope lasts much longer than 21 days, already having a positive impact on my whole family. 

Today's Biggest: 
Challenge(s): Was not a huge fan of today's workout, didn't get my purples in before 6:00 (but I did get it before 7:00)

Success: DINNER, yesterday I made it to 138oz of water!!!!, going outside my comfort zone for the foods that I bought today - proud of myself for trying new things (greek yogurt, ricotta cheese, and I bought tilapia on Thursday - I don't eat fish) 

Tomorrow I will try to:

• Not let the weekend derail my progress
• Drink more water!

Burning calories: Blizzard style

Yesterday was another successful day, for the most part. I really enjoyed the Pilates workout, but I did add in the 10-minute ab fix. It turned out I really wouldn't have needed to do either, because with the blizzard we got I was feeling trapped, decided to shovel my driveway, and ended up doing an hour of scooping snow, burning AT LEAST 400 calories (according to MyFitnessPal) - though the snow was so wet and heavy I imagine it was actually more. Here's an "after" picture (didn't occur to me to take a before picture) - you can kind of tell the length and width of what I did. This was nowhere close to the whole driveway, but at least if there was an emergency I would be able to get out of my garage. I rewarded myself with one of the most delicious salads I have ever made! It was awesome! Spinach, sweet peppers, sunflower seeds, colby jack cheese, citrus vinaigrette, and lemon-pepper chicken. Seriously delicious - this will be on my menu again!

I've been spoiled the last few days with the weather (not because it was good), and I've been working from home all day. It's made it really easy to pause and get my workout in and plan my meals out. I'm anxious to see how I face the challenge of the weekends, but also to see how it goes once I get back into a hectic work week. I'm on the road Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday next week for pretty long distances. That being said, I'm taking full advantage of being at home today. I got my workout in early and enjoyed a new shake recipe - strawberry shakeo, 1/2 a banana, and spinach. It's a little hard to drink your shake when it looks like this.

Today was Cardio Fix - tough, but good. I am not a fan of using weights (which probably means I need to do it more), so I appreciated a day off from them!

One of the things I've most appreciated about this program is the awesome conversations it's sparking with my children about health and wellness. Exercise and fitness have become part of their daily vocabulary. They either workout with me or do their own thing - Aaden runs around the house, Rylee has gymnastics or works on her strength training at home. Aaden's goal is to be stronger so he can be faster. He's 5, so his whole world is about being fast/the fastest! Rylee's goal is to have the strength and balance she needs to accomplish moves at gymnastics because she wants to be on the "optional team" someday. I think these are both GREAT, age-appropriate goals for the kids. 

We are also having lots of conversations surrounding their meals. While they still make "kid choices" like asking for pizza and cookies, they are making an effort at each meal to eat from different food groups and make healthier choices. We go through their plate and talk about which food group each food is in, and what "color" each food is. With childhood obesity becoming an increasingly alarming concern, I'm excited that my own fitness journey isn't modeling a "crash diet" to my children - it's modeling healthy habits! And through it all, thanks to Erin, my BeachBody fitness coach and BFF, we have found a new love of almond milk - a VERY healthy alternative to dairy, and something we NEVER would have tried without her recommendation and this program.

Today's Biggest: 
Challenge(s): Starting the weekend makes me a bit nervous, and STILL have a sore throat! 

Success: Modeling healthy behaviors and habits for my kids 

Tomorrow I will try to:

• Not let the weekend derail my progress
• Drink more water! I still haven't hit triple digits on any given day - although today is still young!

The joys of being a mom...

Ohhhhhh Aaden...

After Lower Body Fix

So yesterday I was working out and my 5-year-old sat in front of me eating the biggest, most delicious frosted sugar cookie (they are famous around here, and we only get them once a year - if that - for Valentine's Day). Okay, so there's that. Meanwhile, my 7-year-old gymnast daughter is doing all the moves with ease, while eating her cookie, of course.

Today I'm doing the modified version of one of the exercises (Lower Body Fix) because my quads are burning and I'm just working to stay moving. Aaden comes in and asks why I'm cheating and not doing the part with my arms like I'm supposed to. Nothing like making me feel guilty! However, I had no idea that I would sweat this much doing a leg workout. It was crazy - and definitely harder than I thought it was going to be. I have NO idea when I'll get my workout in tomorrow. We're in a blizzard warning, so my "hope" is that I'll be able to stay home and get it in. We'll see. Otherwise it's going to have to be at like 9:30 tomorrow night and that's not fun. You'll notice that at no point did it enter my head that maybe I could get up a little earlier and do my workout. No thanks! My sleep is WAY too precious!

Today's Lunch

I'm still not feeling well, but I'm pretty proud of myself for continuing to workout and eat right even though I feel like crap. And I didn't have any Diet Dew today (no headaches so far, either). Lunch today was kiwi and Kiwi-Strawberry Shakeology with almond milk: 1 red, 1 yellow, 2 purples.

I'm having a hard time getting all my containers in still, so I'm a little worried about my calorie intake. Even when I do eat them all I still don't hit 1200 calories in a day, plus the workout. I don't feel hungry at all, but my net calorie intake is somewhere around 600-700. I'm not sure that's entirely healthy? But I'm following the book pretty much to the letter, so I'm not sure what else I would do about it, this is the way it's designed.

I am already starting to think in terms of colors. Tonight I fed my kids in colors. Rylee got a blue, a green, a red, and a yellow. Aaden got 3 yellows, a green, 2 spoons, and whatever strawberry jam is. So what looked like a healthy PB&J on wheat, carrots, and almond milk didn't seem quite so healthy - pretty heavy on yellows. But - win on the kids asking for almond milk for dinner!

Today's Biggest: 
Challenge(s): Still not feeling well, but I think I'm on the mend. 

Success: Still worked out, even though I'm not feeling well, and the kids are seeing my healthy choices and making them for themselves (minus the leftover valentine's cookies). 

Tomorrow I will try to:

• Plan my meals in a way that make sense for my late night
• Drink more water! I'm not doing well enough with this yet. 

Terrible Two

Apparently life is out to get me on this challenge! It's day 2 and I'm facing one of my biggest challenges - trying to stick with something when I'm sick. For *years* I have been derailed from my routines and programs when I get sick. And just 2 days in, here it is. I've completely lost my voice and my throat is so dry!

Challenge #2 today: I failed on the Diet Dew front. Since I didn't feel well I couldn't deal with the caffeine withdrawal headaches AND the throat issues. That being said, I still only had 24oz vs the 2-3 liters I have most days. So I still call it a win.

Challenge #3: This one will be ongoing - we rarely eat dinner before 6:00, so making sure to have my yellows and purples done by 6:00 is going to take a lot more planning on my part. That'll be something to think about as I keep editing my menu/meal planning.

Success #1: I made sure I still got my workout in, even though I didn't fell well. Which is a MAJOR win!

Success #2: I'm actually not feeling quite so sore today! My calves are worst still, but manageable, and while I can still feel it in my butt and my abs, I'm feeling so much better about the workouts!

So overall, day 2 was rough, but I'm happy I stuck with it the best I could for today. Tomorrow is another day, and I can't wait to see what the Lower Body Fix has in store for me. I'm also finding that Mexican food is a really safe go-to on this diet.

Dinner: Turkey tacos (red), corn tortillas (yellow), cheese (blue), lime juice (free), taco sauce (free)

Tomorrow I will work on:

• Keeping my purple/yellow containers before 6pm
• Going harder in my workout (maybe it was because it was just arms, today was definitely not a "sweaty" workout kind of day).
• No Diet Mt Dew

Day 1 is Finally Here!

So because I'm such a nerd I keep waiting for today to "feel" different. Rationally I know it won't, but in my head today has been almost exciting as a birthday! You know, all the prep and planning, you're going to be a WHOLE YEAR OLDER - but the day comes and your plans are in place but you don't really, actually FEEL older.

Last night I measured out and prepped as much of my food for today as I could. Breakfast was Shakeo with almond milk and a banana (red, yellow, 2 purples), brought my peanuts (orange) as a snack to work, and then had 2 steak fajitas with peppers and cheese (red, yellow, green, blue) for lunch when I got home. I had to get my yellows out of the way since I won't get to eat dinner before the 6pm cut-off of yellows and purples.

Then it was time for: TOTAL BODY CARDIO! Ugh. I'm still sore from the Plyo Fix, so it was tough, but I made it through! I have never been so happy to see an ab workout pop up at the end though! It was a good workout, but this one was not as difficult as Plyo Fix.










After all that, it's on the road to gymnastics for Rylee with my baggy of carrots for a snack! The best part of today? Guess what I got?!

Thank you Facebook swap sites! I can't wait for husband to hang it up so I can get to work!

Late dinner - turkey bacon, cottage cheese, more carrots (2 reds, 1 green). Not sure how I feel about eating this late. I'm going to have to look into options for Mondays/Thursdays and eating on the road...


Today's Biggest: 
Challenge(s): We're on a boil order again, so a) I had to BUY water today, b) it's a lot harder to kick a Diet Mountain Dew habit when the substitute (water) isn't readily available, but the Diet Dew is! I'm also fighting a sore throat.

Success: The punching bag, of course! Can't wait! The other was that even though I was completely tempted to get Subway on the way home, or grab a thing of Twizzlers from the gas station, and the fact that I was given a CANDY BAR as part of a gift bag - I said not to ALL of them. So on day 1 the score is: Leslie: 1, Temptations: 0

Tomorrow I will try to:

• Push harder in my workout
• Finish my food earlier in the day
• Plan my meals vs workouts better (worked out right after lunch today - not my best idea).
• Plan to work out right after work, before husband gets home

My diet lets me eat BACON!

O. M. G.

I don't know the last time you were on a diet that let you eat bacon, but for me it was... it's been since... oh yeah, never. Now it's turkey bacon, sure, and for the true bacon aficionado (like those who get tickets to BaconFest), it might not count. But for me? When I'm craving something delicious but trying to be healthy? IT TOTALLY COUNTS! You can have 4 slices of turkey bacon as one red container. That means, of course, that a BLT? Totally on the menu! I pre-cooked 3 servings (4 slices) and put them in plastic baggies to have on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday - easy to grab, and totally yummy.

I know I still don't officially start until tomorrow, but I am getting really anxious. So last night I tried the BONUS DVD of Plyo Fix. Holy crap, I think Autumn was trying to kill me. Even when I've been in decent shape I've never done any sort of plyo, so right now, being completely out of shape, this was NOT the place to start. Okay, that's a lie, because even though I felt like I might die, I felt like I might die in a good way. I tried to do a mixture of the regular (when I could) and the modifier.

Tomorrow will be my first day giving up Diet Mt Dew (dear Lord, please help me!), and I also have a full day on the road. But I know planning my workouts is a big part of success, so I'm PLANNING to do my 30 minutes of Total Body Cardio after I get home from work (hopefully by 2:00) and before I take my daughter to gymnastics (3:30). Fingers crossed!

Getting Started

Yesterday I got my 21 Day Fix (Beach Body) Challenge pack! I couldn't wait to get started. As soon as I got home I pulled the contents out of the box and found that - HOLY COW - these portion sizes are WAY smaller than I thought they were going to be! This is a portion?! I have been eating all wrong for pretty much my entire life!

Now I'll be honest, I struggle a lot with motivation. Even though I'm not happy with the way my clothes fit and I know I need to be a better role model for my children when it comes to making healthy choices, the littlest setback has been known to derail my entire effort. However, to paraphrase my friend Jody, "Anyone can do anything for 21 days!" - so I'm hoping this challenge is the right one for me.

So I'm ready to get started!

My first step was to read the book and familiarize myself with the eating plan. I fell into the 1200-1499 calorie category, so I get to eat

3 Greens
2 Purples
4 Reds
2 Yellows
1 Blue
1 Orange
2 Tsps

each day. Initially this sounded like SO much food to me, and I honestly didn't think that it would fall into the right caloric range, so I double checked it against my My Fitness Pal app. It was right on! So even though the portions look tiny, I can already tell I am not going to go hungry on this diet.

My next step was to go shopping.

I actually only go grocery shopping for my family once a month (I meal plan my entire month ahead of time with the exception of things like milk and fruit), so I had to stock up on a few things because my challenge starts Monday and I'm not scheduled to go grocery shopping until Thursday.

I hit up Hy-Vee and I got a great deal on chicken breasts ($2 each) and pork tenderloin ($1 each) - so I got 8. I grabbed corn tortillas (I'm a quesadilla fan), bananas, nuts, veggies, and something VERY new for me - almond milk!

My BeachBody coach, Erin, recommended I try mixing my strawberry Shakeology (also something majorly new for me) with some banana and almond milk (which I can substitute for a yellow container 3x/week). I've never done protein shakes before, so I grabbed vanilla almond milk and added a whole banana this morning for my first one. It was a little thick, I'll definitely be adding some water in the future, but overall it was pretty good. Especially since I had no idea what to expect.

My 3rd step was to start mapping out my food! I created a Google doc that I could easily access from my phone with a list of foods in each category - I figured this would be good for if I was out at a restaurant or visiting family, as well as for the grocery store in case I needed a reminder.

The other doc I created was a Google Spreadsheet for my mails, broken down by color. It's a work-in-progress, but feel free to check it out to see what I'm eating each day! I'll keep filling in more as I go.

I hope you'll join me on my journey through this challenge!

Here we go!

I am so excited to get started with this new diet and exercise challenge - 21 Day Fix!

I work in a job that has in me in the car a lot. So needless to say, I don't always get in a lot of exercise OR make the healthiest food choices. HOWEVER, I also work in a job that cares about health and wellness, and over Christmas break they sent each of us a copy of the book Eat Move Sleep. It really inspired me to start thinking about how I could make healthier choices in my life for myself, but also to set a good example for my children.

You see, I'm a mother of three. After I had my daughter I did an AWESOME job of getting back into shape and losing all the "baby weight". However, that's easier at 20 than it is at 27. When I had my second child I gained a TON of weight, and while I lost most of it, I was far from being back into great shape. When he was about a year old I found some motivation, joined a gym, worked out with my sister, and actually ran my first 5K in 2010. My 3rd baby was born almost a year ago - spring of 2013. I lost the weight I gained during pregnancy, but have not had an ounce of motivation since.

So I'm hoping now, that between the support at work, support of family (my other sister will be starting 21 Day Fix soon!), and support of my AWESOME BeachBody coach and friend, Erin, that I'll be able to see some results and get started toward a journey of healthier eating and a healthier lifestyle.

I know I have challenges ahead of me in this process. I'm hoping by publicly addressing them that I'll be able to face them head-on - and maybe some of my readers will have hints!

Challenges:
#1: Diet Mountain Dew - I am a HUGE Diet Dew junkie! I've been "addicted" to it since before I got married because it tastes like "regular" pop (sort of) and isn't a dark cola that would stain my teeth and negate the teeth whitening I was doing at the time. Well, years later I'm still hooked. I'm pretty sure if you cut me, I would bleed Diet Dew. It's a real problem. I promised Erin that I would do my best possible job to avoid it during the challenge.

#2: My schedule - I am on the road all the time, both for work and my daughter's gymnastics class. This poses two problems: 1) I spend a lot of time sitting (waiting for her and driving) and 2) I'm on the road during meal times and it makes it hard to have regular meals and find healthy choices. My schedule also often leaves me exhausted. I'm hoping that Shakeology (I'm drinking strawberry) will have a positive impact on my energy levels.

#3: I'm a mom - I don't know how much of my body shape after 3 kids can even be affected or if I'm just stuck. I'm hoping that a good program will help, but who knows. That might not be a problem for some, but I get discouraged really easily when it comes to diet and exercise, so I'm worried that if I don't see results, I'll give up. That's something to work on beyond just this challenge.

I don't want any of these to be excuses anymore, but I think it's healthy (and smart) to recognize up front the challenges I will face.