Kitchen Tour - Post 21 Day Fix

I wanted to share some of the changes that have come about in my house since starting the 21 Day Fix! My cupboards and refrigerator have changed significantly!

This first picture, the cupboard, used to hold chips, cookies, and sugary cereal. Now it holds muffin mixes, oatmeal, whole wheat pasta, and coconut oil! Real talk though, I handed the last of the chips to my husband this morning, and there are still a couple partial containers of sugary cereal on the top shelf - HOWEVER, the chips are from a LONG time ago (and I didn't eat them), and I used to go through 2 boxes of cereal in a month, and now we've gone through maybe half in 6 weeks!





 The next photo is my refrigerator! Now please don't judge the lack of cleaning, but if I'm honest with you, these drawers and shelves used to be full of shriveled, uneaten fruit, uncleaned out leftovers, pop, and juice. Real talk: the juice is in a different refrigerator, and the fridge is now pretty empty. HOWEVER, the juice is a MUCH healthier V8 (versus Koolaid), and flavored water. Almond milk is something I *NEVER* thought I would buy, and I had never tasted Greek Yogurt prior to this challenge. Now my drawer is over-stocked with half plain greek yogurt for me, and half flavored, regular yogurt for my kids. What you can't see is the drawer full of carrots, peppers, and spinach, and the shelves with ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, and protein shakes. There are also tons of lunchables. I'm not sure where those fall on the "healthy scale" exactly, but it's lots of meat, cheese, and crackers. I figure there are way worse things they could be eating. Especially when we choose a lunchable over something like McDonald's or KFC after gymnastics.

Next up is my freezer. Yesterday Rylee and I went grocery shopping and found veggie steamer bags on sale for .99 each! What used to hold frozen pizzas, ice cream, and frozen dinners, now holds lean proteins (chicken, turkey, pork), bags and bags of veggies, wheat bread, and frozen fruit! We bought 2 HUGE bags of grapes, portioned them out, and stuck them in the freezer as snacks. I LOVE frozen grapes, and she can't wait to try them!

 

We ended up with 13- 1 cup bags of frozen grapes for snacks for about $6. Real talk: the freezer in the garage is still full of frozen pizza and burritos, but those are primarily for my husband. He's not on quite the health kick that I am, and there are many nights where it's just him, or just him and 1-2 of the kids. We aren't completely off of convenience meals, HOWEVER, my menu for the next month consists of things like turkey tacos, pork loin and veggies, chicken breasts and veggies, veggies, veggies, and more veggies! So we are definitely taking a step in the right direction.

So that's a tour of my kitchen! I wish I had "before" pictures to compare to these after pictures, but I think you get the idea! 21 Day Fix isn't just a trendy program. For me (and my family), it has been a complete lifestyle change!

Round 2

Well, I'm off on round two, but I have not been as "hardcore" or strict about it as I was during the first round, and I can feel it. Since starting my second round on Monday I have had two days where I got 40oz of water or less. Monday, I took my first ever trip to A&W (and had my first drink of root beer!) - this resulted in eating a fast food chicken sandwich (not a super choice), and breaking down and eating cheese balls with ranch. After 5 hours of driving and 6 hours of training I was perfectly happy to have Subway for dinner. Needless to say, that was not 21 day approved! I also managed to skip my workout that day. Extra fail.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were much better. I followed the plan no problem, and I've even been doing Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred on top of most of my 21DF workouts.

But then it was Friday. Ohhhhh Friday, my old friend. We took the kids on a family field trip today to the state (Iowa) historical museum. The original plan also included the botanical center, but we spent our whole time at the museum! It's a GREAT (FREE) place to take kids, if you get the chance.

However, on the road, we needed to stop for lunch. This girl chose Zombie Burger. I don't have pictures of my meal, but let's just say the loaded Zombie fries are about as healthy as they sound, and my Trailer Trash burger (a cheeseburger topped with ranch, cheese balls, and fried pickles) was AMAZING. It was, like, ridiculously good. HOWEVER, as you can imagine, when you've been eating clean for a good amount of time (4 weeks) and then choose to put garbage in your stomach, it doesn't end well.

Easton climbing across the
table to eat my cupcake.

But I did not stop there! After the museum we stopped at Creme Cupcakes - as seen on Cupcake Wars - and got a dozen cupcakes to celebrate my daughter's birthday since she has practice next Friday and we won't be able to do a birthday dinner. So I also scarfed down (with the help of Easton) a lemon cupcake. Also amazing! But again... maybe not my best choice of the week.

So fast forward to me laying in bed with stomach cramps that I thought were going to kill me. At this point, my 5 year old offered to do my workout for me (he wanted to do Dirty 30 so he could lift weights). What a sweetheart, right? I thought so too, until he followed it up by telling his sister that I kinda looked fat, like I was going to have another baby. Thanks buddy. Awesome. We're going to need to have a talk about things you do and do not say to women.

When I finally did get around to my workouts tonight my daughter (age 7) did them with me! We did both Cardio Fix and 30 Day Shred Level 1. She was right there beside me and even sent me this text in the middle of workout number two!

A little support and motivation go a long way. I really appreciated both of them working with me today. Aaden's comment (yes, I know he didn't know any better) reminded me that I have a long way to go - I do not need to be sitting around eating junk like I did today (as amazingly delicious as it was - don't get me wrong. If you are in the mood for awesome burgers or cupcakes, I recommend both). Rylee's message was just what I needed.

Today's Biggest: 
Challenge(s): I need to work as hard through round two as I did in round one. I obviously cannot expect results if I don't put in the work. Rylee's birthday party is tomorrow, and I am desperately wanting to try her cake (we went to a new baker this time). We'll see how I feel tomorrow. Maybe a small piece.

Success(es): I got in a lot of double workouts this week, and I pushed through some really rough, long days with my workouts. Even though I missed Monday, I managed to do great workouts on days when in the past I would have just curled up in bed. I also have been doing awesome on kicking that whole Diet Dew addiction! In 4 weeks I have had 3! A glass, a bottle, and a can. To me, that is a MAJOR WIN.

Tomorrow I will try to:

• Get my eating back on track. 
• Eat all my greens
• Do better on my water

End of Round 1!

Well, even though I spent a lot of time prepping and preparing my 3 Day Quick Fix, I sucked at it. I followed perfectly the first day, but then life and schedules got in the way and I sucked the next two days. It happens, and I still stuck to my colors on day 2, but today I splurged a little on treats before starting in on round 2 tomorrow.

Here are my overall thoughts on the program:

Favorite Parts:

• The containers! I love being able to pack my food in them, and they are super easy to follow.
• Shakeology was great. I'm glad I gave it a try. I'm going to finish up my bag and then do this next round without it and see how it goes, and if I think it's worth the investment of continuing to buy it. 
• Pilates!!!! And I'm even actually starting to love Plyo! I also enjoyed Cardio Fix
• My meal plan
• My challenge group! AWESOME group of people who are very supportive

Least Favorite Parts:

• You only get one set of containers with no option to order an extra set. My dog chewed on one of mine, and now I'm stuck.
• The warm-up is SUPER boring after about day.... 5. They could have switched it up a little bit. I'm also not sure it's the greatest warm up.
• Yoga. I replaced it with Plyo Fix each week. 
• The amount of money I had to spend on groceries because healthy food costs so much more than things like ramen!
• 3 Day Quick Fix - with my schedule I failed at it. There's not actually anything wrong with it, but I'm upset that I wasn't able to stick with it.

Today's Biggest: 
Challenge(s): I binged tonight, but that's okay. I shouldn't reward myself with food, but it was kind of worth it. It was yummy. 

Success: Pushing through the entire 3 week program and not giving up!!!! There was a very real chance that I would quit half-way through, and I didn't! 

Tomorrow I will try to:

• Have the energy to start round 2 - I don't want to stall out because I've "been there, done that"
• Drink more water
• See if I can figure out how to be more budget-friendly with my groceries for this round

And finally, my results!

Anyone who knows me knows how hard it is for me to post this, especially the before pictures, but I wanted to share my results after the last 3 weeks. When I had my husband take my before pictures three weeks ago I cried when I put my photo collage together. When I put together these comparison pictures I was SO proud of myself, I'll take any judgment that might cross somebody's mind. I worked my butt off.

I was able to lose 4lb and 11in (most from chest, waist, and hips) in just 3 weeks. That is so crazy to me on paper, but much less crazy when I think about the sweat, planning, and healthy food I put into my body! I even bought a new swimsuit and I put it on and didn't feel bad about myself! That has never happened to me in March!

The end is near!

I'm gearing up for the 3 Day Quick Fix and getting a little nervous about it! Between struggling to find the right products in my area and not like fish and knowing my schedule is not super flexible for implementing 5-6 meals, I'm a little anxious.

That being said, I will make one last shopping trip tonight to get yams and coconut oil (still didn't find extra virgin), and I'll be on my way! I have been enjoying my food the last couple of days though! This was my lunch yesterday - I've been eating a LOT of turkey bacon! Because it feels like I'm cheating and it's delicious, but I'm not. I just cook a whole package and then portion it out into baggies and then I can grab what I need. I usually just eat it cold, it's still awesome. So that, and GREEK YOGURT are two of my 21 day fix staples! It's funny, my biggest "problem area" or "cravings" before would fall under the yellow category (carbs!!!!!) but reds are my favorite.

One of my biggest complaints about the program is that I didn't have the option to buy an extra set of containers. So now 3 weeks in my dog has chewed up my purple container (still functional, but annoying), so I'm out that, and I'm also finding that my Shakeo shaker is always in the dishwasher (like the rest of my containers. So I've really turned to Tupperware products to supplement this. It's been great because they are durable, good quality, life-time guarantee, and fun colors! So I've been using my T-ware GRAVY SHAKER to do my shake, and honestly I think it works BETTER than my Shakeo one. Then I pour it over ice into one of my mega glasses. I use these for water, too, because I only have to fill it 3x a day to get to my water intake goal.

Not pictured here is the little snack pack container that I use for reds - because I cook a lot of my reds in advance I run out of containers, but Tupperware make a little snack pack size that I have about 8 of, and they are exactly the size of a red. So I know people make an argument for buying it cheaper at Wal-Mart, but I'm a big fan of quality products, so I like T-ware. Someone in my challenge group also said that the omelette maker is awesome, as well. But I am not an egg fan. Another reason I am nervous about 3 Day Quick Fix. I don't like eggs, fish, OR oatmeal! I'm probably crazy for even trying it!

Today's Biggest: 
Challenge(s): I'm still tired. I got my first workout in the morning, but I have another busy day, and I'm hoping to be able to push through. I did Plyo this morning instead of Total Body Cardio to mix it up. So I have Pilates left, which is one of my favorites, at least! I'm also getting a little bored with some of my foods (who can eat baby carrots EVERY SINGLE DAY???) and not getting as many greens in right now.

Success(es): I've got a plan for my busy day so I can fit everything in and get my meals prepped for this 3DQF, my challenge group is amazing, and I feel very supported. I'm seeing a little more weight-loss this week, which is motivating me, and I'm really hoping I don't see another jump up like I did the other day. There are forces working against me here, I swear! Oh! And yesterday I did Upper, Lower, AND Abs to make up for skipping my double on Tuesday. Win!

Tomorrow I will try to:

• Eat my fish.
• Eat all my greens
• Keep up the good work with my water - I've been doing better again!
• Push hard through the 3DQF

The FINAL week!

I'm entering my final week, and I definitely know I won't be seeing the results on the scale that I wanted to. Even though I didn't gain after the popcorn incident Sunday night, this morning I was up a POUND AND A HALF. Super. Not sure where that came from, so I'll be lucky if I see any loss on the scale. Here's to hoping that I continue to see the inches. It's still pretty frustrating to be working so hard and only see a pound.

Me trying to smile through the workout

This week started doubles, and at the end of the week I'll hit the 3 Day Quick Fix (although that will NOT be ideal while I'm on the road this weekend). The doubles are making me tired, and it's hard to find time, but I refuse to quit at this point. Tonight I tried to give myself an out again, and to skip my workouts, but I pushed through and did cardio. I didn't get the double in, but I will have time tomorrow to fit in upper, lower, and abs. Yesterday was Total Body Cardio:

My actual reaction...

 The diet part of this is getting easier and easier, although I was VERY tempted to have something delicious like a french dip sandwich today when my team went out to eat. But I knew that wasn't the best choice, nor did I have the right colors left for the day. My supper was delicious though - husband made chicken fried rice. So yummy!

Today's Biggest: 
Challenge(s): I'm tired. I didn't get a double in. Oh, and I wrecked a wooden spoon in my blender and had to dump an ENTIRE shake. Kewl.

Success(es): I went so far as to text my coach and tell her I didn't really want to work out at all... thinking maybe I wouldn't, and I did still get in one of the two. I'll take it after a long day!

Tomorrow I will try to:

• Make up for skipping my double today
• See if I can get a little rest so I'm not so tired. Maybe I'll add an extra protein?

Week 2 Results and Movie Theater Popcorn

I took my kids to a movie tonight (The Lego Movie = awesome) and let myself have a snack (still stayed under my calorie goal for the day, even it if wasn't that healthy) since I'm gearing up for this final killer week of doubles and restrictive 3DQF. Holy cow did it make my stomach hurt! It's funny how quickly your body will reject that crap once you've built healthier habits. It was actually a really good lesson for me. It will definitely help in being able to resist future temptation - even though something used to be a favorite treat doesn't mean that I'll enjoy it much now, and might actually make me physically uncomfortable.

And for my week 2 results....

Weight: 145.8 (-2.2)
L Arm: 11 (Still -1)
R Arm: 11 (Still -1)
Waist: 31 (-2)
Hips: 34 (-1)
R Leg: 21 (0)
L Leg: 21 (0)
Chest: 30.5 (-2.5)
After 2 weeks I am down 2.2lb, 7.5in



Today's Biggest: 
Challenge(s): Because it was after my weigh-in I did allow myself the popcorn that I was craving. I still stayed under my calorie goal for the day, but it definitely didn't make me feel good. Also, finding extra virgin coconut oil. For some reason I am only finding refined regular so far. 

Success(es): I am fully prepared for the week, giving me optimal chances for success! Getting to workout with my sister 2 days this weekend!

Tomorrow I will try to:

• Keep drinking more water! I've been slipping again a lot lately. Struggling to even get to 72oz
• Get in at least 4 of the 6 doubles this week

Don't feel guilty!

One of the things that I really love about this program is that it helps teach you a lifestyle vs being a traditional diet. However, one of the things I keep hearing (from other participants and from my internal voice) is that they feel bad eating something that isn't purely a health food, or listed in the pages of the 21 Day Eating Plan. For goodness sake, the book includes allowances for things like potato chips and chocolate chips. No, you shouldn't have them every day, but as the guide says on page 8, "...life's too short not to indulge occasionally."

I've been having this internal conversation, so when people in my challenge group started discussing the "bad" things that they'd eaten, and some feeling guilty (although many felt proud that they were doing MUCH better than they would have in the past - and rightfully so!), these are the thoughts I shared:

I think we need to remember that part of the point of this program is that you can still indulge and not feel bad as long as we are practicing portion control. Unless you ate an entire ___________ (insert food here - cake, pan of brownies, bag of chips...), I don't think you have a reason to feel bad. Potato chips and chocolate chips are part of the plan. It's no that you can't have a piece of ___________ (insert food here), but have ONE slice/piece/portion, as part of a well-balanced week. The problem with "diets" is people constantly deny themselves and then binge.

Just something to think about for all of us as we keep working toward living a healthy life!

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Oh my gosh, this week has been so tough. Between being on the road early and late, and being stressed about work, I've been struggling a bit to stay focused, eat early enough in the day, workout, etc.

I had a few obstacles over comes and wins this week, though!

1. I had 2 days this week (Monday and Thursday) that I was on the road at 7am or earlier and home after 9pm. But I still got my work in both nights after I got back!

2. I packed my lunch for work yesterday, but the district I was working with provided lunch for us instead. So I was able to make a good choice based on my options (chef salad, low fat ranch). I still calculated out all my containers, and I even did the trick where you dip your fork in dressing and THEN stab the salad so that you don't eat nearly as much dressing as if you had poured it over the top. I ate just a tiny portion of my cup of dressing, but still had the added flavor rather than plain lettuce. The only bad part was that it was iceberg lettuce, so not the greatest there. I also ate the oranges I brought.

3. We ordered take-out from one of my favorite restaurants last night, but after my weird day I only had 2 colors left (and a spoon), and my favorite dishes at this place include things like deep-fried, breaded tenderloins, hashbrowns with cheese, potato skins with nacho cheese, cheeseburgers, etc. The food is amazing, but I really had to think about what I would/could order, and also had to resist all of my favorite foods. I ordered a unbreaded tenderloin and a baked potato. I split the baked potato with my mom, and then had a little butter and pepper. It was delicious, and fit right within my requirements for the day. This was the 2nd time this week I ate out and made a really healthy choice! A picture of my lunch out with a friend on Thursday:

4. Added Ab Fix to 2 workouts so far this week (Lower Body Fix and Cardio Fix). Hoping to get one more in.

I am still so frustrated with my inability to get my yellows in before 6pm. I'm also struggling to eat at a decent time on the nights I'm on a road. I've been packing my meals, but it's still tough.

Last night was a lot of fun because my sister came home, and she's doing the program, too. We did our Cardio Fix and Ab Fix and discussed how the meal plans were working for us both. It's really nice to have someone in it with you. And my step-sister just signed up, too!

Today's Biggest: 
Challenge(s): I haven't meal planned for my weekend yet, so I've been avoiding grabbing breakfast so I don't set my day off on the wrong foot.

I'm taking my kids to a movie tonight, so I am going to have to avoid one of my FAVORITE foods - MOVIE THEATER POPCORN. I know that in light of my little rant above, I shouldn't be "avoiding" favorite foods, however, tomorrow is my check-in and I want to stay focused. Just because it's the weekend doesn't mean I can do whatever I want!

Success(es): Listed my successes above! Had lots this week, but since it's 9am I don't necessarily have any for the day - unless you count being up before 8am on a Saturday. But I don't know that that is really a success... It mostly makes me sad. ;)

Tomorrow I will try to:

• Keep drinking more water! I've been slipping again a little bit lately. 
• Go harder during my workout - need to remember to push myself as I get better at them
• Prep my lunches for the week so I can hit my last week hard! I'm planning to do the 3 Day Quick Fix