21-Day Fix Days 6-8

Day 6

Snack that ended up being lunch, I couldn't
eat it all. (Guacamole, tortilla chips, leftover
cucumber/watermelon salad.

The Food

My usual coffee shake was perfect for breakfast.  At church, it was tough to not drink my usual sweet iced coffee they provide during summer!
We joined friends for lunch at Jason's Deli where I got the salad bar and stocked up on veggies and protein.  Jason's Deli is a good place to eat clean.

 The Workout
Yoga Fix! I love yoga and have missed practicing, so today was a treat.

Day 7

The Food

Breakfast food, since I was out of my shake.

With Independence Day holidays, we vegged around the house all morning, then went to a friends' house for dinner. They made fantastic fajitas, to sticking to the Fix food was easy! We had lots of fresh fruit and veggies, homemade guacamole, steak, chicken, sausage, rice, beans and tortillas.
I passed on sodas, but no other sugary or processed food was even around, so it was easy and enjoyable to eat well.

The Workout

I missed it!  No good reason other than I didn't do it early in the morning. By the time we went to our friends' for dinner, then picked up the boys from camp and went back to pick up the older kids, I was too sleepy to attempt a serious workout.  Lesson learned: workout early!!!

Day 8

The Food
No shake again this morning, so I made eggs and zucchini.  Shakes are certainly my breakfast of choice.  Most mornings, I'm not in the mood to eat food.  The coffee shakes fill my coffee craving and give me the nutrition I need in a breakfast.
Before lunch, I hit HEB and got a few single-packs of protein powder.  I had one after my workout, which was perfect.
Today is my husband's birthday!  I made him his favorite ice cream cake and opted for a bowl of berries for myself.

The Workout
I was dreading this one!  Today was Cardio Fix, which made me nauseated when I did it last week.  This time, I ate several hours before the workout, then saved the shake for after the workout.  It still kicked my butt and I had to stop and catch my breath a few times, however, I never felt nauseated.  One of these days, I'll get all the way through it without having to stop!

21-Day Fix Day 5

Day 5

The Food

Another big win from emeals clean eating menu!

Tomato, Cucumber, and Watermelon Salad

2 C watermelon
2 large tomatoes
1 large cucumber
1/3 C red onion, thinly sliced
1 T white wine vinegar (I just used white cooking wine)
1 t honey (not on the 21-Day Fix list, but it's one teaspoon for a huge bowl that would serve at least 10 people. The photo above is the serving bowl after about 3 servings were gone. It makes a big salad!)
2 T olive oil
1/3 C feta cheese

I kept the feta on the side (you could do the same with the oil) so I could measure it before adding to mine.  Again, that tiny blue container was actually much more than I needed or wanted on a scoop of this amazing summer salad.  It is SO good, ya'll!

It's become clear over the past few days that I'm okay not eating sugar when I've determined to be off sugar for a certain amount of time.  This time around, I'm thinking in rest-of-my-life terms, so will have to come to some type of understanding with myself.  Allow sugar one time per week?  Once a month?  Quit altogether?  This much is true: once I start the sugar train, I can't get off.  It's truly an addiction. It messes with my brain and body in very real ways and presents very real health risks if I continue my current rate of weight gain and inactivity.  The answer isn't clear yet, but it's the mind part of this "fix."  Maybe I should make "The Mind" the third category and "The Spirit" the forth.

The Workout

The hubs and me at Townlake Y.
Sorry, Snapchat takes mirrored pics.

Ken and I dropped the boys off at summer camp, then headed up the road to the beautiful Townlake YMCA.  He headed for the sauna and hot tub while I headed for the weight room.   I was unable to find a nifty, low-profile place to set up my computer and the Y was busy, so decided to do my own workout.  I don't recommend skipping an actual video, but you have to improvise sometimes.

I did two rounds of upper body exercises (bench press, lat pull down two ways, tricep kick backs, shoulder press, upright row, bicep curl, lower back extensions), then spent 10 minutes stretching on one of those stretching machine thingies.  I love those.  My last 10 minutes was spent on my favorite cardio machine.

Tomorrow, I'll be back to the DVDs with Yoga Fix!

21-Day Fix Day 4

Day 4

The Workout

I opted for the Pilates Fix today.  Since no equipment was needed, I did the workout from home.  I recorded half of the workout in time-lapse and thought about sharing it here, but NO WAY!  It's so embarrassing!  Maybe one of these days.  But no.  Really.  No.  But here's a tiny screen shot.

Pilates Fix

When I hit the halfway mark of the workout, Mater (my Jack Russell Terrier) was sitting in front of my face, shaking.  I think he was worried I might die.  I didn't. I lived. I mean, I'm here typing this, so...

But my butt, hips, and core burned!  I mean they were on FIRE! Probably messed up, but I like it. And hate it.  It just feels good to be doing something to get my fitness back!


The Food

I drank my usual coffee shake for breakfast.  I'm almost out of the mix, so it's time to create my own shake!  I had leftover dinner for lunch, then this beautiful meal below for dinner.  I cooked the clean eating e-meals recipe for my family and it worked for me, too!
I couldn't eat it all.  Those containers look so freaking small, but once portion stuff out, it's a lot.  It really helps me see I was visualizing portion sizes incorrectly.  This is 1.5 yellow (carbs), 1.2 green (veggies, the broccoli and mushrooms), and one red (protein).  A teaspoon of olive oil with the potatoes. I ate all of the broccoli, but couldn't eat all of the meat and potatoes.  I had just enough leftovers to save for tomorrow's lunch.

I notice this plan involves clean eating, which has proven to be effective for me.  Adding in the workout portion has been critical.  I could feel my fitness slipping over the past 3 years and know as I move through my 40s, it will only be more difficult to start and maintain.  It feels good to start now.

I'll be meeting with my coach some time this week and can't wait to share that with you all!

21-Day Fix Day 3

Day 3

The Food

Garden-picked veggies and turkey with some salsa.

Had a shake again for breakfast.  Chike Mocha High Protein Coffee is good with a frozen banana mixed in and it helps remove my need to drink my usual sweetened hot coffee in the morning. This weekend, I plan to experiment with making my own "superfood" smoothie.

I had a lunch meeting at Galaxy Cafe, so checked the menu before going and ordered the grilled salmon salad.  For dinner, the family ate burgers and I cooked some turkey and fresh veggies from our next door neighbor's garden!  Again, I wasn't able to eat enough food to fill every container.

At around 10pm, I started craving sugar. I just drank some water because I really wasn't hungry.  Now it's 11pm and I'm so sleepy, I don't care about the sugar craving any more.




The Workout

My legs are sore!  The act of sitting down is, well, something.  My butt is sore!  So I was thrilled to do Upper Fix today.  Again, I set up at YMCA (DVD sound off, closed captions on, earbuds in for my own separate soundtrack), and did the 30 minutes.  It didn't kill me like the Cardio Fix and Dirty 30, but I couldn't do several of the exercises for the full 60 seconds without breaking: plank, push ups, and one of the ab exercises.  Now I have a goal to work toward. 5 hours after the workout, I was feeling it in my obliques.  Good to know they are still in there somewhere.

21-Day Fix Day 2

Day 2

The Food:

I started my day with another protein shake. I'm not drinking Shakeology right now, because $$$$!! I do not enjoy the taste of stevia, so it feels counterintuitive to pay $4+ per shake for something I don't like that much.  I've been reading up on making my own shakes with quality protein powder, super greens, frozen fruits, etc.  I'll keep working on my own blends and sampling other brands and let you know what I come up with.  I love protein shakes and smoothies, so this is fun for me!  I truly wish I liked Shakeology, but unless the recipe has changed vastly over the past 3 years, I can't stand the taste. 

I made a 21-Day Fix crepe since my kids asked me to make their favorite "Joy of Cooking" crepe for brunch. 

Crepe: 1 red, 2 yellow (cashew milk and flour), 2 oils, 1 purple if you add fruit!

• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup of original cashew milk
• 2 tsp coconut oil, blended with a few tablespoons of hot water to keep the oil in liquid form
• 1/4 cup unbleached flour (or GF flour substitute)
• Top with any 21-Day Fix approved food. Berries are my favorite choice, but you could use nut butters, cacao nibs, cheeses, etc. 

For lunch, my younger daughter and I shared a simple salad with grilled chicken. For dinner, we met friend out at my favorite Thai place, Sap's. Their Tom Kha soup is ahhhmazing and a clean meal. I ate a portion that would fit in my plan and it was perfect.  We have lots of leftovers.  This is the second day when 2 blue portions made sense for me (the coconut milk used in the soup), so I feel good about it.

I'm lacking vegetables, though. Even with the salad I ate today, I had 2 greens at best.  I should be eating 4-5.  Time to work in zoodles!

I miss my slightly sweetened coffee, but I'll find my coffee perfection at some point.

The Workout:

One thing is clear. I'm out of shape. For someone who has historically been athletic, I'm SO out of it right now. The upside is that I'll see a lot of fitness progress over the next 21 days!

I got up this morning and decided to hit the cardio workout first thing.  I like Autumn's style of leading the workout and got off to a great start.  Then 15 minutes in, which is the half-way point, I started feeling nauseated!! I literally couldn't continue.  I had to stop and put my head down between my knees.  One mistake I made was to drink a smoothie right before starting the workout.  Won't be doing that again.  The other factor is just that I've not been physically active lately, let alone challenging myself.  So, it. kicked. my. butt!  

I let a bit of time pass, did some prepping of my house for the house cleaner to come (yes, I do that), threw a little pity party for myself, then later in the afternoon, carted my Macbook with me to the YMCA and did my workout there.  I'm not opting to purchase weights at the moment, but the YMCA has everything I need and more.  

My set-up. Behind me are more weights, yoga balls, mats,
balance platforms, and more.

Once I arrived and turned on the DVD, I realized the workout I'm "supposed" to do today (Upper Fix) wasn't on the DVD I had with me, so I opted for "Dirty 30."  It swiftly kicked my butt, but I did get through 25 minutes before wanting to die, and I stuck through the final 5 minutes.  One particular exercise, side-plank leg-raises, makes my hip cramp up SO badly that I can't even do it. What's up with that?!

When I headed downstairs after my workout, my legs almost buckled under me!  Noodle legs instantly!

Overall, I feel great. It's 9pm and my lower body and shoulders are already feeling "noodle-y." I actually love that feeling, so bring it on!

21-Day Fix Day 1

Day 1

The Food:

It's obvious I work well under a strict plan of eating. I'm in place where I just need someone to tell me what to eat for now.  This won't be forever, but it's exactly right for me now.

When I saw the tiny portion containers that Annmarie gave me for the 21-Day Fix, my thought was this is going to suck.   It didn't!  In fact, I didn't even meet the max portions for everything.

Major news!! I drank coffee without sugar and survived!

Using Pages, I created this checklist. I'll share the .jpg file.  Feel free to use it.

The last block in red, green and yellow are greyed out because I borderline between two categories, so I'm allowed a max, but it won't hurt if I'm under that max on those categories.  After day one, I realized I need to up my veggies (of course) and even protein (which should be easy).  One contention and possible change I will make is the blue container. The program stipulates I have one per day, but I think I'll allow myself 2.  Since I will not be eating 3-4 yellows most days, I do want the ability to increase the "good fats" that are the blue container.  I'd even rather increase the blue in exchange for the oils. I love avocado, hummus, coconut milk, and nuts...so limiting to one very small serving (1/4 avocado for example) isn't fun!  I know it's ideal to follow the program strictly, but I think this is a good adjustment for me.  I'll ask my coach if she agrees! :)

The Workout:

I made the mistake of not working out in the early morning, so didn't do the workout today. Since it's cardio, I'll pair up two workouts on Day 2. 

21-Day Fix

"Fix"
I'm not totally fond of that term in the way Beachbody intends it. Like somehow if I shed some pounds I'll be "fixed."  But at the same time, it fits my situation.

If you click back through this blog, covering a span of years, you'll see clearly there is an issue with my body/spirit connection that needs to be fixed.  My last post was over a year ago. I was in a great place and cautiously optimistic.  The caution came from years of stops and starts, weight loss and weight gain, caring and not  caring.

Well, here I am 13 months after my last post, having lost 23 pounds before fall 2015, then gaining almost every single pound back since.  That is my pattern.

I recently listened to one of my favorite podcasts, This American Life.  "Tell Me I'm Fat" was an excellent episode. I highly recommend reading or listening (transcript available through the link). Writer Lindy West shared her story of "fat acceptance."  She actually began "coming out" as fat.  Even though her friends and family could see her, it was like a dirty secret no one talked about, so she started coming out: stating factually to those around her that, "I'm fat. And I'm okay with that. I like who I am and I like my size."  She challenges people to alter their standard of beauty.  Explore why you define beauty the way you do.  Who influences your thoughts and why?

Her boss, on the other hand, adamantly argued with her that "fat acceptance" is foolish due to the health risks.  He deemed fat rolls as "unsightly" and publicly shamed fat people in his articles.

Another woman, Roxane Gay, hasn't yet come to a place of loving her body. She talks about how she differentiates "Lane Bryant fat" with "can't buy conventional clothes or sit in conventional chairs" fat. Roxane is also a woman of color and discusses that angle of how people perceive her.

Listening to the podcast made me realize I'm certainly not okay with being fat.  I'm not like Lindy, who truly came to a place where she sees herself and other fat people as perfectly fine just the way they are.  I'll be honest and say that I try to not judge other people, but I do. I literally size people up. And it has everything to do with me and nothing to do with them. It's my own mess in my head and that is what needs to be fixed. So I wonder, is my perception because of society's definition and push of an ideal beauty?  Is it because I personally don't feel "right" when I'm overweight?  Is it because I don't believe our human bodies were designed by God to carry so much extra weight?

I do not, and have not for many many years, feel that I, nor anyone else,  should meet the ideals pushed on us by media and even government standards of "health."  Those BMI calculators have always been a joke. Even when I've been at my lowest weight and peak physical performance, I'm still considered to be at the top range of "normal weight."  If I'm 5'4" and 146 pounds, which would be a very healthy, good place for me (even 155 would be a good weight for my body), I would be considered overweight.

So, it's clear that the "fix" is more for my brain than anything.  Reading my last blog, I was doing well and not seeing a regression in sight. But by November, I was rapidly increasing my sugar and wheat intake and the weight gain followed instantly.

It's tempting to go back and delete this entire blog. It's embarrassing to read my confident statements, my expressed resolve, then admit I am where I am now.

But I'm keeping it there.  The truth is the truth.  I'm starting the 21-Day Fix today, then meeting with a friend who happens to also be a personal trainer, Beachbody coach, and life coach.

Added to this physical journey is a spiritual aspect I'll share later.

Let me admit freely. I'm not really looking forward to this.

Coming up: Daily Report
How to Do 21-Day Fix on a Budget