21 Day Fix: Reflect & Reload

Hey everyone,

I haven't posted in a while, though I meant to after Day 21. Things went haywire and now that the first two weeks of school are in the bag, I'm ready to take stock and reload.

First off, how did 21 Day Fix Round 1 go?

• Weight Loss: 2 lbs
• Inches Lost: 1 in for each section of my body
• Workouts completed: 85% (approx.)
• Nutrition followed: 50%?

I didn't lose much weight, but this was a start and as I've told quite a few people, I learned an incredible amount about myself. The biggest thing? Nutrition matters way, way, way more to my body than exercise.

As some know, I have PCOS so losing weight can be very difficult and my metabolism is sluggish and struggles more than usual with foods high on the glycemic index. I've noticed a bit in the past that I have to do crazy cardio and working out to see results even when I was pretty perfectly following Weight Watchers' plan. I hope if I stay focused on the 21 Day Fix foods and make use of my great magazines and books on food that I can help counteract the inflammation and issues from PCOS.

Planning = the most important thing ever. And boy did I bloody well SUCK at that last time. My goal now is to be strict about recording everything and prepare in advance.

So, why am I doing it again and how's that planning thing going?

• Even if it's tiny step by tiny step, I'm going to lose weight
• It felt good to be trying to be healthy
• The better I ate and the more I worked out, the better I felt even if it was hard to maintain
• I have lunch for the next three days made up in tupperware in the fridge
• My crockpot is filled with 21 Day Fix approved chicken and veggies which should last 2-4 meals

All measured & got the planner ready to go. #adultinghardcore

Finally, I think it's important to have a positive outlook for myself and for things in general. It's hard to be super happy when society is telling you that you're worthless because of the way you look and that's one hell of a vicious cycle. I don't feel like giving up again and even if I'm not tiny, I'm going to be me and I'm doing this for myself.

I appreciate each and everyone of you who have commented on Facebook, liked my posts, or just straight up told me in person "Hey, I read some of your blog!" It means the world!

I don't plan on posting every day this time around, but I do plan to keep updating about my progress. My instagram (@peace4renee) will be uber active though, with all my food and workout selfies.

Peace out! <3

Day 16: 21 Day Fix - A Boot in Your Ass, it's the American Way

Hey all -

First off, I'm sorry I haven't posted in a few days. One note is, I had a day 12 update written that failed on the upload. The rest of the days are entirely my b.

I'm working towards not making excuses since the answer is really I fucked up and the why isn't really important so long as I learn and keep going. These next five days are going to be the best days possible and I'm going to finish strong.

How? I've been saying I'll be strong for the whole thing and I've hit obstacles I created. How am I going to avoid them now?

Spending today at home resulted in my brother putting a boot up my ass and my mum being usefully on me about everything I need done in my flailing adult life. It was oddly painful and inspirational as being called out often is.

In my defense, I brought Autumn's DVDs home. My brother also being home inspired me to follow through and bust out some woodcutters!

My fitness has been more consistent than my nutrition the past few days And I learned the following things:

- I genuinely like working out, though I succeed most when it's scheduled

- I feel more awake after the DVDs and that's motivating

- Eating healthy has a much bigger effect on my weight and size (I think)

- Since my focus has been improvingmg eating, by deviating several times these missing days I discovered man do I feel awful when I eat poorly

- I suck at sleep and it's actually super important for weight loss (7 hour goal?!?!)

My new goals:

- plan, shop, and prep for the rest of 21 day fix

- sleep 7-8 hours a night

My first official day of work is tomorrow so fingers are crossed for a good start to the year!

-Fallon

Day 11: 21 Day Fix - Halfway There

Hey all!

I can't believe that I'm officially halfway through the program! I've learned a lot about myself that makes me excited to do it again after I finish.

Today I went to Water Wizz park with my camp and since I had to run out of my apartment, I didn't pack up much of a lunch. I should've done so before bed (eternal lesson) but I didn't and so I was worried. Surprisingly, they had a ton of healthy options including wraps and salads, fruit cups and hummus. I went with a tasty mango smoothie and dodged the French fry bullet.

Fitness wise, I'm definitely getting tired. I both know I'm getting stronger and am feeling exhausted. Sleep is so important and I know I haven't been getting enough. I'm aiming for a few long lies before school starts up and after camp so that I can recover. Still powering through, but it's becoming a bigger challenge!

Morning update: I'm feeling tired and am hoping coffee and Shakeology will help me dig deep for energy. 

Getting ready to power through tomorrow. Work = results!

Day 10: 21 Day Fix - Realizations

Hey All,

This post is late because I was running behind in the morning and didn't get a chance to post at work.

All of my campers and sick with something. Thanks to not having eaten great and their germs, I woke up fighting off a bug. No worries, though, as I've powered through worse.

Nutrition: Pretty solid day. I brought a banana to do a later breakfast and had more of my yummy chicken quinoa for lunch. I had my dinner late since I did work when I got home and wanted to wait until I felt hungry again. My love for tortilla shells with a touch of cheese and veg continued. Probably had a little too much cheese and I know I missed my Shakeology, but today was better.

My body was feeling the tired but I aimed to be really active at work. Completing the DVD was a struggle but I "g[a]ve all I ha[d]." I feel much more able to identify muscles in my body and am seeing where things are working.

I've lost weight before through WeightWatchersOnline (I totally recommend it) and tons of cardio. I did tons on the elliptical and regular Zumba. Despite this, I don't think I knew my body and I certainly didn't have a good relationship with it. 

This program and Pilates are helping me earn what my body can do and appreciate it as it develops into a stronger, healthier machine.

Morning update: still feeling a little queasy but not as much. It's amazing what mostly eating well and then not for a whole evening does to you. It's scary, really. What did I do to myself for so long? Commitment renewed.

Day 9: 21 Day Fix - Trying to Figure it Out

Wow was today a fine example of why I need this program!

Nutrition was definitely a struggle for me, not because I didn't plan, but because I didn't execute. Breakfast and lunch went marvelously! I loved the quinoa chicken that I made; it was filling and fit the plan. Unfortunately, as I made my way home, things began to fall apart.

As most people know, my car caught fire about a week and a half ago and we had some trouble with contractors in our apartment, so things have been pretty chaotic. I'm also starting a new job in the Fall and as of right now, I know very, very little about what that will entail. Moving to a fabulous apartment, getting a new car, and starting a job at a fantastic school are all super positive changes but I haven't been doing super well.

As I began driving home and thinking of everything I had to do, I started freaking out and that continued once I got home after Pilates. How can I budget everything? Will I have time to do everything? Who do I need to schedule in? Where am I going to be this weekend? And so on and so forth... my eating choice became poor and good god did it make me feel physically and emotionally terrible.

Truer words have never been spoken.

On the fitness side of things, Pilates Reformer was amazing and let me check out for an hour and really focus on my body strengthening and finding balance. I can only imagine how much better I would be getting if I could get nutrition in line as well. After a lot of back and forth and general misery, I did in fact put on the Yoga Fix DVD and complete it. I was glad I did as the stretching was nice and, as I did it about 9:30pm, it helped me relax a bit.

A more negative note was that the Hamsters of Anxiety ran around my brain until 3:00am. A benefit was I organized some random piles of clothes and cleaned out paperwork. I began making a To Do list at 2:45am and that allowed me to relax enough to go to sleep. It's ridiculously long, but organized.

My goal is to again focus on a full day of healthy tomorrow rather than these 1/2 days because not being fully focused on nutrition is not going to give me results.

Got to take risks and get there and get there again.

Breathe out the negativity, man.

Morning Update: A sickness is going around camp and of course I ate poorly last night so I woke up after 3 hours of sleep feeling awful. It's 10 am and the feeling of death in my body has not decreased. I'm going to chin up and make better choices.

Day 8: 21 Day Fix - Keep On Going

Hey y'all!

Week 2 of the 21 Day Fix program is off with a bang! Erm, well a snoozed alarm clock and then a bang.

I have to say that I'm actually really glad that I started this blog back up. I really appreciate all of the comments on Facebook and all of you reading up on me. This is crazy tough to try and do since there's so much and it's easy to be tired and feel bad and want to stop. I'm more tired of quitting, though, and now I know there's this cacophony of people behind me.

Sunday mornings = Pilates mat class and boy could I feel the results of yesterday's workouts! My legs were very noncompliant but I did my best. I was also supposed to attend a barre class and well, I definitely slept through most of it and felt bad. I'll get there sometime! I made Pilates, came home, and then immediately went and did the Dirty 30 workout. I thought about my need to have written a will a few times during it, but I survived and don't want to move anymore, but I survived. You do, after all, have to put in the work to get results. #strongereveryday

Dirty 30 Sweaty Selfie... Got the glasses fogging up!

Nutrition wise was somewhat of a success. I had my smoothie and my lunch was a healthy tortilla and eggs with sunflower seeds on the side. My dinner plans got sidetracked by snacking on popcorn and then going out for a walk which resulted in ice cream. I ended up not being hungry for dinner and instead focused on what I could do to make tomorrow more successful and spent gobs of time cooking and meal planning. I'm really excited for my lunch tomorrow: chili lime chicken with quinoa and garlic onions and broccoli! (Plan approved: One green, one red, one yellow, 2 teaspoons)

All I can do is hold myself to do better each day. I'm set for success for tomorrow and separated out my quinoa so I have 4 more servings ready to add to any meal. Week 2 is set to keep going up.

Morning update: Feeling tired but ready to take on the world. Packed my lunch and Pilates clothes, and my coffee is in hand.

"Just do it and do it again." - Nike

Until tomorrow, stay fit!

-Fallon

Day 7: 21 Day Fix - Beast Mode

This morning started out with a great massage to work out the awful knots in my back and shoulder, but the rest of the day anything but lazy and relaxed. I had workouts to complete and I was going to do this hard core.

Mentally, despite the rollercoaster-ness of my first week, I have been feeling really positive. Yes, things have been hard, but they haven't been impossible. Why give up now? Things can only go up form here. The power of belief, guys, it sounds lame but it feels true. Whatever gets me to actually do a burpee, I guess?

Post-Pilates & Cardio! #stillalive

Nutrition wise, today was a win. I even had to attend a birthday party in the evening and managed to turn down a majority of the offerings. There was a bite of cake, but a dear friend had made it and insisted. Otherwise, I ate healthy throughout the morning and afternoon. It was easier because I was thinking about it and making conscious choices about what each meal would be.

The workouts went well! I completed Pilates, then took a break to have my smoothie and recoup, then I did the Cardio dvd. There was a lot of on your toes, plank position stuff in the Pilates DVD that I had to drop to my knees (yay ankle), but hopefully I'll be able to be strong enough to do them without injury, I just don't feel comfortable yet. Otherwise, it was hard, but I powered through.

Morning update: I'm pretty achy from all the massage work to my shoulder muscles, but I'm getting myself psyched for my Pilates class and then Dirty 30 when I get home. Time for breakfast now.

Ciao!
Fallon