21 Day Fix: Week 1

So after conquering the half marathon, it was time to fix my eyes on another challenge.  I took a little break after the half to allow my body to rest some, and then we enjoyed a nice family vacation, and now it's back at it!  I decided on the 21 Day Fix for a couple of reasons.  1.  I'm coming up on my one year anniversary since my No More Excuses Post and wanted a final little push to see what I can accomplish in the one year. 2.  I love the focus on clean eating.  The other programs I've done, also have meal plans and eating components, but this program really dumbs it down for you-- no counting calories, and it's an excellent PORTION CONTROL system.  I've made a lot of changes to my eating habits over the last year, and I really feel like this plan just does it with ease, and is in some ways more strict and easier for me to stay focused.

*Side note- keep in mind if you choose to keep reading that when I talk about the food I'm eating, those are just breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I promise I'm not starving myself!  I also usually have at least 2 snacks a day, if not 3.  One snack I have every single day is my post-workout protein.  I no longer mix it with milk because milk is not "free" in the program, I'd have to sub out a container and I don't want to do that.  So I've been mixing my protein with plain cooled in the fridge black coffee and it's like a little post-workout treat and pick me up.  (For curious minds, I use Scivation Whey Protein, the chocolate makes an excellent "iced mocha" and the vanilla is a delicious "iced vanilla latte".)  For my other snack for the day, it just depends on what colored containers I have left, some days it's grapes or watermelon, some days it's cottage cheese, some days a piece of whole wheat toast with 2 teaspoons of peanut butter, and some days eggs, it varies based on what I've eaten the rest of the day.

DAY 1: Total Body Cardio Fix
I was surprisingly winded by this class.  I honestly assumed after running a half marathon that the cardio portions would be a breeze.  I will say however that though I was winded, I did feel like I still had some energy to do something more once I was finished.  All of the workouts in this program are 30 minutes, so if I'm still feeling energized at the end of this week, I think I will start doing some two-a-days or adding some other components.

As far as the eating goes for day 1, it was a bit of a scramble.  With just getting home from vacation, though I had a meal plan in place, I still needed the groceries and we got a late start today.  Did the best with what we had on hand, and was very much stuck to the plan, and got some prep work done at night to hopefully make the rest of the week easier.  Meals for today included scrambled eggs and watermelon for breakfast, a mixed green salad with veggies and balsamic vinaigrette for lunch, turkey meatballs with marinara, quinoa and broccoli for dinner.

DAY 2: Upper Fix
Feels so good to be weight training again!  I really missed the weights while training for the half marathon and going cardio crazy.

Eating for day 2 goes a little something like this-- oatmeal with flax and banana for breakfast.  Lunch was leftover turkey meatballs, broccoli and quinoa.  And for dinner we were invited to a cook-out.  Unfortunately the cook out food consisted of hot dogs and potato chips.... so I opted to pack my own dinner which was a salad with veggies and grilled chicken and some balsamic dressing.  And of course I just said no to the desserts and had some grapes instead.

DAY 3: Lower Fix
I'm not gonna lie, I sort of knocked the work outs before I began.  I got a little cocky and thought that this set was for "beginners".... I mean after all, I had crushed P90x, Turbo Fire, and a half marathon.... I was wrong!  I woke up this morning and found it hard to hit play because my entire body is SORE!  But I found the courage, and I know after working these legs, it's going to be hard to get down the stairs tomorrow!

Eating wise, I've felt hungry.  I assume it's a change in metabolism thing and I'm going to wait it out another couple of days to see how it goes before I decide to add more calories.  Meals today included my oatmeal with flax, banana, and cinnamon for breakfast, a mixed green salad with veggies and grilled chicken for lunch and bun less turkey burgers with broccoli and watermelon for dinner.

DAY 4: Pilates Fix
This was my first time ever doing pilates!  (Though I've done yoga before and I know they get lumped together often, they are different.)  The pilates class got started slow and I thought, "This will be really great for my sore muscles!"  ... And then suddenly my already sore muscles were on FIRE!  Ha!  Definitely a good burn, but we'll see how I feel tomorrow.

Today's meals included my steel cut oats with half a banana, cinnamon and flax.  Really loving that breakfast!  It's probably weird to some to eat the same thing every morning, but it's easy to make and it's very filling to me.  Lunch was another grilled chicken salad with mixed veggies and balsamic, and dinner was steak fajitas.  For the fajitas, I added some broccoli to mine because the idea of a full green container of just peppers and onions sounded like a little too much.  Made my own fajita seasoning that was low in salt and enjoyed them with two soft corn tortillas.

DAY 5: Cardio Fix
I'm discovering a trend that apparently Autumn Calabrese really likes planks and any exercise that involves a plank.... ((sigh))  Can I just say that I SUCK at planks!?  I don't know that I've ever even done a plank before this. LOL!  Give me ANY other core/ab exercise and I'll kill it, but about 20 seconds into a plank, I drop to my knees trembling. So my new goal is to conquer Autumn's planks!

Today's meals included my regular oatmeal/banana breakfast, bun less turkey burgers with a side salad for lunch, and a grilled chicken and cheese quesadilla with a side of broccoli for dinner.

ALSO, in other news, the self-proclaimed "Freebie Queen" is choosing to pass on the free donuts today for National Donut Day! Seriously though.... I love love love anything free, and as a police wife, I also love donuts... and it's really hard to not go get a free one just because they're free. Haha!!!

DAY 6: Dirty 30
Not too bad except my butt is still on fire from leg day. The only hard part I see with this program is that because it is 7 days a week working out, I have had sore muscles going into the next workout every single day. I'm sure it gets easier with time, but since it's only 3 weeks, I don't know that easier will come before it's over.

Today's meals included my usual banana and oatmeal breakfast, a salad with mixed veggies, grilled chicken and balsamic vinaigrette for lunch, and then bun-less turkey burgers, sweet potato fries and a medley of zucchini and yellow squash for dinner. 

DAY 7: Yoga Fix
I've come a long way from the yoga hater I once was!  Though it was hard to get out of bed this morning, yoga felt sooooo good!

My usual banana steel cut oats breakfast.  You're probably tired of reading that, maybe I'll switch it up next week.  Lunch was a mixed green and veggie salad with a mix of grilled chicken and steak and balsamic vinaigrette.  And for dinner, a grilled chicken wrap on a whole wheat tortilla and a side of broccoli.

Week 1 complete!  That means I'm 1/3 of the way through!! If I can do 90 days, then surely 21 days will be a breeze, right!?