Focus T25 Day 1

Today started with my workout. CARDIO!!  I knew that if I didn't start my day with the workout I wouldn't have done it.  So, that was what I started my day with, and it was awesome.  I feel like I did awesome in this workout.  I had to stop and shake it out a couple times because my hips and legs are tight.  Every once and a while I slowed down to follow the modifier because I was getting tired, but I am pretty damn proud of myself.  I've been amazed at what my body can do lately.  I've been doing really well in my workouts and pushing myself.

7 minutes in peak?!?!  That's amazing for me.  I was super impressed my how many calories I burned, too.  I've been logging my food in order to keep track of everything in my Fitbit app.  This way, I know when I have been hitting my target calories.  I've also been trying to eat cleaner.  Today was not a good example, I ate oatmeal from mcdonalds, Chinese food (moo shoo pork), and Mexican (grilled chicken quesadilla with grilled mushrooms).  It hasn't been terrible, and I have stayed within my caloric limit, but it hasn't been as natural or clean as I would like.  

My biggest problem today is I'm exhausted!  I did some work from home this weekend to get caught up since it was such a crazy week last week.  I finished it all, but I think I wore myself out.  I really want to get back into reading at night and going to bed at a decent hour so I get all of my sleep.  I know that's important too.  

Overall, I want to be more balanced.  I think I'm on my way there, I just have to keep at it and be more disciplined.  My challenge to myself is to get 10,000 steps everyday this month as well.  We are going to see how that works out for me.  usually I get close, but I don't quite hit it.  So, we are going to see how that goes.  

well, I'm going to enjoy the Game Show Network for the last day I have it, maybe get some reading in, and hit the hay super early.  It's back to work tomorrow.  

Focus T25: The Beginning

I've officially ended 21 Day Fix Extreme.  All in all, I lost 7.3 pounds, which is nothing to shake a stick at.  That's a pretty awesome weight loss, especially since I skipped a week.  I didn't expect to get such good results since I was pretty lax on the meal plan and missed a whole week of workouts.  Now, I am on a mission to complete all of the programs I have purchased.  I'm not turning in my pictures to beach body for this one because I did not complete the program.  My goal is to turn in pictures and get the swag for all the completed programs.  Then I'll have a whole collection.  To see my workout schedule for the year, go here.

I'm starting with Focus T25 for two reasons.  First, I think it's a better program for beginners.  Second, I have completed the program before.  I did Alpha, Beta, and Gamma.  it was awesome, but I don't think I got the results I wanted because I ate like crap (although I did get some results).  So, I'm gonna make sure I eat pretty clean and do well so I can get maximum results.

Focus T25 is 5 workouts a week for 25 minutes a day.  Well, really that's kind of a lie because on Fridays you do double workouts, so really it's 50 minutes of Fridays.  Saturday and Sunday are rest days or you can do stretch on Sundays.  The stretch DVD in this program is the BOMB.COM.  It's awesome!!  You will feel so good after you do it, especially after a grueling week of workouts.  I'm so glad I bought the program (the first time I did it a friend bought the program and we liked it so much I bought gamma) just for the stretch DVD.

I'm hoping, after the Alpha round, to be in the 230s.  I've never been able to break the 240s.  Really, I've never been able to break 245.  So, I'm excited to try this and get some good results.  I know that nutrition is the key, and it is my weakness.  Therefore, I have to plan for it in order to get results.  But, results I'm going to get!!

Final Days of 21 Day Fix Extreme and STATurday

I know I haven't posted in a while.  I usually won't post on Thursdays because those are my long days.  Yesterday, I was so stinking tired I hardly did anything. However, I have kept up on my workouts!

Thursday was leg day (Lower Fix Extreme).  This was squats and lunges, squats and lunges, and more squats and lunges.  This killed me, especially the sumo squats with plyo followed by the back lunges with plyo gets me every time.  It's craziness and completely burns out your legs.  Then, Friday you do Cardio Fix Extreme.  I was sweating up a storm.  It's craziness.  Today was Dirty 30 Extreme. I don't think I have ever sweated so much in my life.  I mean, holy moly...I've workout out hard these last couple of days.  I'm pretty proud of myself, to be really honest.

My nutrition has been on point as well.  This latter half of the week, I've been trying to track my nutrition in My Fitness Pal.  Lately it's been about eating the rest of the leftovers in the fridge so we can restock for this coming week.  Thursday lunch I finished off the turkey stuffed zucchini, and that night I finished off the salad.  I also took a better picture of it.

Yesterday for lunch, I ate at Arby's.  We've been seeing commercials for their Bourbon Brisket bacon sandwich, and it looks really yummy.  So, I had one.  I calculated it within my calorie intake, and I made sure to take the dogs for a walk too to help burn off what I ate.  But, it all worked out for me. Dinner was grilled chicken tacos and green beans.  Yum Yum. 

Today I weighed myself and lost 8 pounds from last week! I was pleasantly surprised.  I forgot to take my other measurements, so I will have to do that tomorrow, especially in anticipation of Focus T25.  This was my lunch today.  I took my mom out before we went grocery shopping. 

I have more carbs in this week's meal plan, so we will see how that translates on the scale and in the measurements.  I'm excited for Focus T25.  let's hope next week is as good as this one!

21 Day Fix Extreme Week 3 Pilates Fix Extreme

Today didn't start off so well. I was exhausted, but I dragged my butt out of bed anyway to find my dogs had chewed my resistance bands.  Grrr...they're acting out since my wife is in Africa.  I cleaned it up, got out my other resistance band, pushed play, and was so tired I turned it off 10 minutes in, and I went back to bed.  I know sleep is an important part of this process, so I went ahead and took some time.

Because I slept in, I didn't eat breakfast.  I know...that's bad. I meant to drink my shakeology at work, but I just got busy and forgot about it.

My mom joined me for lunch, which was great because I was in my office most of the day.  We ate a grilled chicken quesadilla.  I put a little salsa on it, and yum yum.  I did indulge in the chips and salsa, but I didn't eat the rice or beans that came with it.

Dinner was this beauty.  They are Turkey Stuffed Zucchini from my favorite healthy food blog, skinny taste.  This is so yummy, and a great way to get your veggies as you put the guts of the zucchini back in the stuffing.  Yum Yum

While I didn't do pilates, I did take my monsters (I mean girls) for a walk tonight.  We go out and got our steps in.  The plan is to go to bed early tonight so I can kill leg day tomorrow!  

21 Day Fix Extreme: Week 3 Upper Fix Extreme

Today's workout was Upper Fix Extreme.  Can I tell you, I did not get my ass out of bed.  I even thought about not doing my workout because it's "only upper body."  Once I got up, dressed, and was ready to workout, my wife called from Africa.  Her first question was if I worked out yet, then she made me hang up until I worked out.  Even from Africa she was super supportive. So, I got it done.  Push ups and dolphins killed me.  I cannot plank to save my life; it is really hard for me.  However, I was super excited when I could hold myself up and do tricep dips.  These are so hard for me, and while I couldn't lift my leg, I could at least keep my butt in the air. Definite win for the last time I'm doing this workout in a while.  I'm pretty sure tricep dips are going to come back in before I revisit 21 Day Fix Extreme though. 

Breakfast was the same as yesterday, but I added a banana.  It was just as good as it was yesterday.  I don't know how I feel about microwaved eggs, but it is good that I'm eating a nutritional breakfast before I go to work.  

Here's a picture of the salad I talked about yesterday, and it was just as good today as it was yesterday.  You can't see a whole lot of what's in the salad, but at least you get a decent idea.  It's super yummy.  

Dinner was Honey Lime Sriracha Chicken with green beans and yellow squash.  It was also super yummy.  The chicken was excellent, but it was not as spicy as I thought it would be.  We think that maybe it needed to be marinated overnight and eaten right off of the grill.  The squash is also grilled, but the green beans are roasted.

For dessert, I had reese's peanut butter cups.  Yes, I had a treat, but I was also spot on with my nutrition throughout the day.  I go by the 80/20 rule; otherwise I'm going to crash and burn.  So, today was a good day.  Now, to do it again tomorrow.  I'm hoping by the time I complete Focus T25 Alpha, this is a habit and it doesn't become so hard to get up in the morning.  

Here's to hoping!!

21 Day Fix Extreme Week 3

While the title of the post says week 3, you all know I skipped a week in there, so I haven't really completed the program.  Side note, for this reason I'm not sending in pics for the shirt.  Anyway, I figured I would finish out the month with this program and change to Focus T25 in June.

So, today was the last day of Plyo Fix Extreme.  I decided to try out my Beachbody Performance Energize, and it was Amazing!! It is meant to give you energy to enhance your workout.  I read reviews that have said it's especially good for people who workout early in the morning and are tired during their workouts.  That's me(!), so I was excited to try it.

During my workout, I felt like I was on fire!  I did the whole workout for the whole time.  I felt SO GOOD when I was doing this workout.  I was able to have a good range of motion, I barely stopped even thought there were a lot of jumps.  I usually poop out or "half ass" it, but not this time.  I was a machine.  However, my fitbit did not necessarily reflect this, which was kind of disappointing.  I still think I need some Energize in my life though.  We are going to see how the rest of this week goes, but I'm certain I'm going to be purchasing more of that soon. 

The left picture is from today (with energize), and the right is from the last time I did this workout.  Notice I spent a minute with my heart rate in peak today, but last time I spent more time in "cardio."  I think the biggest thing for me is how I felt during this workout.  I legitimately felt like a beast, and I have never felt that way before.  

As for meals, I ate really well today.  I only took a picture of my breakfast, but I ate salad for my other two meals, and it's the same salad I'm eating for lunch all week so I will eventually get a picture.  This is an egg casserole I made.  I realized yesterday as I was meal prepping I got rid of my muffin tin, and I improvised.  I cut the casserole into 12 pieces, so I would only get one egg per square.  In this, I used 12 eggs, lots of spinach, mushrooms, and feta cheese.  It was actually really good.  I refrigerated the whole casserole and only reheated the squares I need.  I think in the future, I will add some red bell pepper.  I also don't know how I feel about the feta.  It's just not evenly spaced. 

Spinach, Mushroom, and Feta Egg Casserole

1 green, 1 red, 1/2 blue

My next two meals were Honeycrisp Salad.  It had spinach, blue cheese crumbles, dried cranberries, pecans, and a homemade apple vinaigrette.  It was delicious.  During lunch, I added some shredded chicken, which was also really tasty.  This is definitely a salad I will bring back.  I also used the spinach I bought at the Farmer's Market, which was really yummy.  It was extra crispy, so it will really a different kind of spinach than what you purchase in the store.  I'll be sure to take a picture of it tomorrow.  

Honey crisp Apple Salad

2 green, 1 red, 1/2 blue, 1 purple, 1 orange

finally, a friend of mine asked to meet me at Dairy Queen.  To be honest, I wasn't really excited for ice cream.  I didn't really want it.  I had a mini blizzard, and I was surprisingly good with that.  Considering yesterday I wanted to eat all of the candy, cookies, and ice cream in the town, today was a pleasant surprise.  I was on my cycle this previous week, and I wanted to eat everything in sight.  Good thing that doesn't happen all of the time.  

Today was a great start to getting myself back on track.  Even though it was a stressful day (that's what happens when an employee walks out on you), I didn't let it get me down and I didn't stress eat. Overall, today was a win.  Let's hope I can continue my awesome decision making through tomorrow. 

STATurday and Farmer's Market

I weighted myself this morning, and the scale said 260.  Which means, the scale is definitely going the wrong direction.  Since I started 21 Day Fix Extreme, the scale has been going up.  I know my diet hasn't been 100% on point, but it has drastically improved from where it was.  I think that is part of my problem.  I don't need to be so fixated with the number on the scale.  Because it had been going up, even if my body fat percentage went down, I got a little discouraged.  Now I'm super discouraged.    But, I'm going to do something about it.  

Today, we went to the farmer's market in effort to purchase local produce so I can meal prep tomorrow.  

This is an awesome farmer's market with lots of local farmers, and a lot of them are all natural/organic farms.  There were a lot of flower and herb vendors this time, and the selection at the farmer's tables were very limited.  I think this is because it is early in the season.  We were able to get some spinach, zucchini, and meat.  

They also had this awesome band that played while you can hear it throughout the market.  It's nice to have some atmosphere.  This is something I really enjoy doing, but I don't do it enough.  We are going to try to make it a habit to go every Saturday.  It is kind of far out of the way for me (it's about an hour north), but I'm hoping that it will be worth it.  

There were also food trucks while we were there.  There was one called Pandamonium Doughnuts, and it had a humongous line.  I've heard they're really yummy.  We ate at this food truck called "Cracked," which had egg products.  I had an egg sandwich with spinach, sun dried tomatoes, hash browns, and chipotle pesto.  It was delicious.  

Tomorrow is definitely a reset day.  Yoga Fix Extreme, meal plan, and clean the house.  That's going to be the plan, and I am going to post day by day to assist me in documenting my journey.