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. 

New Goals

Clearly what I'm doing isn't working for me.  I haven't worked out in a week, I haven't been eating the best (although it is better than eating greasy fast food every day).  I know I need to change things up (drastically), so I'm going to change the way I do things.  Clearly specialized posts aren't working, so I'm going to post daily.  I'm going to post pictures of what I eat and the workout for that day.  I'm going to try to make it my nighttime ritual.  That and reading.

The first thing I need to do is figure out my photo storage so I can access all the photos on my phone from my computer so I can post them.  I'll also post them on social media and Facebook to keep myself accountable too.  It's just something I need to do anyway, but this will give me a good excuse.

Also, I want to complete all of the exercise programs I have purchased.  So, I have created the following schedule:

May: Finish 21 Day Fix Extreme
June: T25 Alpha
July: T25 Beta
August: T25 Gamma
September: Bodyshred (month 1)
October: Bodyshred (month 2)
November: Insanity Max 30
December: Insanity Max 30
January: P90X3
February: P90X3
March: P90X3
April: 21 Day Fix Extreme

Then, I also have Insanity (the original) and Insanity Asylum Vol. 1 as well, but those seem really scary right now, so I will just hold off.

I'm also going to meal plan and count my calories.  I'm going to post pictures of my meals and make sure my calories count.  I will try to post the containers if I can figure it out.  I'm not very good with following that meal plan.  I know it works for a lot of people though.

Here's to a new plan, and continuing the journey of me.  I just have to accept that during this time there is going to be rough spots.  I'm going to have to figure out what works for me and how to keep myself motivated.

Workout Wednesday: 21 Day Fix Extreme, Week 1

This was my first straight week of 21 Day Fix Extreme, and boy is it extreme!!  However, it is just the right amount of intensity for me.  It's a good challenge, to say the least.

Monday: Plyo Fix Extreme
This workout is made of five rounds.  Each round has two moves (three if you are doing something with legs...one for each leg).  Each move is 30 seconds with a 30 second water break in between.  30 second may sounds like a lot for a break, but it goes by fast.  It does not go by fast when you are dying in your weighted lunge hops though.  Lunges are soooo hard for me.  I'm not sure why.  The burped tuck jumps are a-la insanity, but it's only 30 seconds, and you get a break.  So...just a little crazy, not fully insane.  I felt this one afterward.  It's that good kind of sore feeling, and you know you've worked your ass off.  I'm excited to get better on this one.  I know I will progress far.
Max Heart Rate: 137          Calories Burned: 379

Tuesday: Upper Body Fix Extreme
I don't remember how many round this workout is, but I do remember you do it twice.  There's a nice little progression of shoulders to back to biceps to triceps.  Man, does it make your arms hurt.  my favorite move was the ones with the resistance band.  You really want to make sure you are using proper form with these.  I have a hard time knowing if I'm actually working the muscle I'm supposed to be working.  And, crab dips are the worst.  This was one you didn't feel until the next day, but man oh man do I feel it.  I have zero upper body strength, so I'm hoping this helps out! 
Max Heart Rate: 117          Calories Burned: 249

Wednesday: Pilates Fix Extreme
This was a great workout, but I'm having a hard time seeing the benefit.  Don't' get me wrong, I know there is one, but I didn't burn a lot of calories, and I don't feel a whole lot different.  The resistance bands were tricky to use.  When we did moves on our hands and knees, the band hurt to hold on to, and it would rub against my leg and get stuck.  I don't know that I got a whole lot of good out of this one.  I'm ready to do something a little more intense that will burn mega calories and get my heart rate up.  That's probably going to come tomorrow
Max Heart Rate: 111          Calories Burned: 177

Look for the other workouts to come next week.  I'm glad I'm doing all of this, but I really need to dial in my nutrition as well.  That's going to be most of the battle. 

Update on Life

I know I was supposed to have week 1 of the 21 Day Fix Extreme, and I did the first two days, but the other days I was extremely tired, and I could not get out of bed.  I did pretty well on eating until the last couple of days.  We had a cookout for some of the students my wife is associated with, so the last couple days have been spent eating leftover hotdogs and hamburgers.

Today, I felt like crap.  I have bad sinus issues, and it all caught up with me today.  I've spent most of the weekend sleeping and trying to just take care of myself.  I learned some things about work that were not the most pleasant, and I've been ruminating on how to manage the information I have and what my responsibility is since I now know.

I've ordered a couple of things I think will help with my fitness journey.  The first is a Beachbody performance sampler.  This has things for pre workout, during workout, post workout, and sleeping supplements to help further my performance.  I'm excited to try it, and I will definitely be posting about it.  I never feel like I get the right nutrients for working out, and I know this is going to help tremendously.

Also, I've been doing a lot of research on PCOS, and I'm convinced I have it.  While I've never been formally diagnosed, I have a lot of the symptoms.  While I take birth control to control my cycles, I still feel really symptomatic sometimes when my body is trying to have a period.  i've been doing some research, and I found a lot of people use Teami products to help control the symptoms (bloating, acne, stable moods).  So, I ordered the detox pack today.  I'm excited to try it and see how it works.  Again, I will be posting about this too.

My wife leaves for South Africa next Saturday, and I'm pretty worried about her.  This is the longest we will have been apart with minimal contact in a while.  My mom is coming to help me take care of the dogs, and I'm hopeful I will have enough distractions to manage while she is gone.  She is gone for two weeks, is back for a couple of days, and leaves again for a month residency for her phd program.

So, that's what's going on in my world...and why you haven't heard from me in a while.  That changes this week :-)

STATurday: Pre 21 Day Fix Extreme Round 1

I am completely stocked over my results this week.  This was my week to play around until our new programs came in, so I wasn't really expecting to have lots of results.  However, I lost FIVE POUNDS!!  That's amazing to me.  I haven't been this weight since the beginning of February.  While I am not particularly proud of that, I am glad that I am beginning to get my life on track and make effective decisions for my current and future self.  It also makes me want to keep going.

I have started a new book by J.D Roth, the creator of The Biggest Loser and Extreme Weight Loss.  He discussed the concept of having a window and a mirror.  The window is for you to dream from, to figure out what you want from this life and to go after it.  The mirror is for you to take an honest, hard look at who you are now.  This is why he has the contestants weigh in with the shirt off.  He suggests to take a picture and use it as motivation.  This is not a shaming tactic, but something to be used as motivation, to remember that unhappy person and commit to never going back there again because you are better than that...I am better than that.

Since this is my (kind of) official before stats as I start 21 Day Fix Extreme tomorrow, what better way to commit to myself than by posting my "before" pictures.  They're not pretty, and I'm embarrassed by them.  I created this blog to have a safe place to talk about my fitness journey and deal with the food, the workouts, and the emotional stuff because I don't want to share this with my extended family and friends.  My wife is incredibly supportive, and I have a friend I talk to about it occasionally; however, weight has been a sensitive subject in my family my whole life.  It is one of those things we just don't talk about.  So, here it is...for the world to look at and find:

Weight: 253.8 pounds
Body Fat: 49.6%
Bust: 45 inches
Waist: 40 inches
Hips: 53 inches
Thigh: 29 inches
Arm: 15.5 inches

It can only get better from here, right?

Workout Wednesday: Losing the Insanity and Going Extreme

Good Evening!

I know this post is coming later than usual, but at least it's here.   I was going to post this ON Wednesday, but my internet wasn't working...

First and foremost, I have been working out consistently for about a week now, and I feel SO MUCH BETTER!  It's amazing how getting some exercise can improve my mental clarity, stress level, energy level, and overall functioning.  It definitely makes me sad to think it took me so long for me to get in order and start to take care of myself the way I deserve to be taken care of (and in a way no one but me can take care of me).  I noticed the effects almost immediately.  It took a couple of days, but I definitely notice it.  I hope that I don't go back to the place I was.

Speaking of working out, Insanity Max 30 wasn't working.  I couldn't do a lot of it, and I would get discouraged.  So, I stopped.  The problem with this is it came with a slew of negative self talk.  I was a quitter, I was a for slob who has ruined her body...yeah, I'm not very nice to myself sometimes.  However, I realized that I need to meet myself where I am at, and I am not yet ready to do Insanity max 30.

I convinced my wife to use some Amazon credit we have and purchase 21 Day Fix Extreme and Focus T25.  I researched these programs and found out they were still challenging, but were more doable than Max 30.  I have done Focus T25 before and gotten awesome results, and I have heard amazing things about Autumn and the 21 Day Fix.  While I was waiting for these programs to arrive, I Cized it up and did some Zumba!

I LOVE Cize!!  It is so much fun, and you never know that you are exercising.  However, this workout was much more difficult than I remember.  This was the first day I woke up at 5am to workout, and I took a small break in the middle just to sit on the floor I was so tired.  It was awful, but I got through it.  Seriously, this is one of my favorite programs, and if I didn't believe so much in strength training I would do this all of the time.

Tuesday, I found a 20 minute Zumba DVD.  It was hard because it moved fast, and I hadn't done these moves/anything from this program before.  However, I took as many steps and burned almost as many calories as Cize, so I know I was doing something.  The worst feeling is feeling like you're watching a workout DVD because you have no idea what's going on.  But, it was fun and I'm excited to explore more of the DVDs when I have the time.

Today, I did Pilates Fix Extreme from 21 Day Fix Extreme.  It was a lot of fun, and most definitely a workout to do with shoes (I usually workout barefoot).  You spend the whole workout in the resistance band.  You also spend most of the workout on the floor.  It was a good resistance workout, and I like Autumn.  I mean, she's no Shaun T...but she's comfortably in second (or third if you count Jillian).  I'm just going through the rest of the week with the program, and we are going to officially start the program on Monday.

I'm excited going forward to see what results come from this.  My goal is to be in the 230's when I go see my doctor...that will be the least I have weighed in a LONG time.  Follow me on IG @themeproject3, and leave comments with your favorite workout this week!!