Focus T25 Week 1 Recap

I know I haven't been keeping up with my blog like I want to, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been doing the work, because I have been.

Tuesday

Day 2 was Speed 1.0.  All I can remember in my head is "front, center, back, center, out wide."  This was the cadence to the speed and agility move.  Keeping up on this one was difficult, but I feel like I did a really good job with it, and I look forward to improving.

Lunch was this salad, that was really yummy.  I was surprised by how good it was.  There is a lot of sugar in in (or more than I want), but it was (surprisingly) really good.  I like that it's organic and certified by the NSF.  I'm not putting anything gross in my body and am truly eating clean. 

This was dinner; Greek Feta Zucchini Turkey burger.  The zucchini is actually in the burger, and it is topped with a greek salad.  I roasted some green beans.  This was delicious.  It's a recipe I found on skinny taste, and I have rarely had a bad meal from her. It was really yummy (and healthy).  

Day 3

Today's workout was total body circuit, and man was it difficult.  I barely survived this one; I swore Shaun T was trying to kill me.  It worked out everything...lived up to it's name.  Craziness is what it should be called.  I know this workout isn't as difficult as insanity, but it was pretty hard. 

Dinner this night was a loaded taco salad.  It was deliciousness.  It had chicken, back beans, corns, doritos, tomatoes, avocado, and greek yogurt dressing.  Even my wife liked it, and my wife usually doesn't like it when I make salad for dinner.  

Day 4

This was Ab Interval day.  Just because I stayed mostly in fat burn does not mean I didn't get a good workout.  Holy George do I need to work on my abs.  I have virtually no core strength.  I'm hoping that changes with this program.  

I didn't eat well this day.  I had another elevate salad for lunch, and we ate Arby's for dinner.  Not the best decision I ever made.  

Day 5

 Yesterday was doubles day.  I did Lower Focus followed by Cardio.  After lower focus, my legs were JELLO.  I would go down in a squat or a lunge, and I didn't think I could get back up.  Then, I had to do Cardio.  I did pretty good the first half, then the second half I had to switch between going all out and modifying.  However, I got all the way through it. It was amazingly hard, but worth it. 

Day 6

Rest day and STATurday.  I gained some weight, but I lost some body fat, and my measurements have stayed the same.  So, it's not ideal and I'm trying not to get discouraged.  I haven't been drinking my Teami tea, so I have have put on some water weight. 

Here it is: 

Weight: 256.6 lbs

Body Fat: 48.3%

Chest: 45 in

Waist: 40 in

Arm: 15 in 

Thigh: 29 in

Next week is a new week!

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.