So, you're a Beachbody coach. . . What's that?

"So, you're a Beachbody coach. . . What's that mean?" 
A friend asked this to me a few weeks ago. It sort of took me by surprise because I had been talking about my new adventures frequently but when you are inside of a project it's easy to forget that others don't understand what you are saying. This was one of those times for me. I went on to explain to her what a Beachbody coach does and I want to share my response to her with you.

As a Beachbody coach I sell Beachbody at home fitness programs, fitness equipment, Shakeology and other health supplements. But, that is only a small small fraction of what I really do as a Beachbody coach. The majority of my efforts go into supporting others in their personal fitness journey. I encourage people to make positive lifestyle changes and stick with them. I direct them toward tools to support their goals so they can achieve them. I work on me along the way too. Coaching is accountability for me to be intentional with my eating and workouts. It encourages me to continue to learn more about health, fitness and becoming the best version of me possible. When you put all that together you get a unique product in a Beachbody coach. I also share how others can become a Beachbody coach and enjoy the same personal benefits I do.

Let's create a few scenarios to explain what a Beachbody coach is in action.

• When you purchase a product like 21 Day Fix from a Beachbody coach, like me, you become my customer. As my customer you receive my support for as long as you want it. What does that look like? It means that if you are struggling to find foods to fit the program guidelines you can contact me and I will help you find things that work for you. It means that I will check in with you along the 21 days to see how you are doing ask what your struggles are and brainstorm with you ways to help overcome struggles for you to reach your goals. I am your personal cheerleader! 
• If you create a FREE Team Beachbody account through my website you become my customer. Does it mean you purchased something from me? No, but you still get access to a host of health and fitness tips and a personal coach, me. I provide the same service to you as I would to a customer who purchased Shakeology on home direct for monthly delivery or a PiYo Challenge Pack. I am invested in your success. 
• You've purchased a PiYO Challenge Pack from me and we've done a challenge group together. You were a great contributer and brought a couple of people to the group. I notice this and mention to you that you could get a discount on Beachbody products and earn a little extra income along the way so you decide to become a coach yourself. That's not where it ends. No, you still have a coach, me, and I will be there to help you along the way with your own coaching business. You will not be dropped into the business ocean and left to drift. You'll get training, you'll be able to ask questions and we will grow together toward our individual goals. 

I hope this clears up what it is to be a Beachbody coach. At the core it is about helping you reach your personal goal and having a platform in which to do that.

30 Days of Fitness & Food on Social Media

This is a season of transition for me. There are good changes in the works but the balancing of all the responsibilities is making it quite challenging to live up to the standard of excellence I desire for my life. Typically I would be okay with just surviving for a season but so much of the past year has been about surviving. I will no longer be content to just survive through more change. How is that modeling a positive healthy life to my children? How is that inspiring my friends to live fully? Those last two questions have been really sticking with me and my default response to just survive through the season of change is unacceptable. I have to find a way to live up to my personal standards of honoring my God, modeling a positive healthy life to my children and inspiring my friends to embrace a full beautiful life.

We have all seen the memes about people who post pics of their food on Instagram all the time and the gym selfies on Twitter. It's easy to laugh at but social media is a powerful tool that can be utilized to create personal accountability. And for every person who find the picture of your breakfast annoying there are more who will like it and possibly think, "hmm. . . I should make that." For every sweaty selfie you post you have the potential to make someone say "Maybe I'll go for a walk today."

For the next 30 days while I thrive instead of survive this season of transition I will be posting my meals, snacks, drinks and workouts on social media. Before you roll your eyes too hard you should know a few things. This is real life. You are not going to get perfectly plated gourmet meals that no one in their right mind has time to cook on a Tuesday night. You are not going to get a perfectly poised and paint brushed pic of me pre or post-workout. No. This is real life. What you will see are breakfasts that get you out the door. You will see lunches that are packed and eaten at a desk crowded with papers, a laptop and an iPhone. You will see Dinners where the pots and pans on sitting dirty in the background because if I have to clean the pans before I get to eat my dinner will go cold. You will see workouts where my furniture has to get moved to make room for my long frame in our crowded small house. You will see sweaty pics of me looking proud and tired after long runs and hard workouts because I do not glisten, sparkle or shine when I am working out. I sweat and I work hard for every drop of that sweat that drips off my brow and soaks through my shirt. This is real life. I'd love to have some of you join me over the next 30 days. Use the hashtag #CatchExcellence on Twitter or Instagram and I will find you. I will like, favorite, comment and re-tweet that stuff because people making positive life choices is the good stuff. I'd love to have you follow along too. Who knows, in the process you might get a few fitness tips, easy healthy recipes or a few laughs because life is messy and sometimes you just have to laugh. Together, let's Catch Excellence.

25 Days Later - Are the losses from Autumn Calabrese's 21 Day Fix sustainable?

It's been more than 21 days since the last day of my 21 Day Fix day. I can literally say "Been there. Done that. Got the shirt."  When I started the 21 Day Fix program I joined the Beachbody Challenge. By tracking my progress and sharing the results with Beachbody I got free swag. Works for me! Who doesn't love free? I was so proud of my accomplishment when that shirt came I totally could not wait to wear it so I rocked it at my daughter's track meet on a beautiful spring day.

So where am I now that it's been 25 days since completing the program? I'm excited to say that many of the positive habits established over those initial 21 days have stuck in some form or another and I realized I learned a few things along the way that I didn't expect.

I am hovering right around 160 pounds. That puts me in a healthy weight range for my height. I'm a tall girl. That is a few pounds up from where I finished the 21 Day Fix. I am okay with this for a few reasons but in the end it is still a maintained loss of 10 pounds. I am pleased with this.

1. I am not eating much more along the lines of the 80/20 concept. Eight percent of what I eat is good well planned healthy food. The other 20 percent are incidental cheats when life can't be helped or planned cheats to keep the peace in my family. 
2. I am not watching my salt consumption quite as much. I've really picked up running since wrapping up 21 Day Fix. I need to be mindful of my electrolytes.That is content for a whole post all by itself but for now let's just say I am not one of those cute girls who sparkles or shimmers after her workout. Nope. I sweat.
3. Weight displayed on the scale can change anywhere from 2-5 pounds in one day. This is one reason I was so intentional about when I weighed myself during the 21 Day Fix.

Changes I've made to my life after completing 21 Day Fix.

1. Eating 5 -6 small meals in a day.
2. Intentionally taking time to eat.
3. Intentionally drinking water throughout the day.
4. Drinking Shakeology daily.
5. Working out 30 or more minutes at least 5 days a week. 
6. Saying no to sweets
7. Eating candy and other treats in moderation. I am capable of having one small slice of pie or a small handful or candy.

Things I learned after completing 21 Day Fix.

1. I am a different person when I don't eat on time. It isn't pretty.
2. I am a happier person when I workout. Miss a day no big deal miss 2 and well it isn't pretty.
3. Just living a positive healthy lifestyle will impact the people you have in your life.
4. Stress makes me not want to cook or eat but if I do either it isn't good food for my body.
5. Plain water can be made delicious with simple additions that don't make it unhealthy.
6. My portions were way to large even with healthy meals.

I've moved on from this program and have selected my next but I see myself coming back to this soon. I enjoyed the accountability and how intentional I had to be. It isn't about control but guidance and intention. Now I'm working on Insanity The Asylum Vol. 1. It's a little bit of research for work since it is very sport conditioning based. I have a love hate relationship with it right now just like I had with preseason conditioning training for soccer many years ago. Once an athlete always an athlete I guess.

Every year, every month, every day, every breath is a gift.

For a long time I hesitated to share parts of my life out of what I thought was respect for other's personal stories but what I was missing was that I have a role in those stories. That role makes part of the story mine. Stories are powerful. They are at the center of how we build relationships with people. By limiting what I shared I was limiting the opportunity to build relationships with people. There were many days when that idea of respect was stopping me from opening my computer to put words to something going on in my life. It is possible to respect someone's personal story details while not locking down your own story.

I'm challenging myself to be more open about my personal story. It's scary. When you hand over part of your story to someone else it's a risk but it invites them in to have a role whatever that role may be for that page or chapter. I want to invite more people into the story. You will see more small glimpses in to my story beyond fitness, beyond health and into life. If they speak to you, lovely. If they don't that's okay. If you can relate please join in.

A few years ago not long after my mom's birthday I was distracting myself from worry by picking wild violets in the warm spring sun while my mom had surgery. We found out later she had kidney cancer.  There was a reason I was afraid. This year I'm excited that she gets to make her way down the coast to celebrate her big brother's birthday. I never much cared for birthdays before that. I did not like making a big deal of them for me or anyone else but when I realized just how much a birthday symbolized I could understand. A birthday is not simply a celebration of the arrival of that person on earth. It is a celebration of the gift of having them as part of your story. You get to thank them for the role they play in your life. You have an excuse to love all over them being who they are. It's an exercise in gratitude and a chance to mark the chapter in our story.

Every year, every month, every day, every breath is a gift.

21 Day Fix Results

I'm done. My 21 Day Fix is over and I really couldn't be happier. I'm nervous and excited to share with you the results of these last few weeks. I'm not going to offer much commentary after these initial few paragraphs. Instead I'm going to let the photos and numbers speak for themselves.

Just like with all my other progress updates the only thing I do is correct the lighting due to the atrocious lighting in my bedroom and crop as needed. I weighed myself in the morning on Day 1 and on Day 21. Both times was before I had breakfast and I wore the same thing each time. These pics are me as I am in front of a camera.

There is a bonus set of before and after pics that I went back and forth on for three weeks on whether or not I would share this picture. I only have it as a complete accident resulting in poor timing from me and the auto setting on my camera. I've decided to go with it. Be truthful but please always be kind.

Day 21.

Weight - 158 pounds

BMI - 22.7

Lastly, my vulnerable accidental core photo. I know these are different angle. I didn't check to see what the angle of the original gut shot was. I thought it was more straight on so that's how I took the follow up pic. I can guarantee you that even if  I took it at that somewhat sideways angle you would see a drastic difference. How can I guarantee it? More than 14 inches lost that's how.

My 21 Day Fix Results in Numbers.

Total weight lost = 12 pounds in 21 days

Total inches* lost = 14.7 inches in 21 days

*inches include more detail measurements than included in this entry

Before

weight - 170 pounds

BMI - 24.4
waist - 36 inches
hips - 41 inches
chest - 38 inches

After
weight - 158 pounds
BMI - 22.7
waist - 31 inches
hips - 39 inches
chest - 36 inches

21 Day Fix - Days 20 & 21 Spring is here

Spring is here . . . and it's snowing. I had high hopes but this is Pennsylvania and snow on the first day of Spring isn't unheard of but is sure is disappointing.  In spite of the arrival of snow my 21 Day Fix is almost finished. I have one more workout to do and I'm done. I will have completed the 21 Day Fix.

But before I wrap I have a confession. On day 20 I completely caved at dinner. I was tired after an emotionally tasking day and I was tired of cooking for three weeks straight and tired of doing all the things as a parent by myself. I was tired. That tired meant we got Dominos pizza for dinner and cinnastix. Yep. There's that all out in the open now. I did great the rest of the day and that was the only time I caved and threw the eating plan out the window. Day 20 was also supposed to be Plyo Fix for the workout. I didn't do it.  Supportive Husband Guy and I went to play an hour of pick up indoor soccer with some people from church instead.  It's still quite a work out so I have no shame in that decision at all. I love soccer and don't have the chance to play nearly as much as I would like.

I am excited to complete this program. I am pleased with the results. Seriously, I had no idea the difference 21 days was going to make. I did not expect these results. You'll get to see what the final results are tomorrow. I don't think they are going to be super drastic in comparison to the first week or two but we'll see won't we.

Would I recommend this to others? You bet I would. It is easy.  It does not villainize any particular food groups like other programs do. I was not hungry and I feel like I have found my way back to a healthier relationship with food and fitness after months of recovery from getting hit in the head. I'm really looking forward to continuing with the momentum I've established. I will be selecting one of the Insanity programs to start tomorrow.  I've run and done Insanity before so I know what kind of results I can get from doing both at the same time.

I will continue to share my journey as I move into another program and would welcome anyone to come along and join me in the path toward health. True Spring is coming. That's what I hear anyway. Right now I'm still looking at a whitewashed world out my windows.

21 Day Fix - Day 19 Modeling Health

Only two days left! 

I have found that this week I do not need to reference my weekly menu anymore to know what I can eat for a snack or to pack for lunch. I can think about what I had already that day and simply make a choice based on what is left in the color groups that I should eat. I also discovered that I can take a small serving of chocolate covered raisins enjoy them and not open the bag again. This is significant progress. Previously I would have my serving 5 minutes later go back for a second or even worse just take the whole bag with my in the first place. Self control and portion awareness are being reestablished in a way that is natural for me. I love that.

I had a fresh faced workout partner for the Lower Fix workout. He was a champ. He had no quit in him and wanted more of a challenge about half way through. He also knew his limits and when to take it back a notch for safety. Awesome. It is so important to know your personal limits when trying something new. He had a fantastic positive attitude about it too encouraging me and offering up compliments. After one of the exercises he groaned, "Oh my butt!" but that was the only complaint the entire time. When we were finished he said to me, 

"That was fun! Are you planning on doing Insanity when you're done The 21 Day Fix? If you are I think I want to try it with you."

That might have just influenced me to start Insanity next week. This boy's willingness to volunteer to workout with me and ask to do it again because it was fun is part of why I do this. Yes, it's good for me. I am fighting genetics with this lifestyle I'm chasing down but I'm also modeling healthy living for these 3 people who will be adults someday too soon. I don't want them to fall prey to the idea that fitness is too hard and healthy eating is tasteless. I want more for them than video games and fast food. There is so much to be experienced in life that cannot be fully experienced without a certain level of health and fitness.

My workout partner wrapped up our Lower Fix with a sliced apple and some chocolate PB dip. It's protein packed, low sugar and delicious. If a 9 year old tells you it is good you can trust that it is good.

Chocolate PB Dip
makes 2 servings
1 TBSP natural peanut butter
2 tsp cocoa powder
2 TBSP plain greek yogurt or for a smoother thinner dip use plain standard yogurt
Mix together in a small bowl & enjoy!

Two workouts are left. Two days of intentional eating. Two!

21 Day Fix - Day 17 & 18

With Supportive Husband Guy away  on business life has gotten busy these last two days. Track season has started for both our oldest daughter and myself. Then there is work, piano lessons and beautiful weather all competing for my attention. That's okay it means spring is just about here and that's what I've been looking forward to these few weeks.

While I stayed true to course these two days with both food and fitness routine I really need to brag about Supportive Husband Guy. He did not take weights with him on his trip. Neither of us thought about that so when he went to do his workout he didn't have any. Did he quit when he realized this? Nope. He improvised. That's right he used his aloe juice and 40 ounce water bottle as his weights and tackled his workout like a boss.

I have yet to do my workout today. I am tired. Coaching on chilly windy days will apparently really take it out of me. I had to yell most of our training session just for my team to be able to hear me over the wind. When I got home I fell asleep in the sun coming in our back window with the cat before dinner. Sun naps are the best. As soon as I post this I am going to push play and get that workout in. I do not want to miss a day so close to being done.

In honor of St. Patrick's Day and changing my eating habits I skipped McDonald's today. Instead of one of their Shamrock shakes, which happen to be an odd weakness of mine, I made my own to start my day off right. It was awesome! Seriously I loved it and can't wait to have another, might even try making it chocolate next time.

Time for me to go sweat. 

21 Day Fix - Day 16

Supportive Husband Guy had to prep for a business trip today. Thankfully we were able to all go to church together and share lunch before he had to leave. I'm super proud of him for how he was prepping for this trip being so close to the end of our 21 Day Fix.

He asked for a copy of the menu so he could pack healthy foods to try and stay on the plan while he was away. So with menu in hand we went to the grocery store and picked up things like apples, peanut butter, cottage cheese, whole grain bread, sliced chicken breast, carrots, hummus and various other good foods for him to take. This should allow him to prep his own healthy breakfasts, snacks and simple dinner without having to go out to eat every day while he is away.

I also armed him with the log-on information to access Beachbody On Demand. This allows him to have streaming access to a whole library of workouts without having to take any of our DVDs with him on trips. I'm excited to use Beachbody On Demand to pick a new program when we are done with the 21 Day Fix. Because it isn't just random workouts that are available on BOD. Its the entire program which includes the fitness guide, the workout calendar and the nutrition guide that you would receive if you purchased the DVD version of the programs. I'm eyeing up Insanity Asylum but we'll see what I settle on in a week.

21 Day Fix - Day 15 Progress Update

I am less surprised this week. The pics from last week to this week were much more like what I expected between day one and day 7. However, there are some things that the photos can't tell you.

I know people think that before and after progress pics are tricks. Articles like this one among others like it have helped plant the seed of skepticism toward weight loss and increased fitness.  I am not using any trick in my photos. I take them at roughly the same time of day in the same clothes. These are my most fitted clothes. You are not likely to see a bikini shot from me or any other photo that purposefully exposes more of me than general athletic wear will show you. These pics are each taken 7 days apart not 15 minutes and there are no super special weight loss pills involved. This is diet and exercise. It does not include crazy starvation methods and super strange hippie foods either. I am not sucking in, pushing out, slouching or anything else that would intentionally manipulate the photos. They are me in my workout clothes after having a morning cup of coffee and washing my face. 

Day 1.     Weight - 170 pounds     BMI - 24.4

Day 7.     Weight - 163 pounds     BMI - 23.4

Day 14.   Weight - 160 pounds    BMI - 23.0

As you can tell there is not as drastic of a difference between day seven and day 14. That  is what I expected. What you cannot tell from the photos is that I am stronger. I am 3 pounds lighter and I can talk through a workout which I can tell annoys Supportive Husband Guy a little bit. Previously there was a lot more huffing and puffing and grunting and maybe a little whining too. My overall flexibility has increased as well which should help reduce injuries as I go deeper into training half marathon training. I have been sleeping better and wake easier in the morning. It doesn't take more an entire over-sized cup of coffee to be functional, friendly and coherent. I still enjoy my morning coffee but I don't need it like I did a month ago. The other day I didn't even finish my cup.

The other thing you can't see from these photos is how my everyday clothing fits. I went to put on a pair of dress pants for work the other day and had a moment of surprise. They previously were a slightly snug fit but functional. This time they were loose. My shirt fit nicer on my arms and a pair of pants that just came out of the drier didn't have to stretch back out to be comfortable.

I'm looking forward to finishing up this last week and making plans for what we'll be doing next. the progress and positive effects eating well and working out regularly has had on my life the past two weeks cannot be ignored. I deserve to feel good. My family deserves a mom and a wife who can be her best for them and God gave me a body that can do amazing things.

21 Day Fix - Days 13 & 14 A Confession

Seems I'm making a habit of missing days sharing our experience doing the 21 Day Fix. We are one week from finishing this thing. 21 Days is so much more manageable than some other programs out there that are 30-90 days in length and yet the results are undeniable. Yes, I am teasing a bit. You will get an update on me tomorrow morning.

So, day 13 was relatively uneventful. I'm in a fairly easy habit now of intentionally making healthy food choices and eating 6 smaller meals again. I look forward to working out each day instead of begrudgingly thinking I should do it and then making an excuse to stay in my fat pants and eat candy.

I have a confession. I said on day one that I was going to the 21 Day Fix the right way. I was going to follow the plan. On day 13 I deviated from the plan. Supportive Husband Guy and I found out the group we were playing soccer with through February was able to continue through March. We chose not to do the Pilates Fix workout so we could go play soccer for an hour.  Further confession, I dislikes the Pilates Fix workout so much last week that I don't plan on doing it again, ever. That does not mean it is a bad workout. It might be someone's most favorite workout in the set. It is simply not for me. I enjoy the other 6 workouts and because I purchased my program through an awesome Beachbody coach I received a bonus workout DVD, 21 Day Fix Plyo Fix. I plan on using the Plyo Fix DVD next Thursday instead of the Pilates Fix workout.

Today is day 14. We are officially 2/3rds of the way through our program and seriously pleased with the results. This morning we were sore and tired. We could have taken it easy. We could have drank coffee and watched Agents of Shield episodes. Instead we had our breakfast, yogurt with granola and a banana, and we put on our workout clothes.  It's Friday so it was Cardio Fix day. Supportive Husband Guy was away for this work out last week. It's the only workout that really tasks us in our limited workout space. You can move coffee tables and ottomans. You can't easily move sectional couches and king size beds. It's a good workout though and my tank top was soaked with sweat.

I'll have my progress update to share in the morning. I'm pleased as punch about the way the numbers are working but have not looked at the photos yet. I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't a noticeable difference between day 7 and day 14 pics but I was pretty surprised last week.

21 Day Fix - Day 12

This post is a day late. I didn't forget. I needed a night to relax with my husband. Yesterday was full and time with that man recharges me a bit. So, here is yesterday's overview.

I had an early morning meeting to attend. This meant Supportive Husband Guy was the parent on duty for the morning routine with the kids. It also meant he was awesome and helped me get out the door on time too. He made both mine and his Shakeology yesterday and he really beefed them up to fill our needs for a busy morning.

I took the Tropical Sunshine to my meeting in Manheim. I tend to be really hangry by the end of these meetings because they have donuts and OJ and I had no self control. I also used to just grab my coffee and run out the door to these things which did not help. This time I had my Shakeology with me and I was not even tempted by the donuts and mini cinnamon rolls. I had also prepped a bag of snacks that would get me through my day. 

I packed a cheese stick, blue. I also packed an apple, purple, and a quart sized bag of fresh cucumber slices, cauliflower and carrots slices. my veggie bag equalled 3 green for the day. My other snack I honestly was not sure which category to put it in and so I counted it as a red and a yellow. It was a chocolate chip Clif bar. I knew I was going to need more protein to balance myself out for the day and the Clif bar offered me a convenience food that I know is made with clean good ingredients even if it doesn't fit the 21 Day Fix approved boxes exactly. But that is an example of why I chose this program. I needed to reset my healthy habits. For me it is not about restricted eating but relearning healthy balanced eating.

Prior to yesterday Supportive Husband Guy had only had chocolate Shakeology. I was excited to see him choose to try a different flavor and create his own super Shakeology on his own. He said it was delicious and he was surprised that it was so delicious without being chocolate. He might be a small chocoholic. I'm looking forward to trying his Monster Berry Shakeology next week. I've been promised I will like it.

It was such a beautiful day outside that could not resist the chance to run. So I had a double work out yesterday. Full disclosure I will be having double workouts every other day for the remainder of our 21 Day Fix. I have a track team I need to keep up with and a half marathon this summer.

Today was lower fix. The exercise that I find the absolute hardest out of all the workouts is in this set. I am simple no good at it. I did not quit but boy oh boy I struggle with that inner thigh leg lift. Supportive Husband Guy rocks that move like a pro. Me, yeah, not so much.

21 Day Fix - Day 11 Progress Update on the Husband

With the completion of today Supportive Husband Guy and I have crossed the half way point in the 21 Day Fix. I thought it would be a good time to give you all a little update on the Supportive Husband Guy. While his trips were not intended to be part of this journey they add an interesting element.

I've been doing this by the book the whole time so far and you've already seen my results from 7 days of doing it according to plan. Supportive Husband Guy has had a few minor stumbles and a whole weekend away with a dozen preteen boys in the woods. While he took his own fruit and veggies and some other healthier snacks he was by no means doing the 21 Day Fix while he was away. He did however do a very good job of intentionally making healthier decisions than he could have and that is worth noticing. He paid attention to how far he walked using his iPhone but didn't do a dedicated workout over that weekend.

Full disclosure again because I know people believe before and after photos are manipulated. The only thing I did to these pictures was crop out Supportive Husband Guy's dresser and brighten the photos. My bedroom does not have great light. Supportive Husband Guy was not as meticulous about when he weighed himself. I know at one point before he left for the weekend his weight was lower than what I'm going to report as progress. He's been hoping on the scale much more than I am. Just like with my photos Supportive Husband Guy was neither sucking in nor slouching or pushing out in any of these pictures. They area man in front of his wife's camera just as he is.

Day 1.
Weight - 230 pounds

Day 11.

Weight - 225 pounds

Like with my 7 day pics it's the side by side comparisons that really show the differences. The pics from the side still show improvement even though he didn't do 21 Day Fix all the right ways. I think that is interesting. Even with unplanned life happening improving the food decisions we make and adding an intentional focus on working out even if it isn't every single day make a quick difference.

Supportive Husband Guy is in it with me this week. He does have another trip coming up before we are officially done which makes me so curious to see how this ends for him. I think he's got something to be proud of in that Day 11 photo. Like mine his posture is better and his stomach is smaller. It is progress and he should be proud of his progress.

21 Day Fix - Day 10

It came to my attention that while I have mentioned that I am eating real food in real quantities I have not given the container breakdown that we are using for our 21 Day Fix. Interestingly enough Supportive Husband Guy and myself both ended up in the same bracket after I did our initial math. That has made meal planning much easier since I don't have to think of extra for one and less for the other.

Supportive Husband Guy was back at it today but we still worked out separately. I did my workout in the morning because I had to take our teenager out shopping to by a dress for a dance. Supportive Husband Guy was wrapping his up when I got home. Today was Total Body Cardio Fix day.

I had two thoughts while I was doing my workout. The first was it feels so good to be noticeably stronger in one week. I used 5 pound weights today. Last week I used 3 pound weights. Second was as a runner I never would have thought to include weights into a cardio workout. I am very curious to see how improving my total body physical strength impacts my running.

Tomorrow we will be across the halfway point and we'll be talking about hydration. 

21 Day Fix - Day 9 Getting Stronger Everyday

Today's post is going to be a quick one. I had a busy but good day with emotional highs and a small mental battle. No one can cut you to the core without meaning to like your children. And, none can can fill your heart with pride and joy like those same children.  I had the opportunity to go see Celtic Women with my girls this afternoon. It was an incredible concert and my girls are becoming such amazing, witty and beautiful women. I truly enjoy going out with them and it was an afternoon I won't soon forget.

Today's 21 Day Fix eating and fitness efforts were not 100% . I didn't fall off the wagon but with so much going on I didn't follow the plan as much as I had been. My weakness today was really eating on schedule. Last week I was eating on a schedule that looked something like this.

7 or 8 am - Breakfast #1

10 am - snack/meal #2

12 noon - lunch/meal#3

3 pm - snack/meal #4

6/7pm  - dinner/meal #5

9pm - snack/meal#6

It is a good spacing that seems to work really well for me. My girls commented about how I had not gotten hangry at them last week. That is progress and I love love love not being hangry. Low blood sugar is not a pleasant place to function from. Today with church, Supportive husband Guy and the boy coming home and the concert It was a much more traditional 3 meal schedule but I did stick to proper portioning and healthy meals. 

Today's workout did not happen until 9 o'clock tonight. I am committed so I went upstairs and hit play. I have been doing yoga off and on since my son was 3 years old and yet I noticed today that I am getting stronger. I can Chaturonga into Up Dog now like I have never been able to do before. you should have seen the grin on my face when I realized this. With every workout every day I get stronger. The noticeable difference just encourages me the next day to do it all over again.

It will be nice to have Supportive Husband Guy back doing 21 Day Fix with me again tomorrow. I deep cleaned our livingroom this weekend so we can have some more space to workout together. Trying to find space in our bedroom was an exercise in creativity and coordination. We'll see if it's better when we take over the family TV tomorrow night.

21 Day Fix - Day 8 Bonus Post & Recipes

Today you get a bonus post. I shared my progress pics earlier today but didn't include my daily review. So, you get my review and a couple of recipes. Two dinners and another easy Shakeology recipe.

I meal planned for week two of our 21 Day Fix last night. I have to say it was easier than last week. I did sort of cut and past meals I knew I could count on to keep it simple. Supportive Husband Guy really does not mind having the same thing for breakfast every day or for lunch most weeks. While I prefer more variety in my week I went with his method so I had a starting point. Then I  filled in the gaps. Grocery shopping today was easy. I went huge shopping last week. Our cupboards were bare before we started this little challenge. I also found I didn't have to check my menu as frequently to see what I could eat today. It was much more intuitive. That was encouraging and gave me hope for when the 21 days are over that I will have reestablished my healthy food habits.

Okay, so, recipes. I have three for you. The first is the pizza from Friday. This isn't a cooking blog so I will probably not do this the "right" way according to all the foodie sites around the interwebs but it's how I do it. So much cooking is about feel and your own tastes and preferences. Please use these as a jumping point for inspiration. I absolutely do not expect you to follow these to the letter. I don't which is why making a recipe for something as simple as pizza was a challenge.

21 Day Fix Pizza
Ingredients:
Dough
3 C whole grain white flour
1C warm water (temperature is important)
1 packet yeast
1 rounded tsp sugar (I honestly eyeball this. You can also use honey but it is to feed the yeast and I've found white sugar just gets the best results.)
a few pinches of salt
1 TBSP olive oil
Toppings
low salt all natural tomato sauce
1 blue cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 green pepper (the pepper and onion filled a green cup)
1/4 onion diced (I sauteed my pepper and onion but you don't have to if you like them raw on pizza)
1 green cup full of shredded spinach
1 red cup full of low salt ham (I rolled my sliced ham and cut it with circles which made nice little spirals to top my pizza)
Steps
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
1. Google directions on how to make pizza dough. Seriously, I do this by memory and feel. I'm neither a wonderful home cook nor a chef. I've made my share of mistakes with this over the ten years I've been doing it. If you really want to cheat add all the ingredients into a bread maker and set to dough setting. I did that for years. Super super easy. One tip you will want is with whole grain flour you want to sift it. If you don't it can make a really dense difficult to work with dough.
2. Once you dough is made set it aside for a little. Be sure to cover it. If you do not let the dough rest for a little it isn't as elastic to roll out. You can skip this step if you have used a bread machine.
3. Once dough is ready use your yellow 21 Day Fix cup to portion out the dough. My dough made 5 pizza crusts.
4. Roll out pizza crust to desired thickness. I made mine thin so there was plenty of room for toppings.
5. place on pan with parchment or a dusting or corn meal so the crust doesn't stick.
6. use a tablespoon of sauce and swirl around crust.
7. Add all desired non-cheese toppings.
8. Sprinkled cheese over the top of the pizza
9 Bake about 10-15 minutes. Yet again instinct and feel comes into play here. I set my timer for 10 minutes and go from there. My oven can be inconsistent its old and cheap but makes good food.
Eat it!

Second recipe is a total bonus recipe. I didn't even think of including it until my very almost 11 year old daughter went back for seconds and filled her bowl without even bothering with a second serving or rice. So, there is no picture unless you want one of the empty cast iron pan. This kid can be picky when it comes to stir fry.

21 Day Fix Chicken Veggie Stir fry
Ingredients
1 lb ground chicken
2 bags frozen mixed stir fry veggies (fresh veggies are totally awesome in stirfry but I have to watch my budget and my fridge capacity. The frozen ones were on sale for a super score so I jumped on them)
2TBSP coconut oil (Do not panic. This made enough food to feed my entire family of 5 even though 2 of them were not home. Remember that huge second serving by my middle child?)
spice mix (1/2 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp ground ginger)
low sodium soy sauce (this was added to taste. I don't think the entire thing had more than 3 tsp of soy sauce in it.)
1 C brown rice (You can make however much brown rice you want to feed however many people you need to feed. I made 1 C and was informed it was not enough.)
Steps
1. Cook Rice
2. Cook chicken in 1 TBSP coconut oil in large pan
3. When chicken is cooked through add veggies, 2nd TBSP coconut oil and sprinkle all the spice mix over the chicken and veggies. Cook through.
4. Measure rice into your bowl with the yellow cup and top with 1 or 2 green cups of the chicken veggies stir fry. Drizzle soy sauce over top. I used 2 green cups and was heavy on the veggies in my scooping.
Super easy and so tasty.

Lastly the Shakeology recipe of the day. You know you are going to get one every day its on the menu and today was that day. It was my first chance trying the chocolate. So good. I really don't understand the complaints that I've heard from other people. I've tried three flavors now and all have been taste bud pleasing. I'm looking forward to trying more of the flavors next month.

I have completed all seven of the workouts included in the 21 Day Fix challenge pack. I know what is coming now. Today was Dirty 30. This is my favorite workout out of the seven. I feel stronger this round. I used a heavier weight today for most of the exercises than I did last Saturday and I even considered moving up one more weight but through better of it. Which is good because as I type this I can feel the soreness that is strength growing in my upper back and shoulders.This is one that I will do long after I am finished with my 21 Day Fix challenge.

21 Day Fix - Day 8 Progress Update

Exhale. Okay. Today is photo day.  Remember how I said to be kind to me? Okay, good.  This will be a pic heavy post. I am honestly surprised. I did not expect these results. They make me very curious to see where I will be on day 21.

Full disclosure because I know people believe before and after photos are manipulated. The only thing I did to these pictures was crop out Supportive Husband Guys dresser and brighten the photos. My bedroom does not have great morning light. I weighed myself in the morning on Day 1 and on Day 7. Both times was before I had breakfast and I wore the same thing each time. I was neither sucking in nor slouching or pushing out in any of these pictures. They are me in all my vulnerable glory standing in front of the camera which is hard.

Day 1.
Weight - 170 pounds
BMI - 24.4

Day 7.

Weight - 163 pounds

BMI - 23.4

It's the side by side comparisons that really show the differences.

From the front there isn't too noticeable of a difference which is along the lines of what I expected. The pics from the side are not what I expected. See for yourself.

Look at that! My posture is improved. My stomach is flatter. My bum is um . . different. My shoulders don't creep up and pull forward. My skin is clearer. I know an odd thing to notice from a full body side shot but it is and it was this pic that showed that to me. I really cannot put to words how much this shocked me. 

I did not starve myself for this. I did not take any amazing diet supplements. I do regularly take a B-complex, calcium magnesium and a high dose vitamin D but I took them prior to starting this program. And while I am drinking Shakeology it is only suggested 3 days a week in the 21 Day Fix eating plan so I'm not drinking it everyday. These results are from eating clean, healthy, properly portioned food and exercising 30 minutes everyday. 

21 Day Fix - Day 7 Going It Alone

Supportive Husband Guy and our son left today for a scout trip. This threw a little curve in our 21 Day Fix plan. Supportive Husband Guy did meals #1 through #4 on plan before he left. We made a relatively healthy plan for him while he was away for the weekend. We were realistic about the fact that they were going to be eating hot dogs and blue box mac n' cheese. To keep it easy the plan was just to supplement the camp food with veggies, snacks and clean protein options for him. Ultimately though it is important for him to have a good time with our son and the den over the weekend. He'll be back on the wagon with me on Sunday night. I was supposed to take progress pics of him today before he left but he had a conference call. As a teaser thought He did get on the scale yesterday. You'll be impressed with his numbers. I was.

I used the opportunity of the boys being away to play in the kitchen. I saw Supportive Husband Guy sighing and groaning every time a pizza commercial came on the T.V. this week. So, I ditched the planned meal for tonight and wanted to see if I could make a 21 Day Fix pizza. Success! It was so good. I'm not sure I really chewed. I am very excited to be able to add this to the menu for next week.

It's become tradition in our family to have Friday nights be homemade pizza and a movie. The girls watched Rio while I made our pizzas. I knew the 21 Day Fix pizza was going to be light on the cheese. That was the part I was most nervous about. To compensate for the minimal cheese compared to what we are used to on our pizza I loaded it with veggies and ham and put the cheese on last. Did I mention, YUM?

So, recipe. I'm sure you want it.  I promise I'll share it but you are going to have to wait. Hint, the pizza dough is made from scratch. It's not hard but I make the dough from years of habit and at the moment I can't think of how to share the method I use to make it. Just another example of continuing to recover from a concussion. 

Work out today was cardio fix. I loved it! It was my favorite so far and a nice follow up to my least favorite workout pilates fix. I'm not bashing pilates but I don't think its for me. I am sticking with the plan so I have a proper 21 Day Fix experience. Cardio fix was my first work out completely on my own and I rocked it. It was almost a good things Supportive Husband Guy was not home to do it with me because our current workout space would not have been big enough for both of us. We are not small people at give or take 6 feet tall each. Anything that has you put one leg stretched out behind you while reaching forward and twisting in the process takes a lot of room. I had to move the footstools to have enough room for me!

Tomorrow you get to see my before pics and the first progress update. I'm nervous and excited to share this with you. Nervous because what if there is not noticeable progress. While I'm not in this to lose weight I am just assuming I will lose some weight. Full disclosure I am 20 pounds from the weight I know is slim, strong and healthy for me. What if I weigh more? Excited because this is all such a new journey for me and I'm glad to bring you along for the ride. So, be gentle with me tomorrow.

21 Day Fix - Day 6

After the mental funk of yesterday today was refreshing. I included some of the treats that are included in the program and surprised my husband with a small bag of chocolate covered raisins in his lunch. That's right, I said chocolate. 21 Day Fix isn't about being extremely food restrictive it's about resetting portions and making healthy decisions. We've been eating real food. Check it out.

That doesn't look like a "diet" snack and lunch does it? It isn't a tiny amount of food and it isn't anything weird. Okay, full disclosure here, there are hemp hearts on my salad and those crackers. . . Those crackers are gluten free whole grain and seed crackers. But, that's not weird for us. Our middle daughter has to eat gluten free to stay healthy and as a family we've found lots of foods that are gluten free that we like too. And hemp seeds we found because we can be a little on the hippy crunchy side of the spectrum. However, the 21 Day Fix does not require that. They could be any healthy whole grain cracker in the proper yellow cup portion. Hemp seeds could be replaced by sunflower seeds, those aren't weird, or shredded cheddar cheese if you have a blue cup available for the day. It's simple real food. 

On a side note can I point out that I did not intend to show the butt of my whole wheat bread but since it is showing let's celebrate together that I am eating the butt of the loaf of bread. I can be such a 7 year old at times when it comes to my food. I may or may not be known to save the butts of bread and give them to my 9 year old son who seems to think they are a special treat.

Our workout today is going to be snow shoveling. No. not really although I've read that shoveling snow for 30 minutes can burn approximately 250 calories. We are shoveling. Winter storm Thor has given us 6+ inches of snow and still counting but we will be doing the Pilates Fix tonight no matter what. I've never done anything that was actually called Pilates. Yoga, yes. Pilates, no. Curious to see how it goes.

Oh! I almost forgot to include my Shakeology recipe today. Supportive Husband Guy has found his preferred recipe. He likes to keep things simple. I'll share his next week if I have a chance before he runs out the door to work with his. I still haven't had a chance to fully try Chocolate. I will on Sunday when he's not home to use it. Anyway, today's Shakeology was an Orange Julius Shakeology. These things are my weakness at Dairy Queen. Not anymore!  I did add banana to it but forgot to include that in my recipe pic. Bananas are optional. I imagine it tastes just as yummy and more orange-y without it.

21 Day Fix - Day 5

We are just about a quarter done already. Marking my completion percentage has always been a way to encourage myself to keep doing the hard things. It's something I learned from running track as a child. It's much easier to push the last half of a race when you are excited that you finished the first half. As an adult runner and coach I still use this as well as a physical smile. It's harder to have negative self-talk when you are smiling. Yes, I am that runner at the park sweating her face off grinning ear to ear while you walk your dog. That smile is key to me finishing the hard things. I can't say that I've found 21 Day Fix to be hard. I think that's the point it supposed to be doable and get you results. I'll show you what kind of results Supportive Husband Guy and I are getting around day 7. I have those before pics all set and waiting for us to have progress pics too so I can share. You know you are curious what real people who are just living their life and trying to establish healthy habits look like through this program. I know I never really trust the infomercials and ads. I can tend to be a really pain in the butt skeptic.

And yet, while I don't find it a difficult program today was a mentally difficult day. It would have been so easy to change into my comfy pants and crash out on the couch with the kids. But, I didn't. I went up stairs and changed into cute workout clothes because sometimes that really does make a difference. I set up my mat and found our scheduled workout. Me taking the steps to do the workout pushed Supportive Husband Guy to do it to. An ice storm snow day plus cabin fever and still having to work jobs will create a funk. It was one of those workouts where you keep telling the nasty little voice inside your head to shut up. I am glad to say that at one point we both had to pause the workout and rewind because we were laughing so hard. Endorphins, they are really good stuff!

Food today was not noteworthy. It was a disappointing dinner. Sometimes it happens and food is just fuel. I did review the food plan for tomorrow and it is way more delicious. I'm learning as I go.

So while today was not as amazing as I would like to report that's going to happen at times. You are going to have challenging days. What matters in on those difficult days you don't give in you keep pushing. I feel good having made the commitment to push through and stay the course. Now, I get to end this challenging day with a smile.