Where's My Willpower?

At the beginning of this year, I was doing great. I set all these goals for myself for personal and professional development and for my fitness. I started off really well. I was reading motivational books and working out consistently, but my groups for these things have ended, and now I'm struggling.

In January and February, I did some training to become a better health and fitness coach with Beachbody. I was really motivated and learned a lot about myself through some personal development exercises. But now, the training is over, and it's tough to keep up motivating myself.

And as you know, I just finished up the 21-Day Fix. I was also leading a support group of other people following a plan of 21 days of healthy eating and exercise, so that kept me accountable. The weekend after I finished the program, I met my parents for the day. They gave me a chocolate pizza as a belated birthday present. That is a circular piece of solid chocolate with icing (awesome, right?). It lasted about 4 days. I did share it, I promise.

It's amazing how quickly sugar cravings come back. I am always up and down with my eating habits. I try really hard to eat well, and I buy mostly natural foods (no preservatives, dyes, bleached flour, added chemicals, etc.), but snacks are snacks even if they're organic.

So it's time to continue the hard work and not undo the progress I've made, and I think an accountability partner would help. We check in daily and help each other stay on target with whatever our goals may be. Have you ever done that? Do you have someone you just naturally go to that keeps you moving toward your goal?

21-Day Fix - Results & Review

I completed the full 21-Day Fix program this weekend. The 21-Day Fix is a 3-week program following a specific nutrition plan of clean eating using color-coded containers to portion out your food along with 30-minute workouts every day. I was part of a support group focused on healthy eating and exercise during the 21 days, which is the biggest reason I was able to stick with it all the way through.

Results
During the past 3 weeks, I lost 1.5 inches in my waist and dropped 2 percent body fat. Weight wasn't part of my goal, and I don't own a scale, so I don't have a measurement to report there. Toning up was one of my primary goals, along with improving my eating habits.

Although I wasn't great about staying on track with the containers, I definitely paid more attention to what I ate and made far better choices. I limited sweets and carbs and added more protein to my diet. By eating more healthy foods, I have less tolerance for junk food, which has encouraged me to keep going.

Below are my before and after shots:

Review
The workouts
I loved the workouts. It was really easy for me to fit in 30 minutes. I had days where my 17-month-old played in the corner while I worked out, where my husband picked out a movie from RedBox while I exercised, or where I just fit it in during naptime or after bedtime. I took the DVDs with me on a weekend trip to the beach. My 5-year-old even joined me for at least part of the workouts. In all 21 days, I only missed one day of exercise. The workouts have simple moves, and everything has a modification, so it's great for beginner and intermediate fitness levels.

The food plan
The eating plan is absolutely designed for losing weight. That made it tough for me to find the right balance. It is a low-carb, low-fat diet and heavy on protein, mostly from meat. I don't regularly eat a lot of meat, so it was a tough adjustment. But soy protein, eggs and yogurt counted toward my protein containers. I bumped up to the second calorie bracket (1,400-1,700 calories) during the second week to help avoid losing weights. The containers were pretty easy to follow, especially with some planning, and I didn't feel like it added time to meal preparation.

I cheated a little more than I would have liked, but overall, I felt like the plan made me much more aware of what I was eating, I stopped the nighttime junk food snacking, and I feel able to continue making healthy choices. My pantry looks much different now than when I started.

Recommendation
The 21-Day Fix is a great all-around program, but I would only recommend it for certain people.
This program is a good choice for you if you

• are new to following a fitness regimen or if it's been a long time since you've exercised regularly
• have a primary goal of losing weight
• need an easy way to manage portions
• want to develop clean eating habits

If you are at more of an advanced fitness level or are looking for a more intense workout you can do at home, I would recommend a different program. After this, I plan to add muscle with ChaLean Extreme.

Feel free to comment here or message me on Google+ if you want to know more about this program or fitness groups that I lead.

Individuality

My daughter has a unique sense of fashion. On any given day, she may go to school wearing a cowboy hat and fairy wings (she's a "cowgirl fairy") or shorts and a winter hat, scarf, and mismatched gloves. She wears dresses with jeans under it, a dress with a shirt over it, mismatched socks, four different bows in her hair, and any number of other combinations.

I get mixed reactions. At preschool, teachers usually just smile and say they never know what to expect or that she reminds them of Punky Brewster. Other times, I get asked, "Are you going to let her go out of the house like that?" Or "It's great that you let her pick out her own outfits." (In one of those tones where you're not quite sure if that's a compliment.) She wears what she wants -- as long as it's seasonally appropriate and fits -- because long ago I drew the line at arguing over clothes. I did not let her leave the house with the face paint "designs" she did above. I have let her go out with that pink hair extension.

Besides avoiding arguments, I also let her pick out her own clothes because I want her to be comfortable being herself, even if she's weird. I love the preschool she goes to, but it's very homogenous. It's a private school in a small town, and there's definitely some pressure (maybe not so much in preschool) to be like other kids. Smocked dresses are pretty popular among the preschool girls. But I want my child to stand out, to feel confident in her choices, in her own likes and dislikes, and feel comfortable expressing her views. Clothing is one small step toward that, and she doesn't care what people think of her red skirt, purple leggings and orange shirt. And I hope that never changes.

Into the 30s

Today is my birthday, and I am now into my 30s. Turning 30 was okay, but 31 makes me feel much less excited about birthdays.

Thirties are a weird transition. I don't feel that old, and I used to think I didn't look that old. I've always been the young one. I'm the baby of my family by 10 years, I'm younger than most of my current circle of friends, and I'm younger than my husband by 6 years. But over the past year, my bathroom cabinet has accumulated anti-aging products, and I have a whole dresser drawer with underclothes and things that suck and tuck. 

I blame having kids for speeding up the aging process. Maybe 30s just a turning point, but I think kids definitely make you look older faster. I also could look older because I used to wear makeup every day and now it's maybe once a week.

Wedding 2005

First kid 2008

After second kid 2012

Looking back, it's amazing how much I've changed in nearly 10 years. I never would've thought I'd be a stay-at-home mom. I've never liked kids. But it is different when they're your own. I still don't always like them, but I can't give up on them because I've invested a lot of time and energy into shaping the little people they are and the big people I hope they'll become. I'm so grateful to my husband that I have the ability to be at home with them, watching them every day. It's so much more rewarding than I ever would've imagined. Overall, I'm okay with growing older because I get to do it with my family. Here's to another year.

Recommitting

I'm in the final week of the 21-day fix, and it's time for me to really push hard. I have made much better eating decisions during the past two weeks, although certainly not perfect, and I've learned a lot.

I never thought I was an emotional eater, but with all the changes going on recently, I've definitely craved more comfort foods (lattes, sweets in general, cheese crackers). I have to remember that I began this program to get in better shape and to lessen those sugar cravings.

I started trying to make up for some of the bad choices this weekend (cake pops at a birthday party) with dinner tonight. Grilled chicken on a kale salad with some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, pepper and lemon juice drizzled on top. This equaled three of my vegetable containers and one protein.

This week, I am going to double up on my workouts. I've done really well doing a DVD every day. 30 minutes makes it easy to fit in. I even did a workout with Evan playing in the same room one day. This week, I am going to add in a gym workout along with the DVD or do two DVDs some days. My birthday is Tuesday, and I will probably eat out next weekend, so I am pushing hard for the next 5 days.

It won't stop after that, though. I have plans to revisit my original Combat workout or try a muscle-building program that I've been putting off.

I will be ready for summer this year! What are you doing to get ready for summer?

Progress!

We are making progress in quite a few areas lately. Now that my husband is unburdened by his job, he has plenty of time to demolish the upstairs of our garage, which we have been talking about turning into a home gym. The garage is detached with two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs, and it's nearly 100 years old. So far after tearing down a few walls, he has found a rotted window, a squirrel's nest behind the wall and some scorched wood where there was once a good-sized fire behind the wall.

The good thing is this is keeping him distracted from looking for a new job. It is scary being without a primary income, but we both agree that it's best for the family to get some perspective and choose a new path forward that doesn't involve being enslaved by the corporate world.


As for me, I have been staying busy with my own business as a health and fitness coach and my 21-day journey to being healthier. I'm about halfway through, and I'm really happy with the progress I've made. Although I slipped over the weekend, I've gotten back on my eating plan. The bloating and puffiness in my stomach has gone down. I have more energy, and my workouts are getting a lot easier. My stomach is definitely getting more toned. I will have true before and after shots, but here's a progress photo from today. (Excuse the face, I had not put on makeup yet. Oh wait, I still haven't put on makeup.)

The main thing that hangs around is the loose skin in the middle. I stretched out way more than I knew was possible while pregnant. Moms, does that ever go away or firm up somehow? Any tips?

21 Days to a Healthier Me - Week 2

Week 2 on the 21-day Fix has begun. So far, I have stuck to the workouts, doing them every single day. I am already seeing results in my stomach. I love the workouts. They are short and challenging but easy to follow. My 5-year-old daughter joins in on a lot of them.

The food part is more of a challenge. With all the changes going on at home, we decided to head out to the coast for the weekend. Of course, that totally blew my eating plan. I took my containers with me, and we cooked most meals, so it could have been a lot worse. But, to confess my sins, I had french fries, a cookie, a latte and a fried flounder sandwich over the course of 4 days.

I am going to get back on track this week with my containers and clean eating. I still like the way the containers really point out what foods I eat most of and make me eat more vegetables. I am bumping up to the 1,500-calorie bracket because I look like I may be losing weight, and I need to be sure that I eat enough to maintain or even put on a few pounds in the remaining two weeks.

I'm excited to keep going and get to those after photos. I've started browsing through catalogs to find the perfect swimsuit.

A toast to new opportunities

So remember a couple posts ago when I said things were finally getting stable? Ha! How long does that ever last? This time there are big changes happening for my family that are scary, but we hope will lead to a happier, more content life.

My husband quit his job this week. To put that in perspective, he is the sole financial provider for our family of four. And, no, there is no other job in the works, applied for, nothing. We've been talking about him leaving for a while. The job has required a lot of overtime and travel, and the environment lately had become increasingly toxic. Finally, we decided together that the money wasn't worth him being miserable.

We always say there has to be more than the 9 to 5 that takes you away from family and adds the unneeded pressures that come from cubicle farms and middle management, often ending only in being "downsized" when times get tough.

It's time to seek out something new, to put family first, to rediscover hobbies. It's scary, but exciting at the same time. I know I'm looking forward to having more time with him. I've missed him this past year. So here's to new opportunities.

21 days to a healthier me - cereal please!

It's day 3 on my 21-day journey to becoming healthier, and all I can think about is cereal. Kind of odd, because I don't normally eat a lot of cereal. But, carbs and sugar are limited on this plan, and cereal has the best of both.

Day 3 - The Food
I have been hungry the past 3 days, and for me, that means being tired, lightheaded and sometimes seeing stars. After reading some different conversations from other people who have done the Fix, I decided to bump myself up to the 1,500-calorie bracket. Weight loss is not a goal for me on this program, and I could afford even to gain 5 to 10 lbs. I think this will help me stick to the plan better by having more food.


I have had fun with the containers. They have really helped me make better choices. Normally, I would grab a granola bar or steal some of the kids animal crackers, maybe consume an entire box of Annie's White Cheddar Bunnies for snacks. But now, I fill up a container of fruit or vegetables. Right now, I am eating an awesome snack of yogurt, granola and pumpkin seeds. It's encouraging for the kids, too. As I made my snack, my daughter asked for her own.

Snack by color

Day 3 - The Workouts
I chose this program because the workouts are all 30 minutes, and with kids in the house, that is all the time I can get. My 16-month-old should have been taking a nap, but, of course, today he decides not to sleep. With a shorter workout, though, he can play in his crib. My 5-year-old hung with me during the warm-up and then decided to do her own exercises. I only stepped on her once.

Today's workout was lower body, which I definitely need. These workouts are a lot more challenging than I thought they would be. I am sore from yesterday, and I am looking forward to lifting my butt through workouts like today's.

Once I get the right amount of food figured out, I think this will be great. And I just keep reminding myself of the end result every day.  

Why bother?

This post is a little tough for me because it involves personal sharing, which is way outside my comfort zone. I see a lot of talk about weight loss and fitting into skinny jeans and things like that. Although having a goal of losing weight is great if you need that to be healthy, I don't think that's what fitness and clean eating is really all about. It's something you do for yourself and for those who depend on you. At least, that's what it means to me.

I have had a really tough time for a little over 2 years, where I've been withdrawn and questioning my worth. It's just been the past few months that I finally feel like I am finding myself again and getting stable. In the fall of 2011, I decided I was ready to have a second child and got pregnant right away. But I had a miscarriage at about 8 weeks. That was tough physically and emotionally. I tried to avoid surgery, but that didn't pan out, so what should have been taken care of in a couple weeks dragged on for 3 months.

Just when I was finally getting past that, my dad had a stroke in February 2012. This was devastating for the family for a while, even though it wasn't a surprise. He hadn't been taking care of himself and had been warned for years that he was going to have a stroke or heart attack. He just didn't expect to survive it when it happened. Well, he did, but he is paralyzed on his left side and has trouble doing much of anything for himself. That first year after the stroke was full of ups and downs. He spent a week in ICU (during which time I realized I was pregnant with Evan), then did well in 3 weeks of inpatient rehab. But, when he got moved to a nursing home, he came down with pneumonia and was on a ventilator for a week. Somehow he survived that, but it was a huge setback in his recovery. After 3 months in a nursing home, my mom decided to care for him at home. That has been a huge burden on her and was a big adjustment trying to figure out how to make it all work.

Once Evan was born in the fall, I thought it would be better, but my husband began traveling overseas about once a month. I have a really hard time with the baby stage, and it was difficult being on my own a lot that first year. I withdrew, stopped hanging out with my friends as much, and worked very little. I felt lost and alone.

But it's time to put an end to that.

Finally, we are into the toddler stage, so the kids are at a point where I feel I can manage them better, my husband's travel has lessened, and my parents have found more stability. I am trying to build my own business, which involves a lot of personal reflection and growth. I'm also making a big effort to focus on my health. That's what this 21-Day Fix means to me. It's not about just looking a certain way, but about doing something to take care of me, to be a better me for my family.

What does your health and fitness mean to you?

Getting started is the hardest part

Today was day one of the 21-Day Fix, and it was tough but fun. I did a 30-minute total body cardio workout this morning, and that was challenging. For the past two weeks, I have barely exercised at all, so I felt like I was starting all over again by doing this workout. It was one-minute intervals with 20 seconds of rest in between. I think the rest parts are what made it hard for me. It's a lot easier to keep moving, but when I get my heart rate up and then slow down fast, I get nauseated. But, I have no doubt that tomorrow's workout will come easier. The first day is always the hardest.

Then there was the food using my color-coded containers. This was actually pretty fun. I know how I should eat, but I have never tracked my food intake or really watched what I eat much. Although that doesn't make me overweight, I don't get the results I want when I don't eat right. For breakfast I had a shake with cherries, blueberries and couple slices of banana.

For a post workout snack, I had plain yogurt with some vanilla extract and a teaspoon of granola. And lunch was delicious. I had a corn tortilla with avocado and sliced turkey and a salad with a creamy herb vinaigrette dressing.

 

The containers really made me pay attention to what I was eating, but it will be an adjustment. I eat very little meat normally, but the protein (made up of meat and soy products) container is the one I get the most of. I have always said I need to eat more protein, so I think this will help me build muscle mass. I'm looking forward to tomorrow and to eventually kicking my sugar addiction.

21 Days to a Healthier Me - The Warm Up

Starting Monday, I am making a whole-hearted effort to do the final toning I want to do to lose the post-baby mush that’s hanging around. I haven’t bought a new swimsuit in 5 years, and I’m not ready to just yet. But in 3 weeks, I will be.

I’m doing a new program called the 21-Day Fix. I measure out portions of different food groups in color-coded containers to determine my intake for the day, and I do a 30-minute workout every day. At the same time, I am leading a group of friends through 21 days of clean eating to help us all stay accountable.

So far, I have figured up my caloric intake for the 21 days. This is not as easy as it seems. I am a thin person by nature, and this program is definitely geared toward those looking to lose weight. The first recommendation is to start at a calorie deficit. Following the formula provided, my recommended calorie intake would be about 820 calories (you’re supposed to round up to a minimum of 1,200). So, I am using the formula for weight maintenance, which is my weight in pounds x 13. This brings me to 1,404 calories per day. According to the chart, that means I get 3 green containers, 2 purple containers, 4 red containers, 2 yellow containers, 1 blue, and 1 orange. I am a little concerned whether that will be enough food with the workouts, but I think that is because it's not the foods I really want to eat. (Red containers are protein and yellow are carbs/legumes/cheeses.) I am replacing my breakfasts with a meal replacement shake (because usually it’s that or no breakfast), which counts as one of my red containers.

There are no lattes or candy on this plan, and really limited carbs. I really need to break my sugar habit, so I’m looking forward to this, and I definitely need accountability to stay away from the sweets for the next 3 weeks.

Here goes, wish me luck!