My 21 Day Fix Challenge Story

Since Madelynn was born in 2012, I have had a hard time losing the last 15 pounds from having her.  I have been off and on as far as exercising and watching what I eat.  I wasn’t really ever consistent.  I have been using My Fitness Pal since January 2013.  This app is amazing!  You can log in each meal and snack, any exercises you do.  It calculates where you are each day after inputting any information.  You get to set up your goals for where you want to be as far as weight and how long for you to lose it.

We have completed 3 rounds of the Daniel Fast.  You can read more about it here.  I lost 10 pounds the first month using it and cutting out soda while we were on our first Daniel fast.  I lost a couple of pounds on our second Daniel Fast in 2014.  This January (2015) we completed another Daniel Fast.

We also have a home gym set up and spend extra time working out here, as shown with Bailey and I during our first challenge. (not the best pic with movement and lighting in a basement at 5:30am)

In February our friends Jeff and Mandy Rose started a Spouse Fit Challenge.  I ran the treadmill 30 minutes daily, burning about 300 calories.  Again, I could have been more consistent.  Definitely a challenge with my birthday, Valentines Day, and some other outtings.  It is really hard to stay at or below 1200 calories a day when you eat out.  I remember eating at the Cheese Cake Factory for my birthday and caved on eating a piece of cheese cake.  HELLO, 1200 calories just in 1 piece!!!!  Then we ate Red Lobster that night.  UGH!  But it was sooooo good.  I just know I was in a food coma on the way home from STL, lol.

Paul wasn’t as motivated during this Spouse Fit Challenge as I hoped him to be and my motivation lacked in March and April.  Still exercising occasionally, not consistent, and cheating with food more than I planned.  Plus, Spring Break at Disney in March, need I say more???  I remember getting a picture taken with our neighbors at Disney and wishing I had a different body.  Well, you can wish all day but it won’t make you healthier or where you want your body to be.  Even putting myself in a bikini has not made me more motivated to do something about it.  Being content and lazy are two different things.

We wanted to do the 21 Day Fix in April, but I wanted to see real results.  If you check out Mandy’s 21 Day Fix blog post here, you can see the difference for her.  She is already tiny, but now she is even more toned.  She is also a coach.  So when she decided to complete a May Fit Challenge, Paul and I decided to order the 21 Day Fix.  We signed up under Mandy and I thought I was going to die the first few days!  Definetely was thinking, am I ever going to walk again?  This is how much my muscles were not being used.  We started on a Tuesday due to my schedule.  I learned quickly that meal prep was key, and that if you travel to take you DVDs at least with you.  I have to say the first weekend we did not exercise.  #FAIL.  Only because we had to travel and ended up sleeping in.

Our second week was definetly more consistent and a better week for us.  I apparently had sooo much energy on Monday that I completed 30 minutes of yoga, 30 minutes of the Upper Body fix, and 10 minute abs.  Even Mandy was impressed! Paul by this point had lost 9-10 pounds and I started to notice a change in my body too.  I lost 2-3 pounds.  I know I should not have being weighing myself, but I was encouraged even more to start week 3.

How quickly week 3 went.  I am down to 122lbs and I started at 127-128.  I have lost a total of 7.25 inches (measuring my chest, arms, thighs, hips, and waist).  Probably about an inch every give or take.  Paul is now at 218 lbs and he started at 230.  Paul went down almost two belt loops. I don’t feel tight in my jeans, and some of my shirts feel baggy and I may need to down size them.

How do we make this work with schedules, eating, etc?  Below is OUR ROUTINE:

5:45am every day Paul gets up and sets up our mats, water, and weights.

6:00am he is waking me up.

We start around 6:05am.  The workouts are 30 minutes each, with a warm up and cool down in this 30 minutes.  It’s not like some other work outs where there is no rest.  You get 15 seconds of that, WooHoo!

6:45-7am after our workout I start making breakfast and Paul gets the kids out of bed.  Yes, now we eat together as a family for breakfast.  LOVE IT!  Paul drinks his shake, eats a slice of toast, and gets half of a banana.  The girls and I get a slice of toast, yogurt, and some type of fruit.

7-715am I am making lunches and snacks for everyone while they are getting showers and ready for work, school, and sitter.  Yes, I prep all food, including morning and afternoon snacks using the 21 Day Fix containers.  I use a cheat sheet from pinterest that helps me guide my meal planning.

We are out the door between 745-8am depending on who takes who where.

***We are consistent, prepared, and determined to be healthier, not skinnier. ***

We do realize that this way may not work for everyone, due to schedules, whether you have a partner or not.  You just have to make your own routine and make it work for you.  There are days that I work at 6:15am and I end up doing my exercises later that night, but I prep the meals the night before so Paul doesn’t have to do it all himself.  Paul and I use to eat lunch almost every day together.  We realized we did not want this to stop, so I take the lunches and he meets me at work.  This way we are still engaging ourselves as a married couple.  This is super important to us.

So what has the 21 Day Fix done for us?  Below are our top reasons we love the 21 Day fix:

1-brought us closer together as couple and being accountable for each others actions

2-we eat more together as a family

3-we are becoming healthier because we certainly are not getting any younger

4-save more by not eating unhealthy foods.  I would have to go back and calculate our eating out habits versus our new grocery bills but I am sure we are saving if we use to eat out at least $25 per day.

5-setting examples for our kids and making me involved in my kids habits

6-toning up

7-becoming physically fit

8-better self esteem

9-less worry about what the doctor says at visits

10-something to share to inspire others

So what’s next?  Nothing different.  We are continuing the 21 Day Fix everyday.  This is not just a 3 week challenge, this is a lifestyle change.  And yes, there will be days you may seeing me cheating (with food) and that’s ok.  Don’t drive yourself crazy, but be conscious.  If I eat unhealthy usually I just get on the treadmill as well.  This just keep me motivated and accountable.  I hope to in the near future also to become a coach.  I just felt at this time I needed to be more of a coach to myself first.

So here is my before and after pics.  NO JUDGING!!! Not for what I look like or that I am actually posting pics like this.  This is to prove it can be done.  Really, no different than if I was in a swimsuit.

Continue to follow me on my social media for inspiring quotes and maybe more pics!

******UPDATE******

Here are some pics from Day 1 to Day 56 and Day 56 to Day 91

Program used: 21 Day Fix

Good Luck,