21 Day Fix Week 2 Meal Plan and Week 1 Review

Oh do I hate when I am wrong.

I went into this 21 Day Fix with thinking that it was going to be easy. I mean Autumn is cute, bubbly and adorable....what was she going to do to me? I spent January working out with Tony Horton (and P90X3) I spent last spring with Shaun T (Insanity) and this fall and winter lifting heavy with Chalene (Chalean Extreme) so a little 30 minute total body workout. I got this. I may even need to do doubles from the start because I am so-o-o above this. Ha!

Let me tell you that I haven't been able to walk all week. (And I did not start with doubles.) I am seriously hurting....in the best way possible. (That's what I get for thinking I was in shape and totally ready for this program!) I did push it when I could and there were some times I had to drop to the modifier too. My abs are no where near as strong as say my shoulders or legs (and I have some problems with my wrists so a lot of plank work and I am toast!)

As for the containers....I will tell you the first few days I was starving. I was all...no wonder people lost a ton of weight on this program. They starved it off. (So I drank a lot of tea in the mid-afternoon those first few days!)

But after Day 2, I was good. Good to the point where I was kind of forcing myself eat my containers. And I haven't been perfect about getting all of my containers in each day. As I sit here and write this I still have a purple and half a green container I can nosh on if I want. (Which the fact that I could still have a snack right now is very reassuring. It makes me want one less. Go figure.) So the containers are kind of awesome. They hold a lot of food....seriously. I had a mini-freak out when I got them and saw how small they were but once I filled them and dumped them onto a plate. I was amazed.

And I do love the fact that I get to bust out my favorite sharpie highlighters and color code my meal plan. (I have a highlighter/color coding addiction.) So the whole planning thing is right up my alley. It actually makes me WANT to meal plan (which for me is huge. Sitting down and making the meal plan is where I really struggle.)

I am really looking forward to week 2. The workouts are good. I won't say they are my favorite (I am still partial to Chalene Johnson and my Chalean Extreme and TurboFire hybrid.) I like lifting heavier weights and not doing as many reps as I can in a minute, but struggling to get to 8 or 10. But I do know it is good for me to mix it up. Muscle confusion is a good thing. And this is a great program for that. 30 minutes and done. (And I am loving the pilates that is thrown
in there.)

Here is my meal plan for week 2 (which making it this week was so much easier than last week!)

I do eat A LOT of eggs. The red container is my struggle. I try to avoid meat. It just isn't my thing. I also don't do soy. And since beans and quinoa (my go to sources for protein) are considered yellow containers, I just keep putting eggs in the red container. (I am either going to turn into an egg after these 21 days or start to hate them.) I think on this program there is going to be one container that is a struggle for everyone. It may be blue (if you love cheese!) or yellow (which I am so shocked that I am not in carb withdrawal!) I have learned that I do tend to eat mostly fruit and complex carbs (like beans and quinoa). I also learned that I thought I ate a lot of veggies but in reality, I was not eating near as many as I should. The containers really make me focus on my food groups, which I love. As of right now, I this is something I can adopt for a lifetime. And I can't wait!

If you would like to join me in this challenge or any other one, please message me or comment below.
I would love to have you!

21 Day Fix Week One Meal Plan (and why I put P90X3 on hold for now)

Week 3 of P90X3 was a major challenge for me. I got sick so I didn't meal plan. And then we were getting ready to a conference so I didn't meal plan and just ended up eating what we had so we didn't come home to a fridge full of gross. And I diligently packed my X3 DVDs. And they sat on the dresser in the hotel room for an entire week.

While away, we indulged. A lot. But we were also crazy busy and walking everywhere (which really helps.) I came home pretty much on par with where I was when I left. Except when I came home I had something waiting for me. Yep....The 21 Day Fix.

Now this program is huge. It sold out in 3 days. I didn't want to be the person who couldn't answer my challengers' questions. I wanted to be able to give my honest opinion and struggle through figuring out a brand new program with them. (And I was geeked about the idea of color coded containers. My self diagnosed OCD kicked in and I started making color coded meal plans immediately.) So I am afraid that my poor P90X3 dvd's will continue to collect dust. At least for the next 21 days.

Here is my meal plan for week one of the 21 Day Fix. Now I struggled with this quite a bit. I try to eat a mostly plant based diet (with local eggs from happy chickens and occasionally some fish) but if you are not happy eating soy based vegan protein then this will be a challenge. The red container is now my nemesis. But since my husband was home for most of the week, I made his carnivorous appetite happy and made some things with local grass fed meats.

Now this week wasn't perfect. I was missing some red containers for sure. And I know I need to work on variety...but variety is hard when you are cooking for one and a half! So that is something I am going to work on in the upcoming weeks.

21 days to....

When I worked for a very popular retailer as a manager for what felt like a million years, there was a mantra we had: 21 days to make a habit. Work with your new hires. Train them for 21 days and then you will build consistent behaviors and habits on your team. You won't have to remind your opening staff to check the light bulbs and swiffer the fitting rooms. They will come in and do it because that is what you do when you open. Does it work? Maybe. The odds of someone being scheduled 21 days in a row to build this habit was not really reality. So can you build a habit in 21 days? Can you accomplish anything major in 21 days? Maybe not but you can take a lot of little steps that will add up to big steps later.

Enter the 21 day challenge group.

When I was approached to participate in a 21 day group by my coach Katy, I kind of thought she was crazy. I know the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is short but seriously, between the holiday parties, get togethers and all the craziness what kind of results could I have? I figured I didn't have anything to lose and hoped it might just work to keep me in check (and so I didn't go crazy with a big old plate of christmas cookies and a bottle of wine in front of the tv one night when I just couldn't take the Christmas crazy anymore.)

So I joined.

I kicked off my 21 days with a 3 day shakeology cleanse.

I worked out consistently (even when I didn't feel like it. Because I knew everyone else was--- that my friends, is the beauty of a challenge group. Want to learn more about challenge groups? Check this out.)

I didn't eat super great.

I didn't meal plan. My husband is traveling for work so we ate a lot of eggs (I mean a lot of eggs
because some days it was the only thing I felt like cooking. Especially coming home after cheer practice at almost seven o'clock at night.)

I also had a wedding (which I was in so it was the whole weekend of nonstop food and drinks) 4 Christmas parties, homemade treats all over my house (gifts from my kids and gifts I was making to give away) and a two year old whose eating habits might make her part elf.

And today was day 21. Measurement day. It totally took me by surprise this morning when she asked for our results. (oops! Guess I should have passed on the bowl of white chocolate popcorn I splurged on last night....)

Despite the holiday splurges I was super stoked with my results.

Weight lost -- 4.2 lbs
Inches lost -- 1.5 inch of my hips and .5 off of each of my arms and my thighs

Everything else stayed the same.

But for 21 days of less than perfect, I'll take it!

Here are my day 1 and day 21 pics.... (nowhere near the best but I only have one full length mirror in my house and haven't taught my 2 year old how to take pics with my phone yet. And it really is hard to get the same exact angle. I tried. This is the best I could come up with. ) I am definitely less inflamed in my stomach. I totally credit the cleanse for that. But the place I have really noticed a difference is in the "love handle" area. And all I have to say about that is it's about damn time!