{Girlytech does} 21 Day Fix - Day 5

The first thing I noticed upon jumping out of bed this morning is that... I was able to jump out of bed! My quads are still slightly sore but somehow that over bearing 'I don't know how I'm going to go about my day' feeling was gone. Thank goodness for small miracles. I am so happy it's Friday, though I'm a little concerned about the weekend's prospects for sticking to the diet, I know I can worst case calorie count and keep up my exercise and all will not be lost. I'm 20% done with the program, but I am hoping to make this a longer-lasting style of self. Here are today's details:

Breakfast: Slim rite shake. 24 oz water.
1 red. 1 yellow.

Snack: 1 apple w/ peanut butter. 24 oz water.
1 purple. 2 tsp.

Lunch: 1.5 cups chicken, 2 cups broccoli, 2 Tbsp dressing. 24 oz water.
2 red. 2 green. 1 orange.

Dinner: 4 oz ground meat w/ 1/3 cup cheese on whole wheat bun with mustard and mixed greens. Side of broccoli. 12 oz water.

1 red, 1 yellow, 1 green, 1 blue.

Snack: 1/2 banana. Sliced it and popped it in the freezer.

Workout: Cardio. Ugh, bane of my existence. I had to switch to modified on a lot of these, especially the bonus round torture. This is the area (besides upper body strength) that needs the most work.

5 down, 16 to go. Hey, 16 doesn't seem like that scary of a number!

{Girlytech does} 21 Day Fix - Day 4

Guess what? Yep! I can't walk. Not very well anyway, and it was a bit of a struggle carrying the LO down the stairs. Kind of over the cheat yesterday, just going to pretend it didn't happen and carry on. One day this weekend I'm going to calorie count over plan anyway, or keep tallies of everything and label into colors, because Bite of Oregon is happening. I won tickets and am super excited because 1) I never win anything and 2) It'll give John and I a chance to hang out together by ourselves when it's still light outside. Yay!

Breakfast: Two hard-boiled eggs chopped up with some mustard and pepper. 24 oz water.
1 red.

Lunch: 1.5 cup chicken, 2 cups steamed carrots, 2 Tbsp dressing. 24 oz water.
2 red, 2 green, 1 orange.

Dinner: 1/2 baked potato topped with 3/4 cup chicken, 1 cup broccoli, 1/3 cup cheese. 16 oz water.
1 yellow, 1 red, 1 green, 1 blue

Snack: 1 cup watermelon. 24 oz water.

Workout : Pilates. I enjoyed this workout. It was hard at points and had my booty burning but it had a much more relaxed feel to it. Which was the point since it's designed to be an active recovery day.

Already this is starting to feel like a habit, hopefully I can keep it up.

Day 4 done, 17 to go!

{Girlytech Does} 21 Day Fix - Day 3

Well, this morning my water cup feels a lot heavier than normal, so I'm guessing that arm workout worked! The main issue I'm having is left over from Monday's total body, my quads are killing me. Like, it takes all my effort to just walk up some stairs and walking on flat ground still hurts. Sitting and standing up? Forget about it! Tonight is lower fix workout day, pain is just weakness leaving the body, right?

Breakfast & Snack: Same as day 1 (shake, apple, peanut butter)
1 red, 1 yellow, 1 purple, 2 tsps. 4 cups water.

Lunch: 2 cups broccoli, 1.5 cup chicken, 2 Tbsp dressing.
2 green, 2 red, 1 orange. 4 cups water

I actually gobbled this up pretty quickly as opposed to the other lunches where I was struggling. Super delicious & simple, though not the prettiest of foods.

Non sequitur: Why won't Costco gas take my money?! I've been two times, and I guess I've got the memo now, but I tried once with my Amex Serve that they don't take because it's pre-paid, and today they wouldn't take my money because they don't take cash. Who doesn't take cash? Seriously. 

Anyway, dinner was pretty blah. 1 cup broccoli, 3/4 cup beans, 1/3 cup shredded cheese, sprinkle of green onions. 

1 green, 1 red, 1 yellow, 1 blue. 2 cups water w/ splash of juice.

And the bad part... I cheated. Yup, cheated on myself and this plan. I went out to have one drink, and that turned into fries...but I did get to spend some one on one time that's been severely lacking with the husband, so at least there's that.

I did do the workout though quads be damned. Lower fix! I pretty much had to mind over matter this 100%. Because of the cheat I felt like I had to work harder, to prove to myself that I'm not a quitter. So I didn't do any modifications until I physically was unable to stand. I probably won't be able to walk tomorrow. 

Day 3 down. 18 to go!

{Girlytech does} 21 Day Fix - Day 2

When I woke up this morning I was pretty sore from last night's work out. Normal me would say that means I skip tonight's. But...normal me also would have had that cupcake yesterday, or added double the cheese to dinner last night. Normal me also can't fit into her skinny jeans or wear a two-piece bathing suit. I'm kind of done with normal me. I'm driving hard into the phrase "If you cheat, you're only cheating yourself." If I give up on this program, or if I skip a workout, or add an extra serving of food, or eat something not "approved" - it doesn't affect anyone else, it causes no one harm...except me. I used to run a mile as a warm up to work out...now the mile is the workout. I have no unrealistic expectations of getting back down to the 135 I was in high school, because I don't have time for the 5+ day a week, 2+ hour varsity lacrosse practice routines. All I want is to live a long and healthy life and be someone my son wants to emulate, and I'm hoping that can start now.

Breakfast: 2 eggs, 1 piece whole grain bread. 2 cups water.

1 red, 1 yellow.

Because I have no time for breakfast prior to leaving the house, everything must be grab and go. So I grabbed two eggs and a piece of bread and thought...uh, this is going to be a boring breakfast. However, once I got to the office I put together this little number. Which is super simple, but was delicious. Coated the bread in mustard, chopped up the eggs, and added some pepper. From boring to delicious in less than 5 minutes. Bam!

Snack: 1 apple w/ peanut butter. 2 cups water.

1 purple, 2 tsp.

Lunch: 1.5 cups beans, 1 cup lettuce, 1 cup salsa, 2 Tbsp. dressing. 6 cups water.

2 red, 2 green, 1 orange

This looked a lot better before I mixed it up, but oh well. It was still pretty tasty. Though, word to the wise - using salsa as salad dressing is great (I've done it plenty before) but, make sure it's mild! When I got this jar it was the only all natural salsa for a reasonable price, but they only had medium or mango. Guess I've learned my lesson because their medium is hot!

Once again though, I am stuffed to the brim and wondering how on earth I'm going to lose weight when I'm eating so damn much. My normal pre-21 day fix diet was 1 shake (190), an apple (~100), frozen lunch (200-300), dinner (500-1000). Obviously on the days where we had fast food my calorie consumption was pretty high, but on an average day I was eating about 1300 calories. Though a main portion of this plan is that you're constantly eating a lot so your body never goes into starvation mode which will make you gain weight even if you don't eat a lot. Maybe that's where I was at?

Dinner: 1 cup raw spinach, cooked with some garlic, 1/2 potato, 3/4 cup chicken, 1/3 cup cheese. Nom nom nom! 2 cups water with a splash of juice.

Snack: 1 cup watermelon. 

Workout: Upper fix. Not the worst, though after yesterday my abs and legs were dying. Lower fix tomorrow will be interesting. 

2 days down, 19 to go!

{Girlytech does} 21 Day Fix - Day 1

I am in the lowest level calorie bracket (168 lbs or less), so I get 3 greens (veggies), 2 purples (fruit), 4 reds (protein), 2 yellow (grains/milk/cheat), 1 blue (approved dairy, nuts), 1 orange (fats, dressings), 2 tsp (fats, nut/seed butters). Also I am supposed to drink 1/2 my weight in oz in water (164/2 = 82 = ~10 cups)

1 green/1 purple = 1 cup. 1 red = 3/4 cup. 1 yellow = 1/2 cup. 1 blue = 1/3 cup. 1 orange = 2 Tbsp.

Breakfast: 1 breakfast shake. 1 glass (2 cups) water.

Tally: 1 red, 1 yellow (since I'm using milk based protein)

Snack: Apple + 2 tsp. Peanut Butter. 1 glass (2 cups) water.

Tally: 1 purple. 2 tsp.

Lunch

Lunch: 1.5 cups chicken, 2 cups carrots & celery, 2 Tbsp. creamy herb dressing. 1 glass (2 cups) water

Tally: 2 red, 2 green, 1 orange

I'm pretty sure I measured the chicken heavy handed when I was packing it up last night. Even so, I was only able to eat maybe half of it. I finished most of the veggies minus a couple carrot sticks which I'll add to dinner. I guess I can have the chicken if I get hungry later, but after that meal I'm thinking diet is not the correct word for this plan!

Dinner

Dinner: 1 cup broccoli, 3/4 cup chicken, 1/3 cup shredded cheddar, 1/2 cup rice. 1 glass (2 cups) water with a splash of juice.

Tally: 1 green, 1 red, 1 blue, 1 yellow. 

Simple, but I found it super delicious. 

Snack: 1/2 banana. 1 glass (2 cups) water.

Tally: 1 purple

I did super well on my plan today and stuck to the meals I outlined. I never once felt hungry, and often felt stuffed to the brim. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to lose weight eating so damn much, but we'll see. I even managed to turn down birthday cupcakes at the office. Look at them! It took much willpower. 

Evil Cupcakes

The workout: Total body cardio. At first I was thinking I was in for some smooth sailing. But about half way through I definitely needed to switch to modified version. I feel like I still got a good workout in though, heart rate definitely got elevated and I feel like I will be sore tomorrow. An interesting thing about this plan is back to back workouts for 3 weeks with no rest day, I'm curious to see how that pans out.

Day 1: Done! 20 to go.

{Girlytech does} 21 Day Fix

Day 0:

A bit about the program: I tend to keep an ear to the ground when it comes to tasty food, and after seeing quite a few recipes pop up #21dayfix I decided to investigate. It all makes sense really. Measured portions, eating the right amount of each food group per day, and exercising 30 minutes a day. It's everything you've ever heard about balanced nutrition and exercise in a color coded, no brainer method. Of course, I don't have $70 to spend on some Tupperware and DVDs, so I scoured the internet...and like anticipated, it's all pretty much there. So I gathered my resources, made a couple menu plans, and tried to get some community support.

I convinced my roommates to do this with me. It turns out four people eat a lot of food. Somehow I got stuck with doing all the shopping, and cooking, and a lot of the prep - I guess that's what I get for having such a great idea. I kind of got in the zone though, it wasn't too bad, and luckily one of my roommates helped with some of the chopping. Well, now we have two fridges full of food and it will hopefully make the rest of the week a lot easier for cooking. We also have one of my friends/former coworkers joining in the mix.

My initial measurements:

weight: 164 lbs.
fat%: 39
total inches: 185.5 (hips, fullest middle, waist, under bust, bust)

My goal weight is 145, but I'm pretty much happy with everything except for my stomach measurement and endurance level. I'm hoping that by eating good foods, and making myself exercise I can create a happier & healthier me. I've started down this road before, a lot of times, and I'm really working to make this one stick. I figure with other people to hold accountable, I'll be holding myself accountable too. If you're interested in joining us, I made a Facebook Support Group of sorts. I'll be posting what I ate for the day, how I'm feeling, etc. in blog posts as well.

Here goes!

It has been a very long time since I've posted anything on here. Life has been more crazy than I could have ever expected, and not in a good way. I am dealing with so many things on a financial and emotional level that it is hard to keep my head on straight.

I am thoroughly enjoying being a mom, and since my last post my son has crossed the year and year point five milestones. He is currently 85th percentile for height, 50th for weight, doing really well and breaking all the lady's hearts. I found an amazing care provider in an old high school friend Meaghen who has helped give Oliver a place to explore and play. He is smart, quick to learn new things - even more than we give him credit for. His vocabulary grows daily and he's started repeating the end of sentences out loud. I guess it's time to watch my language! He's running around, getting into things, and generally being a pretty awesome little guy.

Johnathan's health is failing, and has been getting worse since his hospital trip in November. He's kept me in the dark about a lot of what's going on with him, and the rest he hasn't publically announced, but it's not looking great. I've lost my mind and broke down crying, but I think for the most part we don't have a set prognosis so I can be mostly in denial about everything. Of course, the reason we don't have anything concrete is because he went over his coverage amount on his insurance; and will need to pay everything out of pocket (which we can't do), or wait until next year. Hopefully he'll be making an employer transition and will be able to purchase something plan-wise that will cover better for him. He needs a switch anyway, especially since he hasn't got paid since November due to other issues.

With Johnathan not having any income since November, and the health issues, it's been a very rough several months. I am so immensely grateful to Chue for paying our rent when we've needed him to, being such a good friend, and uncle to Ollie. We've formed a pretty awesome, albeit unconventional family. I'm pretty sure they could write a sitcom about it, if there was a bit more comedy instead of tragedy. My father loaned Johnathan the money to file bankruptcy, and if we could ever come up with the filing fee to finish that up, perhaps he'd get to see a paycheck again - though his employer is taking whatever's left to pay for the insurance overages.

If adversity breeds strength we'll be hulks by the time this dark patch is behind us. It's been a shit storm of financial stress, health issues, family issues, and darkness for almost half a year. There've been suicide attempts, negative account balances, and loans which just aren't going to be paid off any time soon. Worst case I guess this lasts another 13 months until John gets his trust fund. Best case we can get through it quicker and be on our feet for the next step of life at that point. Whatever the case may be, I couldn't have better people beside me when my world's falling apart. Though, maybe in the next life I'll opt for richer cohorts.

That's a bit it for now, I'll plan on writing updates more frequently. There's something cathartic about pouring it out there. And hey, John and I will be together five years this Saturday, and that's something to write about.

-Steph